How Kobe Bryant's Extension Could Work for the Lakers

The Rich Get Richer

Yesterday, Kobe Bryant signed a 2 year extension with the Los Angeles Lakers for a whopping $48.5 million. That is nearly $25 million a year! By all accounts, this is a win for Kobe Bryant. Speaking of the extension, Bryant told reporters that "This was easy…This wasn’t a negotiation. The Lakers made their offer with cap and building a great team in mind while still taking care of me as a player. I simply agreed to the offer."

For Laker fans, this news makes them exceedingly disappointed in Kobe Bryant.  Laker fans expected a huge hometown discount to maximize his chances of winning another ring at age 36. While Kobe did take a slight discount by clearing about 8.5 million off the cap, it was expected that his paycut would be much more steep. 

Other Laker fans were quietly whispering that the Lakers should have sat Kobe Bryant for the entire year and tried to position themselves to draft Andrew Wiggins next year.  This would be the same strategy the Boston Celtics are pursing. There reasoning for this position falls somewhere along the lines of "What is the point of having a mediocre season, likely finishing 8th or 7th, in the Western Conference and being bounced out of the first or second round?"

But for the Lakers, this is a huge risk. Coming off a torn Achilles, there is no telling how Kobe Bryant will perform this year. To give Kobe an extension on his contract when he has yet to return could be a huge mistake.  With the recent injury to Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls, some fear that Kobe Bryant will face a similar fate.  I remind you that Dominique Wilkins is the only NBA player to return to All-Star status from a reattached Achilles tendon. However, Wilkins was 3 years younger than Kobe is now and played 27,000 fewer minutes; There's a lot of wear and tear on Kobe's body.  So can the Black Mamba overcome the greatest challenge of his career?  Time will tell.

Perhaps the only thing that should reassure Laker fans that Kobe will not re-injure himself is that his game is drastically different than Rose's. Bryant is much more fundamentally sound. There are, perhaps, only a handful of players in the league that can play relaying solely on their basketball skills(Tim Duncan, Zach Randolph, Kobe Bryant, Pau & Marc Gasol)  

Here is why Laker fans should be optimistic about the future.

Even with the large amount of money the Lakers will be paying Kobe over the next 2 years, Kobe still has cleared the way for one more max contract player.  If the rumors are true that Carmelo will opt out of his contract with the Knicks and sign with the Lakers, then the Lakers will be in a position to make some noise next year. Since Kobe & Melo are reportedly good friends, the rumors may have some merit. All that is left to do is for Kobe to leverage his friendship with Pau to get him to resign with the Lakers for dirt cheap and for the Lakers to clean up Lamar Odom so he can return to the Lakers in good health.   Meanwhile, sit back and watch Kobe return to greatness this season.