The Laker Legacy

Today could have quite possibly been one of the most significant days in Laker's history.  The Lakers signed future hall of famer Kobe Bryant to a 2-year $48.5 million contract extension.  This contract allowed for Kobe to keep his "highest paid player in the league" status.  The main significance of this contract extension though, is that this basically ensured that Kobe Bryant will retire as a Laker.  There are many people out there saying that this was greedy on Kobe's part, and that he should have been willing to take less money so that the Laker franchise could have gone out and gotten more players for future seasons.  However, some of these people fail to realize what Kobe Bryant has done for this organization and that there is also enough money to still sign a max contract player, with 6 or 7 million more dollars to spare.  I think that the Lakers did what they saw fit to keep arguably their best franchise player EVER happy and motivated.  Kobe is one of the most driven players to ever play the game, and you would have to be a fool to think that he won't come out of the gate as a man on a mission.  He has earned the rights to his new contract and will continue to produce like he has been for 15+ seasons in the NBA.