Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant made his first public comments to the media this afternoon after signing his two-year contract extension, but took to social media to get some thoughts off his chest.
Bryant and the Lakers agreed to a two-year, $48.5 million contract extension, which has been criticized by analysts and Laker fans. The criticisms and misinformation bothered the 35-year-old guard so much that he took to Instagram yesterday and responded to one of his fans that expressed concerns about the Lakers not having enough salary cap flexibility in years moving forward.
Tonight, Bryant took to Twitter and tweeted out three separate tweets regarding the backlash he’s receiving:
The cap rules players have to be “selfless” on To “help” BILLIONAIRE owners R the same cap rules the owners LOCKED US out to put in #think
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) November 27, 2013
Don’t just learn ur sport .. Learn the sports industry #futureathletes
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) November 27, 2013
Btw lakers have max cap space and then some #mitchissharp#bussfamsharp#lakers
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) November 27, 2013
It’s quite the rant from Bryant, who’s used social media as a way to drop hints about a possible comeback and respond to criticism from the media. Along with his comments, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak and executive vice president of player personnel Jim Buss defended their decision to extend Bryant before he played a game after his Achilles surgery, saying they didn’t feel there was a reason to drag the process out further.
It seems like Bryant can add another bit of criticism to fuel his comeback as he’s already taken jabs at ESPN for ranking him 25th among NBA players heading into the season.
A pissed off Bryant doesn’t bode well for the rest of the NBA as there still isn’t a return date for the five-time champion.
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ICYMI: Here’s what Kobe Bryant, Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss had to say about his extension.
