Kobe Bryant said recent comments U.S. men's soccer national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann made about his salary are "comical," but the joke is on him.
ESPN's Michael Wilbon goes overboard about Jurgen Klinsmann's comments
ESPN.com reported that Bryant took exception to Klinsmann's reference to him when he criticized a custom American sports teams seem to have about paying star athletes based on their past performance, rather than their future performance.
"I thought it was pretty funny," Bryant said in Brazil, where he's taking in three World Cup matches, according to ESPN. "I thought it was pretty comical, actually. I see his perspective. But the one perspective that he's missing from an ownership point of view is that you want to be part of an ownership group that is rewarding its players for what they've done, while balancing the team going forward. If you're another player in the future and you're looking at the Lakers organization, you want to be a part of an organization that takes care of its players while at the same time, planning for the future."
Klinsmann spoke to The New York Times magazine in December and used Bryant as a poster child for the American habit of overpaying based on past performance. The Los Angeles Lakers re-signed their 35-year-old point guard coming off two major injuries to a two-year, $48.5 million contract extension through the 2015-16 season.
Lakers want their next coach to make Kobe Bryant earn his $48.5 million
"This always happens in America," Klinsmann, a native of Germany, said in the interview. "Kobe Bryant, for example -- why does he get a two-year contract extension for $50 million? Because of what he is going to do in the next two years for the Lakers? Of course not. Of course not. He gets it because of what he has done before. It makes no sense. Why do you pay for what has already happened?"
Bryant obviously didn't like being the name Klinsmann used.
"...You probably could have used another player as an example," Bryant said.
OK, how about Tim Duncan?
In the summer of 2012, Duncan agreed to a pay cut of nearly $11.5 million with the San Antonio Spurs. According to the San Antonio News-Express, Duncan had the third-highest salary in the NBA in 2011-12; his $21.16 million trailing only Bryant's salary and the salary of the Boston Celtics' Kevin Garnett.
Duncan made $9.65 million in 2012-13 and $10,361,000 in 2013-14, according to Yahoo! Sports. With his discount, the Spurs either added or kept players that went to consecutive NBA Finals. The Spurs dominated the Miami Heat in the 2014 finals and was a Ray Allen 3-pointer away from winning the 2013 finals.
The Lakers won 72 games combined in 2012-13 and 2013-14, just seven more than they had when they won their first title with Kobe and Shaquille O'Neal in 1999-2000.
For Bryant, it's about respect. For Duncan, it's about winning.
The Lakers showed Bryant respect, making the $48.5 million offer. Unlike Duncan, Bryant didn't see the need to show respect back to the Lakers. He thinks players are "forced" into taking less money while owners sit back and reap the financial rewards, according to Yahoo! Sports.
Kobe said that he has business aspirations when he NBA career is over. Just wait until he has to make a choice about paying an employee on past performance. He might think a little differently.
And it's not as if the Lakers haven't taken care of him already. Remember that little legal incident he was involved in about 10 years ago, where the Lakers flew him from Denver to wherever the Lakers were playing so he could keep playing while having to defend himself against rape charges?
Back then, he didn't seem too appreciative either, saying he didn't care whether his trial was a distraction because it was his personal business. If that were true, he should've taken a leave of absence and refused his salary.
But that's not Kobe. And some of that attitude has made Bryant the success he has become today, winning five championships with the Lakers.
Klinsmann, however, is correct. The Lakers aren't paying Bryant $48 million because he's going to average 30 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists per night over the next two years. Even the Miami Heat's LeBron James - currently considered the best player in the NBA - isn't making Bryant money.
Now, if Bryant is unable to make any money outside of basketball, he might have a point. There was a time - because of his own doing - when that was the case. But no more.
So for Kobe to think that Klinsmann's comments are comical are about the same as his response to Yahoo! Sports about the notion that if players don't take less money, they "don't give a crap about winning:"
"That's total bull----."
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