With all the speculation on what Dwight Howard will do this upcoming offseason, Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant believes that with or without Howard the Lakers will find a way to contend in the league, according to ESPNLA's Dave McMenamin.
"This franchise is a franchise that you really don't have to worry about too much, because no matter what happens, whether it's a year from now, two years from now, whatever the case may be, they're always going to find a way to have an impact on this league," Bryant said.
Bryant understands the how the Lakers deal with negotiations a salary cap, and feels that right now there's no need to make a pitch at Howard.
However, Bryant still wants Howard to remain in Laker land.
"We all want him here. But then that's when the selling begins (after Howard is courted by other teams). You don't start the selling process right before he goes and does all this stuff. You want to get the last word. You want to have the final word and the closing argument."
Bryant currently has a year remaining on his contract, and with a pending retirement possibly in the works, there has been much speculation on where Bryant stands amongst the all-time greats of the NBA.
One comparison that Bryant is sure to have to deal with for the rest of his life is the comparison against Michael Jordan.
Former Lakers coach Phil Jackson recently retouched on the debate between Bryant and Jordan in his new book 'Eleven Rings.'
Jackson said Jordan was more charismatic than Bryant and also allowed the game to come to him while Kobe forced the issue and was more reserved especially during his earlier years in the NBA.
Bryant has sat with McMenamin and says he's spoken to Jackson about the comparison:
"I talked to Phil about it. I said, 'You know, you can't compare me at (age) 21-22-23 to Michael at 28-29-30. That's not a fair comparison. But, you know, I'm comfortable at resting on my five (championships) and what I had to do for this team to be successful. We both had different roles and (Jordan has) had his level of frustration coming up as a young player and challenges that he had to deal with and I had mine in playing a different role to what I thought naturally I could do. We had different career paths, man, so it's kind of tough to (compare). At least for me it is, anyway"
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