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Test Post - Kobe from LA Times Test Post - Kobe from LA Times Continuing a week that has been as close to unforgettable as any in the Lakers' rich history, Kobe Bryant has said he wants to be traded from the Lakers. Maybe. "I would like to be traded, yeah," Bryant told ESPN radio. "Tough as it is to come to that conclusion there's no other alternative." But, not more than a couple of hours later, Bryant went on AM 570 and seemed to soften his demand to be traded. "I can only hope that they do something because I don't want to go no place else. I don't want to," he said. "I want to stay here. I hope they can do something." Bryant said he had been soothed by a call from Lakers Coach Phil Jackson. The two discussed a passage from a story in Tuesday's editions of the Los Angeles Times that read, "Nevertheless, as a Lakers insider notes, it was Bryant's insistence on getting away from Shaquille O'Neal that got them in this mess." From the outside, the conversation dripped with irony: The coach and his player, ex-adversaries a few years back, now propping each other up. "He stayed optimistic and said you know what, 'I can't blame you for feeling this way,' " Bryant said. "I've just got to be optimistic. We want our players who are playing for this team to feel comfortable, to feel that they can trust the people that they're around. He said, 'Let us try to work that out, let us try to figure things out and I'm confident that we can do that.' "That made me feel a lot better because Phil is a guy that I lean on a lot. I lean on him all season for clarity, I lean on him for, like, hope." Bryant, who turns 29 in August, has four years and $88.6 million left on his contract. Bryant's frustration has continued to boil since the Lakers were eliminated by the Phoenix Suns in five games earlier this month, and Bryant has been increasingly vocal with his displeasure, which started with his acknowledgment to The Times last Saturday, when he said he wanted the team to acquire more pieces around him. "We are aware of the media reports," Lakers owner Jerry Buss said in a statement. "However, Kobe has not told us directly that he wants to be traded. We have made it very clear that we are building our team around Kobe and that we intend for him to be a Laker his entire career. We will speak directly to Kobe and until we do that, we will not comment publicly about this." Despite Bryant's initial trade declaration, it will not be as easy as it appears for the Lakers to move him to another team. Bryant will obviously waive his no-trade clause, but he has a trade kicker in his contract that will add $9.5 million to his total contract value, a cost to be absorbed by any team that acquires him. The money would be paid like a signing bonus and would be spread out over several seasons toward the new team's salary cap. The Lakers had to pay a similar fee to Lamar Odom when they acquired him from Miami three years ago, paying him about $8 million. Bryant was acquired as a fresh-faced teenager in 1996 and the Lakers had the nucleus of a three-championship run when Shaquille O'Neal was signed a week later as a free agent. Together, at the best of times, O'Neal and Bryant were an unbeatable tandem. But, at their worst, they bickered incessantly and brought an end to what could have been a long-running dynasty. The Lakers have not won a playoff series since O'Neal was traded in July 2004. Most recently, Bryant was seething after the Lakers were eliminated by the Suns, saying they had to make changes as quickly as possible.]]> baobabaesthetic 3 31-05-2007 baobabae@baobabaesthetic.com test-post-kobe-from-la-times

Hello world! Hello world! Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!]]> Mr WordPress 30-05-2007 To delete a comment, just log in and view the post's comments. There you will have the option to edit or delete them.]]> http://wordpress.org/ 1 baobabaesthetic 1 30-05-2007 baobabae@baobabaesthetic.com hello-world

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Test Post - Kobe from LA Times Test Post - Kobe from LA Times Continuing a week that has been as close to unforgettable as any in the Lakers' rich history, Kobe Bryant has said he wants to be traded from the Lakers. Maybe. "I would like to be traded, yeah," Bryant told ESPN radio. "Tough as it is to come to that conclusion there's no other alternative." But, not more than a couple of hours later, Bryant went on AM 570 and seemed to soften his demand to be traded. "I can only hope that they do something because I don't want to go no place else. I don't want to," he said. "I want to stay here. I hope they can do something." Bryant said he had been soothed by a call from Lakers Coach Phil Jackson. The two discussed a passage from a story in Tuesday's editions of the Los Angeles Times that read, "Nevertheless, as a Lakers insider notes, it was Bryant's insistence on getting away from Shaquille O'Neal that got them in this mess." From the outside, the conversation dripped with irony: The coach and his player, ex-adversaries a few years back, now propping each other up. "He stayed optimistic and said you know what, 'I can't blame you for feeling this way,' " Bryant said. "I've just got to be optimistic. We want our players who are playing for this team to feel comfortable, to feel that they can trust the people that they're around. He said, 'Let us try to work that out, let us try to figure things out and I'm confident that we can do that.' "That made me feel a lot better because Phil is a guy that I lean on a lot. I lean on him all season for clarity, I lean on him for, like, hope." Bryant, who turns 29 in August, has four years and $88.6 million left on his contract. Bryant's frustration has continued to boil since the Lakers were eliminated by the Phoenix Suns in five games earlier this month, and Bryant has been increasingly vocal with his displeasure, which started with his acknowledgment to The Times last Saturday, when he said he wanted the team to acquire more pieces around him. "We are aware of the media reports," Lakers owner Jerry Buss said in a statement. "However, Kobe has not told us directly that he wants to be traded. We have made it very clear that we are building our team around Kobe and that we intend for him to be a Laker his entire career. We will speak directly to Kobe and until we do that, we will not comment publicly about this." Despite Bryant's initial trade declaration, it will not be as easy as it appears for the Lakers to move him to another team. Bryant will obviously waive his no-trade clause, but he has a trade kicker in his contract that will add $9.5 million to his total contract value, a cost to be absorbed by any team that acquires him. The money would be paid like a signing bonus and would be spread out over several seasons toward the new team's salary cap. The Lakers had to pay a similar fee to Lamar Odom when they acquired him from Miami three years ago, paying him about $8 million. Bryant was acquired as a fresh-faced teenager in 1996 and the Lakers had the nucleus of a three-championship run when Shaquille O'Neal was signed a week later as a free agent. Together, at the best of times, O'Neal and Bryant were an unbeatable tandem. But, at their worst, they bickered incessantly and brought an end to what could have been a long-running dynasty. The Lakers have not won a playoff series since O'Neal was traded in July 2004. Most recently, Bryant was seething after the Lakers were eliminated by the Suns, saying they had to make changes as quickly as possible.]]> baobabaesthetic 3 31-05-2007 baobabae@baobabaesthetic.com test-post-kobe-from-la-times

Hello world! Hello world! Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!]]> Mr WordPress 30-05-2007 To delete a comment, just log in and view the post's comments. There you will have the option to edit or delete them.]]> http://wordpress.org/ 1 baobabaesthetic 1 30-05-2007 baobabae@baobabaesthetic.com hello-world