Carmelo Anthony Thinks the Lakers Should Pay Kobe Bryant $40 Million a Year


While the Internet burns to the ground in reaction to the surprisingly massive contract Kobe Bryant signed on Monday ($48.5 million over two seasons), Carmelo Anthony says that, if anything, the Los Angeles Lakers aren’t paying their superstar enough. Per Newsday: “They got off easy,’ Anthony said. ‘He’s Kobe, man . . . I’d at least give him 40 [million] a year and let him bow out gracefully.’ The collective-bargaining agreement doesn’t allow that, but it tells you how Anthony feels about Bryant: They’re friends. Bryant has called Anthony and tried to help him through some tough times in his career. He could be one of the first to call Anthony when he becomes a free agent July 1. Anthony didn’t talk about his future before the Knicks tried to snap a five-game losing streak late Monday night against the Trail Blazers. He has said he wants to stay with the Knicks, but he believed they would contend for a championship this season. Right now, that’s as realistic as the Jets or Giants making the Super Bowl. If the Knicks don’t go deep in the playoffs or make major changes to upgrade the roster, there’s no guarantee that Anthony will re-sign just because they can offer him five years and roughly $129 million, about $34 million more than any other team. Anthony says he continues to remain positive because he has to for his team, but he also had some revealing comments about the Knicks’ 3-9 start. ‘I think it’s time for us to kind of get that monkey off our back,’ he said. ‘It’s starting to turn into a gorilla. I can’t handle that. It’s starting to get tough. When you’re losing, it’s not fun. Are we having fun on the basketball court? No. The game is not fun right now. When you start pressing, pressing, pressing, it makes everything that much worse. So no, we’re not having fun playing basketball right now. We got to get back to that.'”