Ticked at Kobe, Mailman abandons Laker return

[greasywheels121]

Agent says Malone feels betrayed

Associated Press

 

LOS ANGELES -- Karl Malone has ruled out a return to the Los Angeles Lakers because of comments made by Kobe Bryant in a radio interview, Malone's agent said Tuesday.

 

"Karl is furious," agent Dwight Manley said. "He felt very disrespected and betrayed after personally being the first to stand up for Kobe over the last year throughout his rape charge and all he went through."

 

Manley said remarks made by Bryant on Monday, coupled with what the agent called "recent personal attacks made in private," led Malone to his decision.

 

Asked if Malone might play elsewhere, Manley replied: "This certainly opens up that possibility."

 

Bryant told XTRA on Monday he didn't believe Malone, who is recovering from knee surgery, would come back to the Lakers, calling it "just intuition."

 

"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.

 

"They are here giving me 110 percent. 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."

 

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said in a statement he hoped Manley's comments did not accurately reflect Malone's feelings about returning to the Lakers.

 

"If so, it is unfortunate that he would make such a decision based on the reason given," the statement added. "Kobe Bryant's interview ... merely reflected his personal opinion that Karl would probably not return to play this season. Kobe did not at any time state that Karl was not returning, nor was Kobe speaking on behalf of the Lakers management or organization."

 

Malone, 41, told the Lakers on Oct. 1 he was still recovering from arthroscopic surgery he underwent three months earlier on his right knee and wasn't ready to play. But he didn't rule out returning at some point this season or beyond.

 

Malone, the second-leading scorer in NBA history, opted out of his $1.65 million contract following last season, making him a free agent.

 

After playing 18 seasons for the Utah Jazz, Malone joined the Lakers before last season in search of his first championship. He took a pay cut of about $18 million to sign for $1.5 million.

 

"Karl sacrificed financially to come to L.A., he sacrificed personally," Manley said. "He put his name and reputation on the line, put his arm around Kobe and said he was a good kid, tried to be his friend, told people to give him the benefit of the doubt.

 

"And now, basically, to get stabbed in the back, that's how he feels. This has ended any possibility of Karl returning to the Lakers in any capacity.

 

Malone and Bryant live about six blocks apart in Newport Beach.

 

Manley said his client is fully recovered from knee surgery and 100 percent physically.

 

"Karl will have something to say, probably in the next month or so, about his future," Manley said. "It will likely be after the first of the year. I'm personally crossing my fingers that he decides to play."

 

Several teams, including San Antonio, Minnesota and Miami, expressed interest in Malone during the offseason.

 

While with the Lakers, Malone was one of the few players who was close with both Bryant and O'Neal. Bryant signed a $136.4 million contract last summer to remain with the Lakers while O'Neal was traded to Miami.

 

Malone played in 1,434 of a possible 1,444 regular-season games with the Jazz, but missed 40 games with the Lakers -- 39 after tearing a knee ligament Dec. 21 against Phoenix.

 

He returned in March and played a key role as the Lakers reached the NBA Finals before losing to the Detroit Pistons in five games.

 

Malone reinjured his knee in Game 2 of the finals, was limited in Games 3 and 4 and didn't play in Game 5. The Lakers lost the last three games.

 

Malone had played in 193 straight playoff games with the Jazz and Lakers before having to sit out the last game of the finals.

 

Considered one of the best power forwards in NBA history, Malone averaged a career-low 13.2 points and 8.7 rebounds in 42 games last season, leaving him with career averages of 25.0 points and 10.1 rebounds.

 

His 36,928 points in 1,476 games trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who finished his career with 38,387 points in 1,560 games.

[qwerty]

You notice how he says.

 

 

"They are here giving me 110 percent.''

[greasywheels121]

I've never liked Kobe, even before the charges were put up against him.

[Gene Honda Civic]

Biggest.Ass.Evar

[qwerty]

He will play for the spurs, they have had alot of interest in him for a long time now.

[LowerCaseRepublican]

Can we now refer to the Lakers from now on as "Kobe and the Pips" starring Kobe Ross?

[Chisoxfn]

I heard the comments on the radio and didn't see the big deal.

[DBAHO]

Karl Malone.

Kobe Bryant. :fyou

[Palehosefan]

I can't stand Kobe or Malone, so I can't say I'm not enjoying this :-). I hope the Heat can get him in to help Shaq though, even though I never have been a big Shaq fan either, whatever it takes to win

[LowerCaseRepublican]

I can't stand Kobe or Malone, so I can't say I'm not enjoying this :-). I hope the Heat can get him in to help Shaq though, even though I never have been a big Shaq fan either, whatever it takes to win 

Well, whatever it takes for Kobe to be completely embarassed and everybody figuring out he's a selfish douchebag.

[Jordan4life_2007]

So Kobe has managed to chase away, in one form or another, two future hall of famers and a hall of fame coach. Way to go "Next Mj."

[The Critic]

Can we now refer to the Lakers from now on as "Kobe and the Pips" starring Kobe Ross? 

No, because Gladys Knight performed with the Pips, and Diana Ross was a Supreme...

[southsider2k5]

That's great. Two of the biggest egos in the game right there...

[WilliamTell]

The problem is that Malone backed Bryant all of last year. No one knows what went on in the clubhouse, but I can assure you that Malone was behind Bryant's problems 100%. I have come to 2 conclusions about Bryant's comments. 1. He feels betrayed by Bryant because after sticking up for him, he goes on and talks about Malone not being there. or 2. He's looking for an excuse to get out of L.A. Even though he said he'd come back to the Lakers, he may have changed his mind and this is the perfect way to get out. Either way, I don't blame Malone at all. Sure he's 41, but he's in better shape than 90% of the players and has a harder work ethic than anyone I've ever seen play. As far as him having an ego, I think it's toned down a bit. It's not like it was when he was in Utah.

[Spiff]

No, because Gladys Knight performed with the Pips, and Diana Ross was a Supreme...

haha, good catch.

[DBAHO]

Bumping this thread because I saw this piece of news or "tabloidism"

 

"After the game Vanessa told Bryant that Malone had come on to her, and said several inappropriate things. She also told Bryant that she had called Malone's wife and asked Kaye to get her husband away from her."

[Dick Allen]

Bumping this thread because I saw this piece of news or "tabloidism" 

I was at the Eifel Tower in Paris in September. Kobe was in front of me in line with his wife and daughter. A couple people asked him for an autograph, but he said he was on vacation so he wouldn't sign. His wife is hot. I didn't see that diamond Kobe gave her as a make up present. What was funny was we were flying home about a week and a half later, my wife was reading a People Magazine, or something similar, and it claimed that on the night we saw them Kobe's wife moved out of their home back to her parents' home. They had a time line for the couple of days before. It all was BS. So I doubt Malone would make a play for her, and think this latest thing is totally made up. I don't know why people give Kobe crap for saying the guys are giving HIM 110%. Everyone loved Michael Jordan when he referred to his teammates as his supporting cast.

[DBAHO]

I was at the Eifel Tower in Paris in September. Kobe was in front of me in line with his wife and daughter. A couple people asked him for an autograph, but he said he was on vacation so he wouldn't sign.  His wife is hot. I didn't see that diamond Kobe gave her as a make up present. What was funny was we were flying home about a week and a half later, my wife was reading a People Magazine, or something similar, and it claimed that on the night we saw them Kobe's wife moved out of their home back to her parents' home. They had a time line for the couple of days before. It all was BS. So I doubt Malone would make a play for her, and think this latest thing is totally made up.  I don't know why people give Kobe crap for saying the guys are giving HIM 110%. Everyone loved Michael Jordan when he referred to his teammates as his supporting cast.

At least Jordan was a role model and a model citizen, no way you can say that about Kobe. He could be the biggest cancer in the league (Who am I kidding, Glenn Robinson had that sewn up from day 1).

[Texsox]

Dropping the "me" part in his statement for a moment.

 

Slightly rephrased makes sense for a coach to say

"we are playing with the guys who are here and can give 110% to the team. To have any player wonder if their position is dependent on *if* a player will un-retire and join this team is unfair to the players, unhealthy for the team, and unfair to Malone."

 

Somewhere in Kobe's statement I think is concern for his teammate who may be sitting there wondering if he is just warming a seat for Malone. I can understand wanting to encourage your current teammate. But the way Kobe said it was just wrong. But then again, I am not a Kobe fan.

[Palehosefan]

In an ESPN Insider article on "The Kobe Way" here are some paraphrased comments.

 

Kobe was the reason the team got rid of Shaq, Payton, Fisher, Kareem Rush, and now Karl Malone.

 

Talks about Kobe's comments of the Mailman holding his decision over the Lakers heads and how hypocritical Kobe is being because just this offseason Kobe held his own FA status over the entire team wondering if Kobe was going to bolt to the Clippers.

 

Then it talks about Kobe's "giving me 110% comment" saying that it wasn't a slip of the tongue. That a "league source told Insider that Bryant was ruling the Lakers with an iron fist, getting in players faces and acting as if he owned the team. According to one agent, Bryant even threatened to trade his client if he didn't do things The Kobe Way."

 

"I got the feeling that everyone there is pretty miserable." one agent told Insider. "I know my guy wants out, and he claims others do too. "

[Jordan4life_2007]

I don't know why people give Kobe crap for saying the guys are giving HIM 110%. Everyone loved Michael Jordan when he referred to his teammates as his supporting cast.

Actually, Jordan got hated on for a lot of the same stuff Kobe gets hated on for today. But Jordan answered all that hate with 6 titles in his last 6 full years in the league. Bellieve me, if Kobe wins a couple titles the hate will go down dramatically.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Bumping this thread because I saw this piece of news or "tabloidism" 

I don't know if any of this is true or not. But the Lakers are no longer the Lakers. They're the LA Kobies. If it's not Eagle Colarado, or Shaq, or Phil, it's Malone. And in two weeks it will be something else.

[LosMediasBlancas]

At least Jordan was a role model and a model citizen, no way you can say that about Kobe. He could be the biggest cancer in the league (Who am I kidding, Glenn Robinson had that sewn up from day 1). 

I hope that wink is about the Jordan comment.

[hammerhead johnson]

From the LA Times writer T.J. Simers:

 

The Soap Opera Behind Bryant-Malone Drama

 

I'm going to write two words here, and while they might disgust you, I'm going to ask you not to immediately crumple your newspaper and throw it across the room.

 

OK, here goes: Kobe Bryant.

 

There's almost nothing you can say these days as it relates to the Lakers without drawing a line in the stands between the Kobe lovers and the Kobe haters, and now here's more fodder to ponder.

 

Both Bryant and Karl Malone — speaking through his agent, Dwight Manley — confirmed Saturday night that they had a major falling out involving Bryant's wife, Vanessa, two weeks before the Bryant radio interview that had supposedly ticked off Malone so much.

 

Before Saturday night's game with the Clippers, Bryant listened as I relayed the story that's going around town, and when I finished, he said, that's true.

 

On Nov. 23, the night the Lakers played the Bucks at Staples Center, Vanessa was talking on the phone to Malone's wife, Kaye. Kaye gave Vanessa her husband's cellphone number, and Vanessa called Malone, who was sitting at courtside, and invited Malone's child to join her.

 

Malone, wearing cowboy boots and a hat, eventually took the child to Vanessa.

 

Malone hugged Vanessa, and then Vanessa asked — as Manley recounts this part of the story — "Hey, cowboy, what are you hunting?"

 

"She said it twice," Manley said, "and Karl answered the second time, 'I'm hunting for little Mexican girls.' "

 

After the game Vanessa told Bryant that Malone had come on to her, and said several inappropriate things. She also told Bryant that she had called Malone's wife and asked Kaye to get her husband away from her.

 

Bryant called Malone on his cellphone after the game, and Bryant laid into Malone. Bryant said Malone didn't have much to say in return and didn't deny anything.

 

What's a husband supposed to do when your wife tells you something like that? Bryant wanted to know as we talked.

 

Bryant said he was uncomfortable discussing the incident and he would have preferred to keep it quiet, but the New York Post reported this week that Malone was seen giving Vanessa a big hug, and then "somehow Malone managed to cross Vanessa" and got on her "frosty side."

 

 

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AFTER I talked to Bryant, I relayed the same story to Manley and asked for the opportunity to talk to Malone and hear his version.

 

"Karl wants me to give you two messages," Manley said after calling Malone. "He never hit on Vanessa, nor would he…. In fact, when he first heard about [the accusation], he said, 'You have to be kidding me.'

 

"As for the comments he made to her that offended her personally, he told both her and Kobe that night that he apologized."

 

Manley said that after Malone apologized, "Kobe followed that with a string of threats."

 

Bryant said he was upset but he said that he made no threats and was only coming to the defense of his wife, and that he told Malone to stay away from his wife.

 

Bryant said when he did the radio interview with XTRA (690/1150) he never mentioned anything about the simmering feud between the two because he didn't want to take personal shots at Malone.

 

Manley said Bryant called the Malone home the next day with more threats, and that Malone's wife listened in on a speaker phone.

 

Bryant said that both he and his wife called the Malones the next day in an attempt to work things out but failed.

 

The Bryants' second-day phone call and continuing accusations infuriated Malone and that led him to effectively end his relationship with the Lakers. The subsequent radio interview with XTRA allowed the rift between the two to go public without any mention of the soap opera — until now.

 

 

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KOBE BRYANT.

 

The other day those two words came up while the daughter and I were speaking at the all-girls Marlborough School, and when Miss Radio Personality heard them, she said, "I hate Kobe Bryant."

 

Many of the athletes in the room — ranging from seventh to 12th grade — began standing, cheering and applauding, which made it difficult to hear me when I told them Miss Radio Personality had no idea what she was talking about.

 

It's becoming tougher and tougher to defend Bryant — even in my own home.

 

I told Bryant right now in the estimation of many folks he's the "rat's behind of the world," although I don't think I used the word "behind," and that he appears to be losing ground in a city he once owned.

 

"I know," he said. "I've got to get out there with people more. I will. I'm loosening up, and I'll get better. I know what I've got to do."

 

I know this. He's got a lot to do if he's going to ever change the mind of Miss Radio Personality.

 

 

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[Soxfest]

KB looking for sympathy what a dumbass.