Los Angeles Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak reacts to Kobe Bryant's statement – NBA Update
All eyes were on the General Manager of Los Angeles Lakers, Mitch Kupchak, after star player Kobe Bryant openly criticized him and the team management for Pau Gasol’s trade saga yesterday.
His response was swift.
Mitch reminded Kobe, that he is the one who makes the franchise decisions, adding that the team would make changes if they need to. According to Mitch, who himself is an ex-NBA player, the team does not require any inputs from players on how to run the operations.
"As a former player, I understand how the days leading up to the trade deadline can be nerve-wracking for an NBA player," Kupchak said "Nonetheless, as General Manager of the Lakers, I have a responsibility to ownership, our fans and the players on this team to actively pursue opportunities to improve the team for this season and seasons to come.”
“To say publicly that we would not do this would serve no purpose and put us at a competitive disadvantage. Taking such a course of action at this time would be a disservice to ownership, the team and our many fans."
All this was in response to Bryant’s comments which suggested that Lakers should either let go Gasol now or guarantee him a secure place in the team, as Bryant strongly feels that all these distractions are affecting Pau’s game adversely.
Lakers have not yet made a final decision on trading Gasol and probably won’t be making a move in future unless they find a suitable replacement for him.
Gasol, despite the massive distractions, put up a good performance in the Lakers successful scrimmage against the Portland Trail Blazers, scoring 16 points and 12 rebounds and tonight, he blew away the Dallas Mavericks with 24 points and 9 rebounds. A few more strong performances might save him from being traded away, but it is too early to pass judgement.
The public tussle seems to have triggerred a very uncertain period and may go on to affect team’s progress in a negative way. Lakers are already having a troublesome season, with players complaining about Mike Brown’s coaching style; strict and unnecessarily long practice sessions. They have been reports suggesting that Kobe and Derek Fisher have organized a player's only meeting and the saga seems to be having no end.
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