The Los Angeles Lakers signed Kobe Bryant to a two-year $48.5 million extension. A huge deal paying Bryant over $20 million a year.
“This was easy,” Bryant told Yahoo Sports on Monday night. “This wasn’t a negotiation. The Lakers made their offer with cap and building a great team in mind while still taking care of me as a player.
“I simply agreed to the offer.”
Some people were surprised that a player who will be 36 when the season starts in 2014 could command. A common comment on Twitter was that if Bryant were serious about winning a sixth title he’d take the veteran’s minimum and let the Lakers use that space to sign free agents.
Kobe Bryant took to Twitter to defend his contract:
The cap rules players have to be "selfless" on To "help" BILLIONAIRE owners R the same cap rules the owners LOCKED US out to put in #think
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) November 27, 2013
Don't just learn ur sport .. Learn the sports industry #futureathletes
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) November 27, 2013
Btw lakers have max cap space and then some #mitchissharp #bussfamsharp #lakers
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) November 27, 2013
From Kobe Bryant refused to allow NBA to cheapen his superstar value – Yahoo Sports:
"“Most of us have aspirations for being businessmen when our playing careers are over,” Bryant told Yahoo Sports in a corridor of the Verizon Center. “But that starts now. You have to be able to wear both hats. You can’t sit up there and say, ‘Well, I’m going to take substantially less because there’s public pressure, because all of a sudden, if you don’t take less, you don’t give a crap about winning. That’s total bull—-.“I’m very fortunate to be with an organization that understands how to take care of its players, and put a great team out on the floor. They’ve figured out how to do both.“Most players in this league don’t have that. They get stuck in a predicament – probably intentionally done by the teams – to force them to take less money. Meanwhile, the value of the organization goes through the roof off the backs of their quote, unquote selfless players.“It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”"