Kobe: Its my team.. Well there ya have it.. Lakers to get chucked out of a championship

 I’m not really understanding your concern, it IS still Kobe’s team, and it will be his team until he retires. From a leadership standpoint it shouldn’t be anyone else; he’s the only one with a championship, he’s a very high BBIQ player, he’s been with the franchise the longest and he’s still a better player than Howard or Nash, even if either might be more valuable over the course of a regular season, Bryant will still be the ultimate determinant of how far they go i in the post-season.

So essentially, stop trying to make this into something it’s not.

Egos can be put aside, it has been done before.  Look at the Celtics KG and Ray always knew it was Pauls team.  KG went through too many seasons without winning a title. He knew he couldnt do it by himself

Up to this point, you were expecting Kobe to say oh it’s Dwight and/or Steve’s team now???

A Lil English

We’re expecting him to not say anything at all but hey, dude’s got 5 championships, he can say whatever he wants at this point.

 @TOL-23; if you’ve read the article, he was asked directly whether or not it was his team, so it’s fair enough for him to say it, and like you said, he won 5 chips for this franchise, why should it be anyone else’s?

I don’t understand the issue with this. Kobe has been a Laker since he was 17 years old. He has five championship rings. He’s the second best shooting guard of all-time and arguably a top ten player of all-time. Of course this is his team. This is what makes Kobe… Kobe. He leads and his teammates fall in line, even Dwight Howard. Kobe is going to make Howard a better player.

Just because it’s Kobe’s team doesn’t mean it won’t be a TEAM effort.

team squabble over power issues.  I can’t wait until the Thunder eliminate them from the playoffs and the fingers start to point.  FYI, in all of Kobe’s 16 years in the NBA he’s always said it’s his team.  In all those years, he’s never blamed himself.  I mean look at last season when he was throwing Gasol under the bus.

It is Kobe’s team in the sense that he is the pace setter for the team. Of that roster, only Kobe, Pau, and Metta were on any of the title teams. I think it is clear that Kobe will let it be known that he doesn’t stand for clowning or players who dog it. For better and worse, Kobe has never shied away from getting on teammates who haven’t been as committed, conditioned, or focused as him. I believe, and maybe I am wrong, that is what he means when he says, "It’s my team." If Dwight Howard starts with his diva act, Kobe will get on him like he got on Shaq and Bynum.

What’s the big deal here clown? Articles like these hypes everything.. that’s it. Even Chris Duhon can say it’s his team, Earl Clark can too, even that Sacre guy can say it too. They can say it because they play for that team.

1st of all it’s really Jerry Buss’s team…But Buss wants Kobe to be the face of the Franchise…Buss holds Kobe in the same regards as he held Magic in the 80s…..Magic said he wanted Westphal gone,Buss got rid of him..Even after Magic retired Buss still asked him for advice on Team moves…

Remember when Shaq & Kobe were fueding and Shaq said its his team? And he said the reason why Karl Malone & Payton came to La, was to play with him…And  even though he won league MVP..And helped them to 3 straight titles and won finals MVP in all 3 series…That summer he got Traded….Kobe’s words carries weight on that team..He said Pau wasnt going anywhere,and people were surprise the Lakers got Howard without giving Pau up…

It was Shaqs team but then Shaq started getting old and Kobe was still young. But Kobe isn’t young anymore. Howard is 26 and (assuming he is fully back) is the best center in the league. He probably has years of dominant play left in him. Add to this the fact that everyone on the team is going to love playing with Howard (because his D bails them out) and Nash (because he sets them up) and this isn’t going to be Kobe’s team for very much longer. I’m actually kind of hoping that Pau, Howard and Nash get together someday after Kobe has had another 30-shot brickfest night and just take over the team.

BTPH gets it.

 they asked dwight who’s team was it, he responded is everyone’s team. i don’t think he would be too happy saying this is kobe’s team like kobe means it

its like you anti kobe people were expecting something else. Guess what, win or lose, its kobe’s team. 16 years and he aint changed once. 18 year old rookie and throwing up 3 straight air balls at the end of the game vs utah. And he will do it again. Hopefully it doesnt cost them another ring or two, but even if it does, f it. hes done more for laker fans then your favorite player has doen for your team and i respect that he has done it his way.