Whether unlikely or not, rumors have persisted about the Los Angeles Lakers trading superstar Kobe Bryant to the New York Knicks. One NBA team president said it's not going to happen, despite what some in the NBA world are saying.
Bryant wants a sixth championship, but he appears to want to finish his career with the Lakers more. He's already said he doesn't want to play for another team - no matter how bad the Lakers are playing - and the purported no-trade clause in his contract pretty much ends it at that.
His stated desires to retire as a Laker don't seem to be a smokescreen, either. Forbes quoted a rival team president as saying Bryant isn't going anywhere.
"I don't see them trading Kobe, not at all," the rival NBA team president recently told Forbes. "The Lakers almost have to keep him, as much for business reasons as anything else, and I believe that's what they're going to do."
Two reports in November indicated Bryant would at least consider leaving the Lakers, and Rick Fox, who played with Bryant from 1997 to 2004, said during an interview with Larry King he "wouldn't put it past" Bryant to leave Los Angeles for New York.
"If there is not a real opportunity for [Bryant] to win a championship there, the thought of him leaving may shock Lakers fans," Fox told King, according to FanSided. "But I wouldn't put it past him going in search of one or two more championships. Personally, I think it's going to get done in New York. I really do. I just believe in Phil. I've been around him. I know Kobe has had his greatest success with Phil in a leadership capacity. So the reuniting of the two is not an unrealistic thought."
Despite the team's struggles, Bryant has returned nicely from last season's knee injury and is averaging 27.5 points per game.
