Teammates unhappy with Bryant regime

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Email

What were the Lakers thinking this summer when they let Kobe Bryant dictate whom the team acquired in the offseason?

Everyone knows they were desperate to re-sign Bryant, but once you give up that type of power to a player, he isn't giving it back.

Since making his free agent power play this summer, Kobe already has helped exile Shaquille O'Neal, Gary Payton and Derek Fisher. Kareem Rush was given away last week for two second-round picks.

Tuesday, Bryant nailed the door shut on a Karl Malone return to the Lakers.

In a radio interview, Bryant said he didn't think Malone was coming back, then criticized the Mailman for leaving the team up in the air.

"It's not really fair to hold it over the guys' heads that are here," Bryant said. "The guys that we have here are working hard, practicing hard every day. It's kind of tough for them to be looking over their shoulder, wondering if he's going to come back and then everybody is going to disappear.

"It's really not fair for us to sit around and speculate how long this is going to go on. I mean, you can't sit up here and speculate for the remainder of the season whether or not he is going to come back. I mean, that's not fair to the guys that are working here."

But that's not the worst of it.

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Email
• Subscribe

Chad Ford | email

Senior Writer, NBA Insider

• Follow
• Archive

• Senior NBA Writer for ESPN.com
• ESPN Insider NBA Draft Analyst since 2002
• Writes ESPN's NBA Draft Top 100 and Lottery Mock Draft