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jk9999990
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Post subject: Jackson doesn't foresee trading Bryant
 Posted: Dec 24, 2007 - 12:29 PM PST
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Big-Time Laker Fan
Joined: Aug 04, 2007
Posts: 747
  
Status: Offline
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NEW YORK -- The trade deadline is almost two months away, but Coach Phil Jackson doesn't see Kobe Bryant going anywhere, the strongest such statement by a Lakers official that their top player will still be theirs at season's end.
"There just [aren't] any comparable situations," Jackson said. "It's like giving up a diamond for some garnets, whatever, I don't know."
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Lakers 95, Knicks 90
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The trade deadline is Feb. 21.
Jackson also chuckled at Bryant's revelation Saturday to reporters that the Knicks were one of the teams on his destination list during the off-season.
"He was just being kind," Jackson said. "That wasn't a serious issue."
Down the road, however, Jackson acknowledged that Bryant could terminate his contract after next season, which would leave two years and $47.8 million on the table but would make him a free agent.
"His contract has an option," Jackson said. "There's an actual situation that evolves for him."
Like the Lakers, Lamar Odom couldn't sustain his level of play after a strong start Sunday against the New York Knicks.
He scored nine points in the first quarter but didn't have any the rest of the way and committed an ill-timed flagrant foul on Knicks guard Jamal Crawford late in the game.
Crawford made two free throws and, after the Knicks kept possession, scored on a running 14-footer to bring New York to within 89-83 with 3:31 left. Odom fouled out a little more than a minute later. The Lakers held on to win, 95-90.
"He made some mistakes out there in the second half," Jackson said. "I thought he lost his focus a little bit. But he did a pretty good job on Zach [Randolph]. We'll give him that credit."
Indeed, Odom helped hold the Knicks' power forward to 11 points, 7.3 below his average.
Mindful that a 26-13 start last season turned into a 42-40 record and a first-round playoff exit, Jackson is hoping to limit players' minutes.
"We're watching our time of our starters," he said. "We're trying to eliminate, hopefully, mistakes that can happen that lead to injuries like Lamar and Kwame [Brown] . . . Luke Walton, and so forth. We've got a good bench this year that gives us some support and helps us out a lot."
Walton sat out Sunday's game because of a sprained right ankle sustained in Friday's victory over Philadelphia. He said he hoped to play Tuesday against Phoenix.
Brian Shaw isn't trying to be cooler than cool by wearing sunglasses on the Lakers' bench.
The assistant coach is still sensitive to light after undergoing surgery to repair a blood vessel near the retina in his left eye.
"I've been called it all -- Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Kool Moe Dee," Shaw said. "Everyone says, 'Shaw, you're inside, you can take your shades off now.'
"In arenas, I have to wear those sunglasses because it's so bright. When I put the sunglasses on, it feels normal. They say it's going to be like that for a while. I just have to grin and bear it."
mike.bresnahan@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lak ... ?track=rss |
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colbertandlakers
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Post subject: RE: Jackson doesn't foresee trading Bryant
Posted: Jan 05, 2008 - 02:23 AM PST
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Serious Laker Fan
Joined: Nov 19, 2007 Age: 15
Posts: 480
votes: 2
Status: Offline
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| I seriously do not believe Kobe will be traded, the media tends to hang on to certain topics, this is one of them. |
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