— Note, this is not complete. I’m tired and am quitting for now, but I’ll come back and do part 2 later. —

He was the best of players; he was the worst of players.

I cannot think of a another player in the NBA that sparks the intensity of debate that Kobe Bryant does. Some (like Charles Barkley) say he is selfish and a disease to a team. Others (including Larry Bird), say he is the best player in the NBA.

The debate is made more complicated by the staggering amount of misinformation actively circulating about Kobe Bryant. In fact, too often Kobe debates aren’t differences of opinion, but factual disputes. What is true? What really happened and what really HYPE-ned?!

So I’ve decided to try to provide a fresh (and painstakingly factual) look at Kobe.

My aim isn’t to persuade you to like or dislike him. Besides, it’s too late for that anyways — most people have their minds made up about Bryant.

This piece is simply a compilation of verified facts which can be researched yourself on the Internet. I’ve just put them here in one
place so that we can all easily get up to speed and begin to speak from a factual basis, and raise the I.Q. of some of the debate about Kobe.

RELEVANT TIMELINE

- October 2003 -

Shaq uses preseason games and interviews to shame Jerry Buss publicly into paying him more money. O’Neal talked about his pay (or lack thereof) a pregame interview, then in the third quarter, after making six straight shots and emphatically blocking a shot by Mike Dunleavy, Shaq turned to the Lakers bench and yelled, “Now you gonna pay me?” Later, during a timeout, O’Neal mouthed to reporters, “Pay me.” The next game, O’Neal shouted to reporters, “Show me the money! Show me the money!”

Interestingly, Shaq’s contract wasn’t even up that year, Kobe’s was.  Think about that a moment. And which selfish player was deliberately and publicly humiliating the Lakers for more money?

- April 2004 -

According to Kobe, Jerry Buss has already told Kobe that he plans to trade Shaquille O’Neal while he can still get good consideration for him.

Meanwhile, Shaq’s points per game has dropped by 6 from the previous season, and his free throw shooting dropped from 62% to 49%.

In fact, Shaq is no longer the NBA’s most dominate big man, although most people hadn’t yet figured it out.  Tim Duncan led Shaq in points per game, rebounding, blocked shots, assists and free throw percentage. About the only thing Shaq led Duncan in was turnovers per game.

- June 15, 2004 -

The Detroit Pistons defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in 5 games to win the NBA championship.

- June 17, 2004 -

The Lakers inform Phil Jackson that he is no longer their coach. Shaquille O’Neal demands to be traded. Kobe Bryant becomes an unrestricted free agent. Obviously, this was NOT a good day for Lakers fans.

- June 27, 2004 -

Shaq tells the Riverside Press-Enterprise in an interview,

“Unfortunately, it has come to this. But I want the fans to know that it’s not me. They said it’s about the money. It’s not about the money, It’s about honesty, and the honesty me and Jerry West had. That’s been gone for four years now … It ain’t about the extension. Of course, that’s what they are going to make it out to be.”

At the time, most of us scoffed at this, but now that Kobe has demanded to be traded, it is REALLY interesting to read that Shaq
claimed in 2004 that the reason he wants to be traded from the Lakers is because he has trust issues with their front office, and that he only trusts Jerry West. WOW!

- July 13, 2004 -

Jerry Buss tells Ross Siler of the Los Angeles Daily News, that he has been “on the fence” about trading O’Neal since negotiations for a two-year contract extension broke off last season.

I repeat, in July of 2004, Jerry Buss told reporters that he had been considering trading Shaq since negotiations broke off during the 2002 - 2003 season.

This means that Buss and O’Neal’s negotiations broke down just PRIOR to Shaq’s “pay me” antics during the preseason, which makes total sense. Shaq was expressing a fresh frustration over salary discussions gone bad, and his antics literally confirm Dr. Buss’s side of the story.

Buss said he offered to make O’Neal the NBA’s highest-paid player for the rest of his career but Shaq demanded more. Remember, Shaquille O’Neal’s salary was “grandfathered” because his contract was set before an NBA collective bargaining agreement put a limit on salaries. Ultimately, Buss said, O’Neal left him no choice but to make the trade.

“Shaq is the most dominant player in the game,” Buss said. “There’s no doubt about that. The question is if I wait until he isn’t the most dominant player in the game, will I get adequate replacements? And that’s just a question of judgment.

“I don’t think anybody actually knows. Maybe I’m trading him too soon, maybe I’m trading him too late. I really don’t know. It just seems to me that everything considered, the entire scenario, that it is now time.”

Having already parted with Phil Jackson, and having decided long ago that Shaq may need to go, with Karl Malone injured and contemplating retirement, and with Gary Payton not meshing at all with the Lakers, and then being soundly whipped by the Detroit Pistons, you can see why the Lakers made it no secret that re-signing Kobe Bryant was the Lakers’ top priority. Sorry if those public statements offended you, Shaq.

Also, the timing of everything unfortunately coincided with Kobe’s free agency, and left a perception that Kobe had forced the changes, a perception which Buss disputed directly in this interview.

“The decision with Phil and the decision with Shaq was made totally independent of Kobe,” he said.

- July 14, 2004 -

After listening closely to other offers from the Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks, Kobe narrowed his choices to the Clippers and the Lakers. Then after what he called a “tough decision,” Kobe decided this night to play for the Lakers. He later said, “I could see myself playing for the Clippers. [But] ultimately, it was in my heart to play for the Lakers.”

- July 15, 2004 -

Kobe Bryant signs a seven year deal worth $136.4 million

- July 16, 2004 -

At a press conference, Kobe Bryant insisted he had nothing to do with the departures of O’Neal and former head coach Phil Jackson.

“That upsets me. That angers me. That hurts me,” Kobe Bryant said. “They did what they had to do. That had nothing to do with me. In a perfect world, we would have all come back and won another (championship).”

- Summer 2004 -

At the time, the NEW Lakers could have looked something like this:

Point Guards -

Gary Payton, Derek Fisher, Chucky Atkins, Sasha Vujacic

Shooting Guards -

Kobe Bryant, Devean George, Kareem Rush

Small Forwards -

Caron Butler, Luke Walton, Brian Cook

Power Forwards -

Karl Malone, Lamar Odom, Rick Fox

Centers -

Brian Grant, Slava Medvedenko, Vlade Divac

In hindsight, the Lakers actually looked pretty good at the point guard, shooting guard, small forward and power forward positions. They were of course, severely lacking at center. However, at this time in the NBA, pretty much everyone bar Houston was lacking at center.

Had the Lakers kept Phil Jackson, they actually might have stayed an elite team. Jackson is used to overcoming weakness at the center position by “committee,” and the Lakers improved substantially over their previous team at the point guard, small forward and power forward positions.

Caron Butler, as you know, is now an all-star. Lamar Odom probably would have been an all star this season were it not for injury. Chucky Atkins isn’t great, but certainly better than Smush Parker.