San Antonio Spurs star LaMarcus Aldridge is refuting claims that Kobe Bryant’s approach is what ruined his free agent meeting with the Lakers this summer.
NBA experts expected Aldridge to join the Lakers in the offseason, but reports came out that Kobe Bryant and Aldridge didn’t “gel” well during their first meeting.
Aldridge, in a Q&A with Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, finally addressed those meetings and elaborated on what part Bryant played.
"I’m not going to get into details, but it was just a couple of meetings. The first meeting didn’t go as well as they said and then the second meeting went better. I’ll go on the record as saying Kobe was not an issue at all. He was a very positive part of the meeting. I’ve always had a very cordial relationship with Kobe. I see him all the time in Newport [Beach], and it was really messed up that [the media] put it on him when he was one of the best parts of the meeting. But like I said, the first one didn’t go as well, the second one went a little bit, but at the end of the day going back home was more valuable."
So even though we can stop assuming that Kobe Bryant walked in the room and totally made Aldridge uncomfortable, negativity sells so Bryant’s the fall guy regardless of what LaMarcus says.
By Glenn Erby
