Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant has always been credited for his work ethic. Many people think that he is what he is today because of his hard work and dedication to his craft. From a teen player predicted to flop, he is now one of the sports' most decorated and brightest superstar. In the upcoming season, the Black Mamba is hoping to put his injury behind have another great run for the team that he has been serving ever since he played his first ever NBA game. Kobe doesn't just have the brightest star in the league, he also has the thickest pocket as he is slated to earn $24 million this year. For that, he consider himself the luckiest basketball player. And he has the Lakers organization to thank for it.
"I'm the luckiest player in the league because I got very fortunate to be with an organization that takes care of its players, rewards its players and has a long history of doing it."
On possibly having another lockout
While Kobe Bryant finds himself lucky for getting rewards from the Los Angeles Lakers franchise for his loyalty, he doesn't think that the future of NBA players, salary-wise, will be a lot better. At the team's practice on Tuesday, the 36-year old shooting guard blasted the league's decision to ink a multi-billion TV deal with ESPN. He thinks that the ones who will be affected negatively by this move are the players.
"You have a TV deal that comes out and you look at it being up almost a billion dollars (more) than the previous one and this is coming off the back of a lockout (in 2011) in which the (salary) cap-it's not a hard cap, but it's pretty close to a hard cap," said Bryant. "It'll be interesting to see what happens in this next labor agreement, because my understanding is this TV deal kicks in in the last year of this current agreement. So I'm sure they'll try to lock us out again (in 2017) and harden the cap even more."
The Los Angeles Lakers also spoke out about notions that he is overpaid. Kobe Bryant said that if some players like are receiving money more than they deserve, so are the owners.
"I think as players, you've kind of got to hold your ground a little bit and not be afraid of what the public perception is. Instead, you try to educate the public a little bit and understand it's not about complaining about how much you're making, because that's ridiculous. We are overpaid, but so are the owners. And you have to fight for what your market value is."
