Lakers waiting on Kobe
Never again will Shaquille O’Neal wear gold and purple. And if that wasn’t stunning enough, consider the idea of Kobe Bryant clad in red.
“We have no idea whether Kobe will come back,” Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak acknowledged Wednesday after completing the trade that sent O’Neal to Miami. “We’re hopeful that he’ll re-sign, but we don’t even know that.”
Wasn’t it just recently that the Lakers were being called — rightly or wrongly — a dynasty?
A better term these days might be “train wreck.”
The plot line and the date of the next chapter of “As the Lakers Unfurl” will become known soon, though no one — except perhaps the publicly silent Bryant — is certain exactly when. The Orange County Register reports that a decision is expected Thursday.
By trading Melvin Ely and Eddie House to Charlotte for two second-round draft picks, the Clippers have cleared enough salary cap space to offer Bryant a maximum-salary contract of about $100 million over six years.
The Lakers can offer Bryant a seventh season in a package worth an additional $30 million, but whatever contract Bryant signs will presumably have an opt-out clause after the fifth season — making the financial value of the two offers much more comparable.
“My guess at this hour is we’ve done everything we can do,” said Kupchak, who reiterated what he said earlier this summer — that the Lakers will not consider any sign-and-trade deals for Bryant.
“I’m hopeful that he’ll make a decision sooner rather than later,” Kupchak said. “I don’t know if it will be tomorrow. I don’t know if it will be Friday. I don’t know if it will be next week. If he chooses to take time, he’ll take time.”
Elsewhere around the league, Rasheed Wallace continued to negotiate with the NBA champion Detroit Pistons, and Erick Dampier was stalling on accepting lucrative offers from Atlanta and Denver in the hope that the New York Knicks would be able to acquire him from Golden State.
One factor working in the Knicks’ favor was their willingness to take on Evan Eschmeyer’s bloated contract, and there were several multi-team trade possibilities being discussed, an NBA source told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
A number of previously agreed upon free agent deals were signed Wednesday, the first day in two weeks that trades could be made and free agents could sign with new teams.
The only signings not previously reported were minor ones — center Jason Collier joining the Atlanta Hawks, and forward Tamar Slay and guard Jason Hart joining Charlotte.
Sonics’ center arrested
Seattle SuperSonics center Vitaly Potapenko, accused of disorderly intoxication and resisting arrest without violence, was arrested after a confrontation with police outside a South Beach nightclub in Miami Beach, Fla.
Potapenko, 29, was arrested around 2 a.m. Sunday after he was denied entry to the Crobar club because he was unsteady on his feet, swaying back and forth, slurring his words and smelling of alcohol, according to a Miami Beach police report.
Potapenko became angered and refused to leave, the report said. Warned that he would be arrested unless he calmed down and left quietly, Potapenko responded with insulting language.