5 Harsh Realities about Kobe Bryant

#4 Bryant's final contract hurt Lakers' rebuilding process

Kobe Bryant signing his last contract with the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 25th, 2013.

When it came to signing his last contract, Bryant was only going to sign for the maximum money possible. That amount turned out to be $48 million for a two-year contract from 2014 to 2016, signed six months in advance.

He might have looked at it as money well deserved, for all the success that he had bought the franchise but they were paying him quite handsomely even during the last two of his five championships. Over the course of his last contract (2014-16), the Lakers went 38-126, of which Bryant only played 101 games.

If this contract was looked from the eyes of a non-Lakers fan or anybody that looks at things objectively, the contract was wrong and bad for two reasons.

While Bryant signed this mega contract, other veterans like Tim Duncan ($10.3 million in 2014-15 and $6 million in 2015-16) and Dirk Nowitzki (combined $16.2 million from 2014-16) were taking huge pay cuts to allow their teams to build a contending team around them.
After the Lakers' failed attempt at a championship with a superteam in 2012-13, the franchise had to clear change plans and rebuild. Bryant's huge contract was a big sum on the team's account books and it held them back from offering any new free agents huge deals.