Kobe Bryant: Why Comments About Embarrassing Lakers to Be Heard Are Childish

Kobe Bryant lamented to Peter Vecsey of the New York Post that he has to publicly embarrass the Lakers’ brass in order to get change in Los Angeles.

He came off bitter, sarcastic and upset when talking about his relationship with the people who make decisions on his team's roster and payroll.

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“Hey, I’m just a player. I have no input concerning anything that happens here.” Bryant said. “In fact, I learned we’d hired our coach from reading it online. I can’t remember the last time I had a conversation with Jimmy [Buss, managing owner].

Occasionally, I’ll cross paths with Mitch [Kupchak, general manager] and we’ll speak for a couple minutes about nothing really."

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He related his current disaffection to his outburst in the spring of 2007 that landed them Pau Gasol the next season and helped lead them to three straight Finals appearances with two wins.

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“I’ve never known what’s going on. That’s why I went public [in May 2007] and demanded a trade. When it became obvious to me that management wasn’t trying to compete for a championship, I felt my only recourse was to embarrass [owner Jerry Buss] into doing it.”

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This is typical of No. 24, a superstar who pouts when he doesn’t get his way and wears his emotions on his sleeve.

Instead of showing up to practice and games every day, playing his hardest and biting his tongue during press conferences, he will noticeably sulk and cause chaos within the organization by declaring his unhappiness to anyone who will listen.

It’s worked before when Jerry Buss ran the show, but his son Jim does not have the same relationship or respect for the superstar.

He shouldn’t, and so far proved he won’t, make roster and personnel decisions on the whim of an aging prima donna.

When Vecsey asked Kobe about his thoughts on the upcoming season (the interview took place before the Christmas Day loss to the Bulls), he gave what comes off as a very insincere outlook.

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“We’re going to be perfect,” he said. “I have a good feeling about how things are going to turn out.”

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With the Lakers at 1-2, with their only win coming against a helpless Utah Jazz team, Bryant cannot actually feel optimistic about the Lakers’ chances to win it all again.

Give L.A. credit for trying to acquire Chris Paul in the offseason, but it ultimately failed and they lost Lamar Odom in the process.

After the meltdown, the Lakers were unable to make any significant additions to bolster the roster and ended up with an overrated Josh McRoberts, an aging Troy Murphy and an ineffective Jason Kapono.

If Kobe truly had no say on these moves and they don’t pan out, and it’s looking unlikely that this cast of misfits wins a championship, you know he is going to be extremely upset with management.

While it would be crazy if he asked for another trade, you can certainly expect Kobe to start getting very vocal about his dissatisfaction with the team and his desire to get outside help.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, it’s just Kobe being Kobe and something they will have to deal with if they continue building around him.