Lakers News & Rumors: Kobe Bryant Believes Los Angeles Will Become Contender Again
The Los Angeles Lakers are having another disappointing year this season, but Kobe Bryant believes that their team executives will make moves to turn things around soon.
The Lakers, who are in 13th place in the Western Conference standings with their 9-19 record, tried to acquire superstars in the offseason like Carmelo Anthony, but they failed to convince them to move to Los Angeles.
But despite failing to lure another superstar, Bryant is still confident that their top officials will eventually make deals that would make them a contender again in the near future.
"I really do trust management," Bryant told USA Today. "I mean, I really, really do. They'll get things turned around pretty quickly. I'm not really concerned about that."
Bryant wanted the Lakers to sign Anthony in the offseason to improve their chances this season. Sources said that the 19-year veteran made a recruiting pitch to Anthony before the All-Star forward decided to return to the New York Knicks, signing a five-year, $124 million deal.
Like the Lakers, Anthony and the Knicks are also having a disastrous year as they are currently in 14th place in the Eastern Conference standings, but Bryant said that he will not criticize Anthony's decision to return to New York.
The Lakers also expressed interested in acquiring former Boston Celtics superstar Rajon Rondo before the point guard was traded to the Dallas Mavericks. Sources said that the Lakers offered Steve Nash and future first-round picks for Rondo, but the Celtics turned it down.
Bryant, who was seen having breakfast with Rondo when the Lakers visited Boston earlier this month, admitted that he was disappointed after the Lakers failed to strike a deal with the Celtics for the 28-year-old point guard, but he said that there are factors that are out of their control.
"Of course. Of course. But all you can do is control what you can control. We did our part," Bryant said when asked if he felt bad after Rondo was traded to the Mavericks instead of the Lakers. "We did what we could. It's not from a lack of effort. It's not from a lack of smarts, so I trust the process."
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