Kobe Bryant supports trading young Lakers for Anthony Davis

You won’t hear any opposition from Kobe Bryant when it comes to the Los Angeles Lakers’ pursuit of Anthony Davis.

Bryant spoke with Spanish outlet AS for an interview that was published on Friday as part of his role as an ambassador for the FIBA Basketball World Cup. In one of the questions, he was asked about the Lakers’ trade pursuit of Davis. Bryant said that Davis is one of the best NBA players in history and worth trading several young players for.

Here was his answer to a question about the team trying to trade for Davis (via Google Translate and Showtime Forum).

“Kuzma, Lonzo, Ingram … Are all three better than Anthony Davis? No no!. Ciao! Bye! Anthony Davis is one of the best players in the world. Not from now, from history. What are we talking about? If you can sign Anthony Davis, you do it. If not, agree. We have three players who are very young and who work hard. They are intelligent and must be developed. But if you can sign Anthony Davis … yes!”

.@kobebryant was asked if the AD affair could mislead the LAL & the players:

“I say no….Kuzma, Lonzo, Ingram are all three better than Anthony Davis? No no! Ciao! Bye! Anthony Davis is one of the best players in the world.”#LakeShow #Lakers #NBA https://t.co/aQRqQbfi6t

— ShowtimeForum (@ShowtimeForum) March 19, 2019

This sort of attitude from Bryant should not be the least bit surprising. Recall that several years ago he was asked about the Lakers’ pursuit of Jason Kidd. Some in the front office did not want to trade Andrew Bynum for Kidd, whereas Kobe said on video the Lakers should “ship his a– out” regarding Bynum, if it meant getting Kidd.

Kobe won three championships with Shaq and demanded a trade unless the Lakers upgraded their roster, which they did by adding Pau Gasol, leading to two more titles. He knows as well as anyone how important it is to have star players if you want to win a championship.

H/T Showtime Forum