Los Angeles Lakers: It’s Time To Trade Kobe Bryant

Nov 9, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard

(24) and head coach

in the second half of the game against the Charlotte Hornets at Staples Center. Lakers won 107-92. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

In order for both to move on, it’s time for the Los Angeles Lakers to trade Kobe Bryant

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Loyalty is sports has been extinct for quite some time now. Yet, many are still desperately grasping onto to it, hoping for something that is fake.

Especially in the NBA.

When was the last time “loyalty” won in the league? If LeBron James would’ve been loyal back in 2010, there’s a good chance he could still be sitting right now with only one ring on his finger — a wedding ring.

The NBA has transformed into a league where it’s who you play with, not where or how long you played there. It doesn’t matter if you play for the Los Angeles Lakers, the New York Knicks or any generic town in America. As long as you have other talent alongside you, it’ll work.

Whether that be in LA or San Antonio.

Loyalty, most of the time, will not. Because loyalty often blinds of the truth. We try to use loyalty to compensate for the emptiness that is left. It is false hope — hope that one day things will change. They rarely do.

LeBron was loyal to his hometown of Cleveland — for seven years. It brought a plethora amount of heartbreak, and not much else. It could be argued that the Cavaliers even benefited from LeBron’s disloyal act back in 2010.

Does Kobe legitimately want another opportunity at an NBA Championship, and does Los Angeles honestly want to begin their rebuild process now?

If LeBron never would have left, the Cavs would not have Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters or Tristan Thompson. Instead, the Cavs have all that — and LeBron James.

Both LeBron James and — eventually — the Cleveland Cavaliers were better off when they realized it was time to move on.

And that’s exactly what the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant need to realize right now — with one, or technically two, conditions.

Those conditions being: Does Kobe legitimately want another opportunity at an NBA Championship, and does Los Angeles honestly want to begin their rebuild process now?

If the answers to those questions are both yes, which they should be, then the Los Angeles Lakers need to make something happen.

They need to trade Kobe Bryant.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe both need to move on. If they’re, you know, serious about it. This is like when a couple knows that their relationship is going nowhere, but continue dating simply because they’ve been with each other for so long.

That’s where the Lakers and Kobe’s relationship is. They’re surviving, moving, but heading in no distinct direction. The Lakers are holding out false hope that they’ll be able to reboot another Lakers-Kobe championship run. But that isn’t going to happen.

Kobe’s best days are now behind him, and there’s no way a Kobe-led team is going to win another NBA Championship. Not anymore. And as long as Kobe is a Laker, that’s what the Lakers will be — led by Kobe.

Los Angeles needs to get on with their future. They keep believing that they’re going to land this big-time free agent — soon — to play alongside Kobe. They haven’t yet, and I’m not sure if they’ve done anything to change that in 2015.

They failed at re-signing Dwight Howard. Failed at signing Carmelo Anthony this passed summer. Their track record hasn’t been great lately.

Plus, who wants to play with an aging superstar that is going to want to take the majority of the shots every single night? Kobe is averaging 23.7 shot attempts per game. TOPS in the NBA.

On the other hand, Kobe is too good for this. If he can get in the mindset, which could prove to be awfully difficult for a player of his historical stature, Kobe could play a huge role on a contender — not the Lakers.

What he’s doing right now in LA, averaging nearly 27 points per game (second in the NBA), is falling on deaf ears. It’s irrelevant.

Kobe deserves better. The Lakers deserve better. Loyalty is no longer in effect. It doesn’t exist anymore.

Someone needs to intervene here. Both sides will benefit from simply cutting the proverbial umbilical cord between the two.

The Los Angeles Lakers need to finally move on with their rebuilding process. Kobe needs to go out gracefully, and on top. Neither of that is going to happened by saving “loyalty” face.

The jig is up.

There was once a time in which it was routine to see one great player stay with on team throughout their entire career. It was admirable. Those days are over.

The Los Angeles Lakers need to trade Kobe Bryant. For the sake of both their futures.

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