The Anthony Davis trade saga has been oft-discussed and pointed out as one of the primary reasons for the downfall of the Los Angeles Lakers season. As a result, it’s been a move much-criticized with the front office of Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka coming under fire.
While few agreed with the manner in which the front office went about the trade talks, count Kobe Bryant among those that was fine with the decision to chase Davis. In an interview with Spanish outlet AS.com, Bryant talked about the Lakers young core and including them in a deal for Davis.
Kuzma, Lonzo, Ingram … Are all three better than Anthony Davis? No no!. Ciao! Bye ! Anthony Davis is one of the best players in the world. Not from now, from history. What are we talking about? If you can sign Anthony Davis, you do it. If not, agree. We have three players who are very young and who work hard. They are intelligent and must be developed. But if you can sign Anthony Davis … yes!
Bryant does make a valid point in that Davis is a known quantity and none of Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram are. It’s also not surprising that Bryant is in favor of dealing young players for proven talent given his past.
Famously, or infamously, Bryant asked for then-youngster Andrew Bynum be traded for Jason Kidd then later demanded a trade after the rebuilding Lakers weren’t making enough progress. In his latter years in the league as part of another rebuild, Bryant did not particularly fade into the background while handing the reigns over to the youngsters like D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson.
Bryant probably isn’t the most objective voice in the room, not that it matters as he’s made it known he won’t be working with the Lakers in any capacity moving forward. Considering how many times the Lakers have seen former players turn into stars, it might be best he’s not pulling strings to trade them away.
