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LOS ANGELES - Disgruntled Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said on Wednesday he wanted to be traded from the NBA team and nothing would change his mind.
"I would like to be traded, yeah," Bryant told ESPN radio. "Tough as it is to come to that conclusion,
there's no other alternative, you know?"
Asked if he could be persuaded by the Lakers to stay in Los Angeles, the 28-year-old replied: "No, I just want them to do the right thing."
Lakers owner Jerry Buss said in a statement: "We are aware of the media reports. However, Kobe has not told us directly that he wants to be traded.
"We have made it very clear that we are building our team around Kobe and that we intend for him to be a Laker his entire career. We will speak directly to Kobe and until we do that, we will not comment publicly about this."
Bryant, who helped the Lakers win three consecutive NBA championships from 2000-2002, has been frustrated by the team's lack of success over the last three seasons.
An NBA veteran of 11 years, he has become increasingly disappointed by the team's rebuilding process since Shaquille O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat in 2004 and allegations that he was instrumental in prompting O'Neal's departure.
"(The Lakers) obviously want to move in a different direction in terms of rebuilding," added Bryant, who signed a lucrative seven-year contract one day after O'Neal's trade.
"Three years ago when I was re-signing they should have told me they wanted to rebuild."
Asked if he had any team in mind for a trade, he replied: "At this point I'll go play on Pluto."
Bryant, one of the NBA's biggest drawcards, pleaded with the Lakers to do whatever it took to build a team capable of contending for the championship once their 2006-07 season ended.
The Los Angeles side failed to qualify for the playoffs in their first season without O'Neal and have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the last two years.
Bryant took exception to an article in the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday referring to a Lakers insider who claimed he, Bryant, had been responsible for orchestrating O'Neal's trade to Miami.
"Their trying to put this Shaq stuff on me is (wrong)," he told the newspaper.
"Jerry Buss told me he didn't want to pay Shaq $30 million a year. I, not once - not once -- went to them and said: 'Trade Shaq or else'."
Bryant, who has four years and $88.6 million left on his contract, conducted several radio interviews later on Tuesday in which he lambasted the Lakers.
He claimed he had been misled by Buss three years ago over the team's rebuilding efforts and described the Lakers front office as "a mess".
Bryant added: "If we're not making any strides here to improve this team right now, to be aggressive in that nature, then what's the point of having me here?"
- REUTERS
