Kobe Bryant on Extension with Lakers: ‘This Wasn’t a Negotiation’



UPDATE: Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 5:55 pm EST by Adam Fromal

When Kobe Bryant spoke to the media on Tuesday, he made it pretty clear that his contract negotiations weren't negotiations at all. The Lakers knew what they wanted going into the meetings with the Mamba, and the result was a short temporal gap between sitting down and standing up. 



It's also worth noting that the deal was made before Kobe played a single game. On the heels of the Derrick Rose injury, this is a big deal. 



Of course, leave it to Kobe to provide ambiguous updates about his own injury: 



Next, he addressed how his play might change a bit upon his return from the Achilles injury: 



The Mamba also confirmed what many of us thought. Namely that this is probably his last contract before retiring as a member of Lakers Nation for life: 



And what Kobe session would be complete without a not-so-subtle jab at someone? In this case, that someone is David Stern. 



Oh, Kobe. Never change. 

--End of update--

 

Original Text

Kobe Bryant makes no apologies, so expect none.

The Los Angeles Lakers announced on Monday that they had agreed to a two-year extension with the 35-year-old Mamba, a deal that ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported is worth $48.5 million:



On the heels of signing his new pact, Kobe faced storms of criticism. Nearly $50 million? For an aging, currently injured volume shooter? How selfish. He should've signed for less, given the Lakers a steep discount, enabling them to sign LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony this summer. What gives him the right to demand that much coin?

Turns out he didn't demand anything.

"This was easy," Kobe told Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. "This wasn't ...

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