Official 2011-2012 Lakers thread
 

Anyone else excited for this season to start?

I'd like to start off by saying fvck David Stern for not allowing the trade for Chris Paul. I'm not too concerned though as long as we can somehow pull off a trade for D Howard...I want Bynum gone, but that's just me.

Kobe on Lamar trade: Lakers: Kobe Bryant an unhappy camper after Lamar Odom is traded - latimes.com

By Mike Bresnahan, Los Angeles Times
December 12, 2011
Tough weekend for the Lakers, who didn't get Chris Paul or Dwight Howard.

All they got was a headache.

Lamar Odom wasn't happy, so he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks for a 2012 first-round pick, which made Kobe Bryant very unhappy.

"I don't like it," Bryant said Sunday, the third day of training camp. "I've known Lamar for a long time, and for the team itself, he's meant a lot in terms of his versatility, his personality. He's a big presence for us in the locker room, just from a team chemistry standpoint. He's great at bringing guys together and things of that nature.

"I trust management knows what they're doing. I let them do their jobs, I never get in the way but it's tough. You're talking about sixth man of the year last year. He played lights out."

Bryant then mentioned General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

"Mitch has proven over the course of the years that he's been able to build great teams here," Bryant said. "We have to all trust that he's going to do that."

Bryant didn't like that Odom was sent to the Mavericks, who eliminated the Lakers last season with a sweep in the Western Conference semifinals.

"Especially to them," Bryant said. "We were supposed to come back and get them back, know what I mean?"

Bryant had one last salvo, which he said with a smile.

"I don't think Mark Cuban's protesting this trade," he said.

The Mavericks' owner questioned the three-team trade last week that would have sent New Orleans guard Chris Paul to the Lakers, who would have given up Odom and Pau Gasol. The NBA on Thursday blocked the deal, which also involved Houston.

After he was done with reporters, Bryant met with Kupchak for 15 minutes. He was irritated before he walked into Kupchak's office but seemed better when he left, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly about it.

As the Lakers tried to pick up the pieces of another frantic day, they said Odom demanded to be traded Friday and had his agent follow up with the request Saturday. They also said his trade value wasn't as strong as they hoped.

Odom was irritated to have been involved in the Paul trade in the first place. He did not practice with the team the first two days of training camp, showing up only briefly each day.

"To me, I would think it's better to stay away," Odom told The Times in a phone interview Friday. "You know, the energy and all. I don't know how it's going to go right now. It's a little weird. . . . Right now, I'll be a fan of the game from a distance."

In addition to the draft pick, the Lakers received a traded-player exception worth Odom's salary this season, $8.9 million. Under terms of the exception, the Lakers can obtain a player from another team by trading only a draft pick if the player makes less than $9 million. Teams have exactly one year to use a traded-player exception.

The Lakers could try to package the traded-player exception to get a player better than Odom, but Bryant wasn't anticipating it.

"I'm not thinking that at all," he said.

The Lakers have had talks with Howard's agent about a trade with Orlando, but they haven't led to anything productive.

Why make a Lakers thread? Whats wrong with the NBA one?

I approve this thread :tup:

Lamar left :crying:

Biggest BS. Fuk David Stern and Dan Gilbert. I rooted for Lebron to lose last year. But now if the Lakers don't win then I want the Heat to win so that Lebron can shove it up Gilbert's a$$! Way to tarnish the sport that I love the most.

:tup:

Because there are a few Lakers fans on this board and we like to discuss Lakers specifically and the season as it goes on without haters trolling ;)

Wait, is this official? I'm pretty sad to see him go, best character and person on the team by far...Maybe Fisher is a close second with a "good" personality but he sucks at basketball...If we get CP3 though I'm not shedding any tears.

Dude you posted the news article that said Lamar got traded. :bowrofl:

And also I agree, King you are free to talk about the Lakers in my thread I wouldn't call you a troll :tiphat: :tup:

LOL yeah he got "traded" along with Pau for the CP3 trade but that got blocked by the Nazi David Stern and now it's in re-negotiations...I guess he'd have to go at this point cause he's pissed.

Yeah the latest says news says it was official, he left on his own accord, seems like the trade from last week ticked him off.

yeah, can't believe after all that f'kin Cuban ended up with him? Bunch of azzholes.

Lamar overreacted a bit, but he's a player that's always played with heart, and wore it on his sleeve. Pau is the model professional here, he's back in business and knows it's nothing personal. But Lamar just couldn't take the rejection.

DAMN YOU KARDASHIAN FOR F*CKING WITH LAMAR'S HEAD.

:rofl2:

Haha but lamar tends to disappear in games

that b*tch is solely to blame...this coming from an Armenian

not last season, he came through big time and again. 6th man of the year, gone for draft picks? wtf

The Odom trade came as a big surprise to me, especially for what we got for him. Also don't like the fact that he was traded to the Mavs of all teams, the team that swept us last year! Come on Mitch..

On that note..I still feel as though Mitch can pull off a CP3 and D12 haul before the season starts! I have faith!

I think Mitch has something up his sleeve

he better, my coworker / laker faithful is really freaked out right now :icon17:

better than my poor blazers, though :(

Looks like the Lakers are gonna start the season off playing the bulls, 5:00 pm ET on Christmas day. :tup:

Update: CP got traded to the clippers.

I heard about this yesterday...what a fvcking disaster

DH might still be in the running though. possible trade for bynum and gasol, good deal for the Magic, but I dunno if losing Gasol after they already lost Odom is beneficial to the Lakers.

Exactly...Don't know if that's a good trade at this point. Unbelievable how royally Stern messed things up.

Yeah not just players a lot of managers and coaches are getting annoyed at stern as well, I see a resignation coming in the near future.

That's gonna be tough...he has too much power

Well with what hes been doing off late, we aren't the only ones hoping for this: :icon17:


David Stern Should Resign as NBA Commissioner Immediately | Golden State Warriors

NBA Commissioner David Stern Should Resign: Fan's Opinion - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

David Stern should just resign - Sportsoverdose

Tuck: David Stern Should Resign Over Chris Paul Decision | ESPN Florida | Florida's Sports Leader

He really F****D it up with the CP trade tho, I don't even know what he was thinking...something tells me his anger towards some agreement that was reached for this lockout to end is the reason behind this.

I change my mind. David Stern got a better deal for the Hornets with the Clippers than the Lakers. Hornets needed to shed money and get younger with future potential. I agreed with the reasons Stern gave for not accepting the Lakers trade. I blame Mitch (or Jim Buss as most are speculating) for trading Odom so fast. Fuk Dan Gilbert still!!!

As a basketball fan, I'm excited for the CP3/Griffin/Jordan trio. Already bought some tickets to watch the most entertaining NBA team.

Looks like Kobe is ready to play tho: Video: Ready To Play: Kobe Bryant Makes 10 Three-Pointers In A Row At Practice!

Also found this cool tribute video to Shaq:

Yeah it was a good deal for Stern, but for the players and fans, who actually make basketball, it sucks big time, I mean there could have been a better trade agreement, I think the initial trade including DH would have been better.

As a Lakers fan, I wish CP3 was on the Lakers. As a basketball fan, it was better that CP3 went to the Clippers. The pairing of CP3 and Blake is more exciting. I can't wait to see Lob City!

BTW, making 10 three pointers in a row in practice isn't anything special. Most shooting guards in the NBA can do that. It's Kobe's ability to make it over anybody in a game that makes him special.

I actually hope they trade Bynum and Gasol for D12. Bynum is injury prone and I like Gasol but he is getting old. Trade him before the decline while he still has value.

I agree with you on the fact that the CP3 trade to the Clippers was better for the Hornets but isn't this pretty close to insider trading? How do you stop a trade that was agreed to and done just because you are the commissioner of the League and the League owns the team? It's like the Government owning a private corporation and after agreeing to sell it off to someone pulls the deal off the table as the government and sells it to someone that came along after only because it's more beneficial. Sh*t doesn't make sense.

I blame the Lakers for letting go of Lamar so quickly for nothing in return though and I blame him for not understanding the most basic rule to the game, you're a commodity and it's all part of the game.

Its a Lakers thread after all. :p

:iagree: The letter to him might have been part of the reason, where as I still think that he was unhappy about the decisions made with the lockout, he blames greedy agents for making a labor deal that many players were not happy with, with in fact he could have negotiated a different contract.

As acting owner of the Hornets, Stern had every right to not accept a trade he didn't like. Just like every owner in the league has a right to say 'no' to a trade that their GM proposes. However, if the reason Stern didn't accept the trade was because of the whiny small market owners, then I agree that the commissioner was wrong in not accepting the trade. But listening to Stern's explanation, I believe he just wanted a better deal than the Lakers trade proposal.

I'm just really curious to see how this Lamar trade plays out.

We need to replace Lamar, otherwise we are really shorthanded :mad:

They'll come up with something...they wouldn't waist a year of healthy Kobe, something they might be running out of, with a sh1tty team...will they?