The Los Angeles Lakers are set to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2005, and while it was a relatively quiet deadline for the past Western Conference powerhouse, a trade of Steve Blake to Golden State Warriors has seemed to draw the ire of star Kobe Bryant.
The Lakers pulled off a trade that saved them $4 million in cap space and luxury-tax implications when they landed Kent Bazemore and MarShon Brooks from the Warriors in exchange for Blake, but Bryant took to his official Twitter account to share how unhappy he was to see his teammate Blake get shipped to Golden State.
Bryant had a good relationship with the point guard since he came to L.A. in 2010 and he was often supportive of the way he played over his four years with the team, even anointing Blake with the nickname of "Vino Bianco."
Bryant took to his Twitter to share his frustration with seeing Blake go, and said it was "not cool."
Not cool with @SteveBlake5 being gone AT ALL One of my closest teammates and psycho competitor GS picked up gem #smartmove
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) February 20, 2014
Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak explained the move after the trade was made. "It really got to the point where we needed to free up some time in the backcourt to look at Jordan [Farmar] and give Kendall [Marshall] the time that he's earned and let's review and evaluate where we are with those two players," Kupchak said via ESPN. "And the other part of it is, we got back two young players that are developing."
After 18 seasons spent with Bryant on the Lakers, Kupchak knows that the star will often voice his opinion and he's gotten used to it by now.
"I'm sure he'll tell me the players that he'd like to have, and if it's in line with what we would like to have, then I think there will be some influence," Kupchak said per ESPN. "But if we're on opposite ends, then there probably won't be much influence."
Bryant, 35, has been sidelined since Dec. 17 with a fracture in his left knee and he may not return this season. The team's performance thus far hasn't exactly inspired Bryant to rush back until he's 100% healthy as the team is 18-36 and tied with the Sacramento Kings on the bottom of the Western Conference.
Kupchak said he doesn't expect the team to rush Bryant back.
"We're not going to push him to get back," Kupchak said. "I don't see why you would. We've made a commitment to him for two more years, and I just don't know why we'd do that [push him to come back]. But if he feels he's ready and he's in shape and he gets the doctor's approval, then there's no reason why he couldn't do that."
Though Bryant was unhappy to see a teammate and friend go during a lost season for the Lakers, he'll definitely return by next season in hopes to bring the team back to the level that it's used to competing at.
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