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Yeah pay out the nose for Kobe, as he has delivered so many titles since Shaq left town. Hey that MVP trophy is a nice consolation prize with that Gold medal draped over it. Phil will leave to grow hippie lettuce in the hills of Montana and play the bongo's naked with Jerry's daughter.

Jerry Buss doesn't need to care about the luxury tax, he can always raise the ticket prices to keep his profit. You know in LA, they pay anything just to see kobe and the Lakers.

I can only hope this is not a ploy to keep Kobe happy this year. A four-year 100 mil contract will be fair to both sides. Anything more than that will be bad for the Lakers future.

QUOTE(#1):

Originally posted 06:40 AM ET  11.10 by Vaughn9

Yeah pay out the nose for Kobe, as he has delivered so many titles since Shaq left town. Hey that MVP trophy is a nice consolation prize with that Gold medal draped over it. Phil will leave to grow hippie lettuce in the hills of Montana and play the bongo's naked with Jerry's daughter.

Spoken like a true Spurs fan... Hey how is TP doing?

**** the spurs. i despise everything about them. man..the good ol days when olajuwon schooled david robinson. ahhhhhh

It's about time an owner is willing to give up some of those millions in profit for the betterment of the team... 99% of the time, the owner would never pay $10 of those 100 million in profits...

Jerry Buss knows what it takes to make the organization very successful. Signing these 2 guys are a must especially Kobe is becoming to be the ultimate team player. Kobe and the Lakers killed Houston last night. The only way to play against a physical defender is to be physical in return and that's what Kobe did to Ron Artest.

Save that money and go after Lebron James!

QUOTE(#1):

Originally posted 06:40 AM ET  11.10 by Vaughn9

Yeah pay out the nose for Kobe, as he has delivered so many titles since Shaq left town. Hey that MVP trophy is a nice consolation prize with that Gold medal draped over it. Phil will leave to grow hippie lettuce in the hills of Montana and play the bongo's naked with Jerry's daughter.

The Lakers were beginning to rebuild when Shaq left town. How long did it take Boston to get back to the Finals?

QUOTE(#1):

Originally posted 06:40 AM ET  11.10 by Vaughn9

Yeah pay out the nose for Kobe, as he has delivered so many titles since Shaq left town. Hey that MVP trophy is a nice consolation prize with that Gold medal draped over it. Phil will leave to grow hippie lettuce in the hills of Montana and play the bongo's naked with Jerry's daughter.

vaughn9, you make it sound like bongos in the raw, a pipeful of loco weed and Miss Jeannie Buss all together at one time is a bad thing....

Phil's got his flaws, but I gotta say the man appears to know how to party.....

"Buss said he would continue to pay luxury taxes on an annual basis "if that's what it takes to win."

Exactly what you want from an owner.....

Of course he is. Buss knows who sells tickets and the luxury tax is more than offset with the amount of money these guys bring in.

You got to do what you need to do to keep that nucleus together.

I hate the Lakers--however, it just makes sense to keep the core of this team intact. Kobe, even with his shortcomings, is the face of the franchise. Buss knows this, and will do whatever it takes. Kobe won't even test the market. There is no story here.

QUOTE(#15):

Originally posted 09:14 AM ET  11.10 by Hllywd: Old Schoolin'

I hate the Lakers--however, it just makes sense to keep the core of this team intact. Kobe, even with his shortcomings, is the face of the franchise. Buss knows this, and will do whatever it takes. Kobe won't even test the market. There is no story here.

I agree he is the face of the Lakers and in this case that is a tremendous thing. Kobe has to have Lakers merchandise flying out the doors year after year. Whether I like him or not he is an icon. More people in the world likely know who Kobe is than who our president is even after the big hooplah of getting our first African American president. The only thing I disagree on is whether or not Kobe is movable. It isn't like other teams don't recognize the status symbol that Kobe has become and the money he would bring any team. I do think he will end up staying with LA but I think it might be more difficult than one would think as other teams start flashing big money.

Dude,

He will definitely opt out and receive plenty of lucrative offers from the league. Unfortunately, teams with enough cap space to offer him the best deal would most likely be the bottom of the barrel teams like OKC and Kobe would NEVER make a move like that. Buss will give him what he wants an dkeep the rest of the team. This team is too young and talented to pass up over a few million bucks in luxury tax that he makes up in merchandise and ticket sales anyway.

QUOTE(#17):

Originally posted 09:35 AM ET  11.10 by EastCoastJessie

Dude,He will definitely opt out and receive plenty of lucrative offers from the league. Unfortunately, teams with enough cap space to offer him the best deal would most likely be the bottom of the barrel teams like OKC and Kobe would NEVER make a move like that. Buss will give him what he wants an dkeep the rest of the team. This team is too young and talented to pass up over a few million bucks in luxury tax that he makes up in merchandise and ticket sales anyway.

I can't disagree there UNLESS some team (Dallas, San Antonio, Suns and the list goes on and on) blow things up and try to rebuild around someone like Kobe. I certainly agree that Kobe wouldn't think about going to a very poor team for a few extra million when he has a chance at another ring AND good pay in LA but strange things happen and the way the Mavs look (and other teams) I can see them blowing things up after this year and other teams have owners who wouldn't hesitate to pay a salary tax for someone like Kobe. This being said, in all honesty I don't see Kobe leaving LA regardless of who does what but it would make it a little more interesting.

QUOTE(#11):

Originally posted 08:51 AM ET  11.10 by TeksMissingPower

vaughn9, you make it sound like bongos in the raw, a pipeful of loco weed and Miss Jeannie Buss all together at one time is a bad thing....Phil's got his flaws, but I gotta say the man appears to know how to party.....

there is nothing wrong with it. I'm sure he'd rather deal with that than Kobe's ego. Phil has to be questioning himself his last two trips to the finals did not go so well for him.

QUOTE(#5):

Originally posted 08:10 AM ET  11.10 by The Shogun of Harlem- Sho'nuff

Spoken like a true Spurs fan... Hey how is TP doing?

He's doing fine with Eva helping the healing process. It's an odd year The Spurs will be fine once Ginobili and TP return.