Kobe beef

There has been a strong precedent set that Kobe Bryant really, really thrives on controversy.

Since his first few formative years in the NBA after breaking into the league from high school, Bryant has always seemed a short jump shot away from some of the most contentious issues that hit the sports world.

From his Colorado rape case, to his perceived role in Shaquille O'Neal being traded — and the inevitable break up of the dynastical Lakers — to the eternal debate of his role as a team player, Bryant naturally gravitates toward controversy. Certainly he can thank himself for some of this, the rest of it is just a product of being arguably the biggest superstar in the basketball world.

No one, however, is to blame but Kobe himself for the most recent spat of publicity that has everyone in the basketball world talking, a topic big enough that it trumped the NBA Finals. Kobe blindsided almost everyone who follows the NBA recently by requesting a trade from the only team for which he has ever played. Hours later, on ESPN's Dan Patrick Show, Kobe back-pedalled slightly and confessed that a conversation with head coach Phil Jackson helped him to step back from the bombshell he had uttered earlier on Steven A. Smith's show.

Here's what he told Patrick:

He's optimistic and determined that we'll both be back. Phil's somebody that I listen to. I listen to heavily. I lean on him a lot. He assured me, saying, you know, "Things are going to be okay. Things will be alright. Don't go full bore just yet. Just take a deep breath, kind of let us work these things out and everything will be alright." Which was very encouraging for me to hear, because I don't want to go any place else. I don't want to. I want to be a Laker. I want to be here for the rest of my career."

But when it's someone of Kobe's stature involved, the story has to remain in the media even if those reporting it have flubbed it up. The Associated Press released a story Sunday quoting Kobe's web site as such:

Kobe Bryant implied again that he wants to be traded, writing on his website that ‘‘the Lakers and me just have two different visions for the future."

Only thing being, that if anyone paid attention Kobe Bryant did not "imply again." In fact, the post that the AP ran with was the exact same post Kobe left on his web site back in May. The topic being Bryant, it naturally caught on like a wildfire and the Kobe trade story was once again front-page news.

Luckily, the Los Angeles Daily News, for one, cleared things up for everyone.

Kobe Bryant is a smart guy. He knows what he's doing and he's a fiery competitor, one of the most determined athletes playing in the NBA. I suggest if you put all those traits together, you'll see what's really happening here.

Bryant knows the Lakers can't and won't win a championship in the near future with the lineup they have and going in the direction the organization has taken the team since Shaq's departure. He also knows he's the most prized commodity in the NBA and the Lakers are mortified at any thought he wouldn't be in royal purple and gold.

So by bullying the team in the media, threatening to leave if things don't get done to make this team a winner right away, Kobe has done more to motivate a change in the ideology of the Lakers than general manager Mitch Kupchak has done in years.

So while everyone is clamouring to write the "Where will Kobe go?" stories and fans are tripping over themselves on their way to ESPN's Trade Machine to crunch the numbers and see if it's possible he could end up on their favourite team, Kobe is running an NBA front office more efficiently than some of the GMs trying so desperately to grab him.

Certainly the possibility exists that Kobe will play somewhere other than L.A. and if the Lakers drag their feet and don't rush to make their most significant player happy, that possibility will increase drastically. But combine Kobe's ability, the Lakers desperation to keep him and an idle threat and you're likely to see the L.A. front office amp up its efforts to find some talent to surround the league's best player.

However, if a few years from now the Lakers are back in a position to win an NBA championship, remember this summer as the year that Kobe Bryant did as much off the floor to return his team to the league's elite as he often does on it.

And remember that he meant it that way all along.