Where the noise did not reach

Chapter 92 When the Little Princess Turns into a Madwoman
Every promise is a labyrinth of the Minotaur, and the builders have already erected new brick walls at the exit.

The situation did not improve after the Lakers defeated the Grizzlies.

Clearly, the Grizzlies are not the crow circling above Staples Center.

They then suffered three consecutive losses, with Kobe averaging 34 points per game, but it was to no avail.

With the trade deadline approaching, the Lakers still haven't made any real progress in trades, and it's unlikely they will. When your most valuable young assets are on the injury list, how can you bring in a star player who can truly help Kobe?

The Lakers suffered their fourth straight loss in Cleveland, with Kobe Bryant playing a poor game, scoring only 28 points.

Then, he heard after the game that the Cavaliers were actively exploring trade options.

Last year, led by fourth-year LeBron James, they made it to the NBA Finals but ultimately lost to the Spurs. This led the Cavaliers to believe that they had entered the ranks of championship contenders and that as long as they brought in a few capable big men for the King, they could compete with other top teams.

The Cavaliers quickly contacted the Bulls; they wanted Ben Wallace.

The Bulls were keen to trade Ben Wallace, and the two sides quickly reached an agreement; it looks like the trade will happen in the next few days.

The Big Ben trade indicates that the Bulls have no intention of achieving results in the short term, and they no longer want Kobe.

This was originally Kobe's preferred team, but after months of back and forth, they decided to go to the lottery. They hoped to have the same luck as the Cavaliers in 2003 and get local talent Derrick Rose with the top three pick.

This incident once again stung Kobe.

He genuinely felt that the Lakers' management was deceiving him, just as Jerry Buss had always used the same rhetoric to appease him in the past few years.

This scheme began in the summer of 2004, when the conflict between Kobe and Shaq had become public. Kobe was determined to leave because it seemed impossible for the Lakers to give up Shaq, who was still the most dominant center in the NBA at the time. However, Jerry Buss had long been tired of Shaq's arrogance and indulgence, so he privately agreed with Kobe that the Lakers would build a championship team around him.

Shaquille O'Neal was traded, and Kobe Bryant subsequently signed a new contract, for which O'Neal bore the brunt of the criticism. However, the Lakers did not deliver on their promises. While they did build a championship-contending team around Kobe, this referred to signing the somewhat immature Andrew Bynum with a lottery pick, trading Caron Butler for Kwame Brown, signing Smush Parker to a minimum contract and making him the Lakers' starting point guard for two consecutive years, and then using their valuable mid-level exception on Vladimir Radmanovic.

The only move that seemed to help the championship race during this period was bringing back Phil Jackson, which still required Kobe's unilateral understanding.

It's worth noting that Jackson and Kobe were bitter enemies during the Shaq-Kobe dynasty. Jackson was a staunch supporter of Shaq and Kobe, and even wrote a book about the 2003-04 season after leaving the Lakers to criticize Kobe. At least two-thirds of the book was dedicated to describing "how awful Kobe was." However, Kobe still reconciled with him. Just think about how this guy was so obsessive that he could sue his parents. You'll understand how incredible that is.

However, without a good roster, even the best coach can't be effective. The Lakers were eliminated in the first round, then again in the first round, and Kobe finally couldn't take it anymore and requested a trade. But at the beginning of the season, he wavered because of the Lakers' excellent chemistry. Maybe there's still a chance? Maybe if he could get All-Star support with minimal cost, his lifelong dream of playing for the Lakers might not be impossible?
Then, the hammer fell at FedExCare, and the Lakers plummeted. Even after suffering their fourth consecutive loss in Cleveland, LeBron James still maintained his perfect media image: "The Lakers are a very strong team, Kobe is a great player, they just need..."

No, LeBron, Kobe doesn't need anything.

Kobe could no longer take it.

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak received calls daily from all over the country, each claiming to offer a "trade deal that would satisfy Kobe." The fax machine in his office was already piled high with papers—still stubbornly working in this day and age—filled with either outlandish or realistic tentative offers from various team managers.

These offers are a joke to the Lakers, and Kupchak won't take them seriously.

Their current situation is very sensitive.

In theory, Kobe still wants to leave, but he hasn't reiterated his desire to be traded for some time now.

It seems he still longs for Los Angeles, and his so-called trade request was just a bluff? Perhaps he's willing to wait another season until Bynum recovers his health, at which point the team will give him a satisfactory answer.

This is ultimately just wishful thinking on the part of the Lakers.

On the very night the Lakers suffered their fourth consecutive road loss, Kupchak's private phone rang. The caller ID showed it was Kobe's agent, Rob Pelinka. Kupchak took a deep breath, answered the phone, and the voice on the other end was frighteningly calm, as if reading a final judgment.

“Mickey, this is Rob. Kobe and I just had a deep conversation.” Pelinka’s tone was completely flat. “Let’s get straight to the point. Kobe is extremely pessimistic about the team’s future. Andrew’s injury is a catastrophic blow that has completely destroyed the foundation of our competitiveness in the short term.”

Kupchak tried to reassure him: "Rob, we understand Kobe's frustration, and we are actively exploring every possible avenue."

Yes, it's the same old story again. The Lakers have been using the same story since last July, right up until the beginning of the season, and they're still using the same story today.

They believed that the whole thing was just Kobe's little princess throwing a tantrum, and that they could easily appease her with a few kind words.

But this time it's clearly different.

“Kobe’s request is simple,” Pelinka interrupted him bluntly, delivering his ultimatum clearly and deliberately: “Trade him to a competitive team before the trade deadline (February 21).

Kupchak genuinely believes this is just another old argument from Kobe's camp. Kupchak believes that as long as he adopts a humble attitude, everything will be alright.

“Rob, I know how you feel, and I understand Kobe’s feelings, but…” Kupchak was a seasoned actor, and his emotional tone resonated with most people. “But think about it, Kobe spent eleven years in Los Angeles, what he achieved here, his popularity here… he could have achieved a lifelong Lakers legacy like Jerry West. I know the situation isn’t good right now, but if we believe the existing structure still has potential after adjustments, or if we need more time to operate…”

"Then you go and make the adjustments, and get it running."

Pelinka's voice had lost its warmth.

Kupchak thought he had passed Kobe's camp's obedience test again and had just breathed a sigh of relief.

But Pelinka's next words plunged him into despair: "You can do whatever you want, Mickey, but Kobe won't play for the Lakers again until real change happens."

"what?"

“You said it yourself, he’s played here for eleven years, and in the past two years, he’s only missed five games, averaging 40 minutes per game. He’s about to turn 30, he’s not young anymore. He has a lot of injuries, he needs time to recover, and he can give you that time, until the trade deadline. If you successfully strengthen the team, Kobe will continue to give his all for the Lakers, just like Jerry West. If what you’re saying is just stalling for time, then Kobe won’t play along.” Pelinka issued an ultimatum to Kobe’s camp. “He will undergo the necessary care and surgery for the various injuries he has accumulated over the years and will miss the rest of the season. The Lakers can tank, but Kobe will not participate.”

Finally, the Lakers' procrastination drove Kobe Bryant crazy.

The phone hangs up.

Kupchak slumped in his chair, the ever-burning neon lights of Los Angeles outside the window, but he felt as if everything in front of him was pitch black.

However, he could not bear it alone, and he could not even make a decision about this matter independently.

There was only one person on the Lakers team who could decide Kobe's fate, and that was Jerry Buss.

Kupchak picked up the phone with trembling hands and called his boss, who hadn't been involved in his affairs for a long time.

Since Kobe's camp has made up its mind, it's not just the Lakers' management that has received the ultimatum.

And the media.

ESPN senior reporter Marc Stein dropped a bombshell with an urgent news report: "Sources: Kobe Bryant has formally submitted a serious trade request to the Lakers management."

Following this, Woj published a more detailed report in his Yahoo Sports column, almost reiterating Kobe's ultimatum: "Sources revealed that Kobe Bryant's patience has run out. He no longer wants to waste his youth on a team with no hope, and he is determined to be traded. Now the Lakers' management has less than a month left."

The general manager's offices throughout the league were lit up all night. The phone lines were scalding hot, and the teams that had been hesitant and tentative before now pounced on Los Angeles like sharks smelling blood.

This happened exactly eleven days after Xu Ling was sidelined due to injury.

On this day, he officially passed the doctor's physical examination and his body was in a condition that allowed him to return to competition.

However, he will need about a week of recovery training before he can officially return to competition.

During this period, the Grizzlies also fell to a low point, winning only one of their seven games. The only team they defeated was the Texas powerhouse Dallas Mavericks.

That's not surprising. No matter how bad an NBA team is, their floor is guaranteed. As long as they're in good form, it's possible for anyone to win or lose.

Rudy Gay received plenty of touches in those seven games, averaging 20 points and 6 rebounds with a 45% field goal percentage, essentially proving his health and immediate impact. The only problem was that he couldn't help the team win at all.

However, his talent is still there, which is enough for West to use him as a bargaining chip in the trade market to inquire about his value.

At that very moment, another highly anticipated team—the Cleveland Cavaliers—arrived in Memphis.

LeBron James has been riding high lately, Nike's star player Kobe is fighting for his destiny, and the situation for everyone else isn't much better. Even the Grizzlies, with their arrogant Chinese rookie sidelined due to injury, are sure to have another easy victory tonight.

But Mr. Zhan is a decent person. Despite not liking Xu Ling, he still told the Memphis media: "You know, Eli is an incredible player. He has transformed this team. His injury is a loss for the league. I sincerely wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to playing against him again. Memphis has become very tenacious under his leadership. It will be a tough game."

However, few people cared about James's performance, as the league was reeling from Kobe's ultimatum to the Lakers.

A foreseeable trading storm is on the horizon.

(End of this chapter)