I know what the Lakers organization is. I also realize that external pressure can change things.
Great players have come and gone, but outside of Shaq, they all went out on their own terms.
Baylor - retired
West - retired
Chamberlain- retired
Abdul-Jabbar - retired
Magic - premature retirement
Kobe - retirement
I think Buss would've let Magic play as long as he wanted.
Of course he would he was only due a $1 million a season into the 2000s. And how many of those guys got reupped for top dollar when they were ? shyt how many of them played during the salary cap era? How many didn't have a HOFers waiting in the wings to hand the keys too? How many were 35 coming off an Achilles tear?
No player, not even Kobe, is bigger than THAT franchise, period. Things don't bode well for them going forward if this is how they are gonna do business.