Kobe: Bring Back Jerry West or Trade Me

UPDATE: Kobe nows denies he demanded a trade.

Kobe Bryant really really wants you to know he's not happy with the state of the Lakers. Ric Bucher got all lathered up to go on ESPNews today to relay Kobe's latest demand of Lakers brass: Bring back Jerry West, or trade me.

West recently announced he'll leave the Grizzlies on June 30. (Bootsy Collins had no comment.) Immediate speculation had Mr. West advising Isiah Thomas in New York, though rumors of a return to Inglewood quickly followed. The Logo has been mum on the issue, saying only he'll stay in Memphis until a replacement GM is found (Phoenix's David Griffin is oft spoken-of).

Could West return to the land of his greatest conquests? All told, those greatest conquests were products of a situation. Yes, signing Shaquille O'Neal was ingenious. It was also something 29 (err, 28 at the time) other GMs wanted to do. And trading Vlade Divac for Kobe Bean himself wasn't some stroke of daring pluck: The Bryant camp, led no doubt by Nike, essentially forced Kobe's crash landing in the Southland. (Think of it as Charlotte drafting a 27-year-old Vlade in the 1996 draft instead of Charlotte trading Kobe for Vlade.)

Three snap reactions to Kobe's demand: How can Kobe not take some of the blame for this, stemming from his feud with Diesel? Yes, Mitch Kupchak has been unstellar since then, but you forced your boss to deal the MVP for spare change. Live with it. Second: This makes Kevin Garnett look even sweeter, doesn't it? Kobe falls to one of the best teams in the league in the playoffs, conditionally demands a trade. Garnett suffers through a decade of idiocy, stays mum. Stay classy, Big Ticket. Finally: Who the hell are you going to get back for Kobe Bryant? Seriously, who could be traded for him? Nash + Marion + a couple #1s? Dirk, Devin Harris, and Mark Cuban's stock portfolio? The complete Chicago starting five? It's a ridiculous scenario.