In order to recover from a second straight early exit in the NBA playoffs, Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant won’t be doing his exit interview with Lakers coach Mike Brown and GM Mitch Kupchak until later this week. Not only has Kobe altered the schedule of the Lakers’ exit interview, but he prefers to do the interview away from the Lakers’ practice facility over lunch at an undisclosed location.
Kobe altering the schedule of this routine exit interview isn’t common place as it is usually held in El Segundo for about half an hour. After the interview, players clean out their lockers and begin their off-season.
Apparently, Kobe might have a bone to pick with Kupchak and Brown about the state of the team. There’s a good chance that the five-time NBA champion would like to discuss the future of the franchise and potential moves the team may make over the summer.
There’s no question that Kobe wasn’t happy with another early exit in the playoffs and might be demanding some changes as soon as possible. With only a few good years left in him, Kobe knows that he is nearing the twilight of his career in the NBA.
With that being said, the perennial All-Star wants the last few years in Los Angeles to be title contending seasons. The current roster might not be able to get the job done and as a result, changes definitely need to be made with the futures of Pau Gasol and or Andrew Bynum very much up in the air this summer.
It remains to be seen what decisions will be made by the Lakers’ front office moving forward, but with only a few players currently under contract this team might look drastically different next season.
The only players on the Lakers’ roster that are under contract or have an option for 2012-13 NBA season:
- Kobe Bryant: $27.8 million
- Pau Gasol: $19 million
- Andrew Bynum: $16.4 million (team option)
- Metta World Peace: $7.2 million
- Ramon Sessions: $4.55 million (player option)
- Steve Blake: $4 million
- Josh McRoberts: $3.1 million
- Jordan Hill: $3.6 million (team option)
- Christian Eyenga: $1.1 million
- Andrew Goudelock: $762k (team option)
- Darius Morris: $937k (qualifying offer)
Lakers free agents:
- Matt Barnes
- Troy Murphy
- Devin Ebanks
Obviously, there are a lot of decisions to make moving forward with plenty of players on the current rosters potentially playing in different uniforms next season. The consensus right now is that the Lakers want to keep Sessions and Hill, but everyone else outside of Kobe might be expendable.
