So it seems Kobe Bryant has himself a case of the "Billy Donovans." After demanding a trade from the Lakers weeks ago in frustration over the team's early exit from the playoffs, he met with Coach (Zenmaster) Phil Jackson and owner Dr. Jerry Buss and cooled down and changed his mind. But quicker than you can say from the Magic to the Gators, he has done a 180 and is back in the news demanding to be moved to another team once more.
Supporting his position (and the buzz of sports talk radio today) is the supposed existence of a 24 second video clip (I haven't seen it) in which the scoring champ goes off on a profanity-laced tirade. Apparently prompted by the Lakers not pulling the trigger on a deal for Jason Kidd during the season (since they didn't want to part with promising 19-year-old center Andrew Bynum), Kobe's feelings about GM Mitch Kupchak are not so nice to say the least.
The Lakers will never get equal value for their superstar; no team ever does. Take it from a Magic fan who's watched Shaq, Penny, and T-Mac all split town with little if nothing to show for it. But it sure would be fun to see the tables turned on LA for a change--of course, I'm not still bitter about the sleazy way they ended up with Shaq ten years ago.
By the way, a minor league baseball team (in Ft. Myers, FL I believe) ran a promotion recently called "Billy Donovan Day." Fans who changed their minds and decided not to stay for the whole game could plead their case to a lawyer by the concession stands and get their money back. Brilliant!
--Matthew
