Stephen A. Smith Predicts Kobe Bryant Will Demand A Trade

What is going on in the NBA right now? Stars everywhere trying to direct themselves to bigger markets. Everyone who doesn’t have the perfect situation wants out to lock themselves into another one. It’s a carousel of truces and pacts, of friendships and partnerships. But everyone loves to say Kobe Bryant isn’t in to all that stuff. He’s the lone wolf out to set everybody straight. But from reports on the inside right now, Bryant is heated at the Lakers’ front office and the direction they’re taking. As we wrote in Smack, some think he could eventually demand a trade.

Stephen A. Smith recently said, “I predicted that Kobe Bryant will demand a trade, and I am not budging from that. He’s livid. I’ve known Kobe too long. He is ticked off. It’s not just because [the Clippers] got Chris Paul, which is a guy that he expected to have. It’s because Jim Buss seems to be doing the inexplicable.”

Smith thinks the Lakers are regressing, which unless you’re a card-carrying fanboy, you should be able to see. The Lakers are quickly moving away from title contention (age, no athleticism, depth and the loss of Lamar Odom for nothing are all major red flags), and Smith believes the showdown between Bryant and Lakers’ ownership “will not be pleasant at all.” Ric Bucher, another source who’s been close to Bryant for his entire career, apparently also said he wouldn’t be surprised if 24 asked out within the next month. This is no rumor, it’s just a prediction coming from Smith. But given his history with Kobe, it definitely holds merit.

Not everyone is buying the prediction though.

Our friends at Lakers Nation had a great piece today on their reaction to Stephen A.’s out-of-nowhere stance, writing:

Bryant is a player that is completely obsessed with his legacy, even if he won’t admit it. Players like Kobe know all of their stats, and know what they need to do to pass the next guy on the list. For Bryant the next guys has always been the same guy – Michael Jordan. And while Bryant will probably never reach many of the milestones Jordan set, it certainly won’t be due to a lack of trying. The truth is, Bryant’s greatest chance of reaching the all-important statistic Jordan set, meaning his six championships, is with Los Angeles.

So, Stephen A., where would Bryant demand to be traded? What situation out there puts him in a greater position to succeed? Just a year and a half ago, when LeBron & Co. teamed up in Miami, Bryant mentioned his desire to beat the best, not join them. Has the loss of Lamar Odom changed his mindset that much?

I doubt it.

The simple fact is the Lakers are still a very talented basketball team. And many of the reasons Stephen A. floats out as ammunition for Bryant resurrecting 2007 are way off base and completely out of touch.

(Check out the full story here)

The problem for Bryant, as Lakers Nation wrote, isn’t even about whether he’s happy or not. Where would he go? What team would trade for him right now that has a better nucleus than L.A.? The options are scare, as is Bryant’s time as a First-Team All-NBA player. I think he knows this. He’s smart enough to realize that while pressuring ownership to get something done is one thing, actually leaving might put him in a worse position.

I think even Kobe – notorious for pushing until he gets his way – has to be somewhat patient at this point. Historically, the Lakers are better than anyone at rounding up superstars. But they aren’t magicians. Still, Smith was the one to originally predict Bryant would want out four years ago, and he ended up looking like a fortune teller.

Do you think Bryant will be looking for a trade if this keeps up?

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