KOBE BRYANT Height: 6-foot-6 Weight: 220 pounds Age: 29 (in 07-08) Stats: 31.6ppg on 46.3% shooting, 5.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists Status: Under contract, must be via trade

Since being drafted by the Hornets with the 13th overall pick in 1996 and traded to the Lakers in a swap for Vlade Divac, Kobe has established himself as a three-time NBA champion and prolific scorer, highlighted by an 81-point performance against the Raptors in January of 2006. Over the past 2 seasons, Kobe has averaged 33.5 points per game on 45.6% shooting.

He is, arguably, the most dangerous player in the league today.

So why would the thought of him being traded even be considered? Apparently poor Kobe feels jilted and deceived by a Lakers organization that has been mediocre since trading away Shaquille O'Neal. On Wednesday, Kobe blitzed the media with a trade demand that he would later soften significantly by the end of the day, thus obliging us to start our profiles with the enigmatic Kobe.

Rocket Perspective
About 3-4 years ago there was a great debate about who was the better player: Kobe Bryant or Tracy McGrady.

That seems a bit distant now. As great as T-Mac still is, his faults are Kobe's strengths. While McGrady seems to lack killer instinct and an insatiable competitive nature, Kobe is overflowing with both.

But the comparison between the two has to be made because if Kobe Bryant was actually on the block, McGrady is the only player that fans and media types can send back to the Lakers for a potential swap. That's not to say the Rockets are looking to move T-Mac nor that they should, but if you were talking trade for Kobe you would have to start and end with T-Mac from both a talent and salary perspective.

As for Kobe's view: Would the Rockets be attractive to him? Most likely yes. Playing with a big man like Yao Ming and a strong three in Shane Battier, both around Kobe's age, would be a good start and Kobe's father, Joe Bryant ("Jellybean"), also was once a Rocket.

Conclusion
For many big reasons, I can't see any way this is going to happen.

Kobe is not going to leave Los Angeles. I would actually go so far as to say Kobe wants to be in L.A. more than management wants him there -- they just unfortunately don't have much choice. The Lakers make too much money off of Kobe to trade him away. Wednesday's on-air therapy session was merely a spoiled player screaming out for attention and using his leverage to get some changes made (and people fired) within the Lakers organization. If the Lakers got serious about trading Kobe, I think you'd see him backpedal even more than he already has.

Secondly, if there actually was such an unlikely parting of the ways, there would almost assuredly be many suitors and the Rockets are not the best fit for the Lakers to make a trade. The Lakers would prefer to trade Kobe out of the Conference (as they did Shaq) and would probably look for younger pieces to build around Andrew Bynum -- both knocks against a potential swap with the Rockets.