Kobe Bryant does not want to take a pay cut to help the Lakers rebuild in 2014

This plan depends partially on Kobe Bryant, also a free agent in 2014, taking a pay cut. Kobe, who turns 35 in August, can take approximately $32 million in salary per season under a new max-level contract. Although he has said he plans on playing only three or four seasons, a max deal for Kobe would be the largest in the league by a considerable margin and likely eat up more than half of the 2014-15 season’s salary cap (the cap this season was just set at $58.7 million). That would severely limit the Lakers’ ability to bring in another star and field a championship-level team.

The organization’s efforts to improve would be helped considerably if Kobe decided to take less money. Yet, according to an interview with Serena Winters of the fan site Lakers Nation, Bryant will enter negotiations with the intention of getting as much money as he possibly can. Watch the video of the interview above, and join us after the jump for the key quote:

“I’m not taking any at all – that’s the negotiation that you have to have.” Kobe Bryant told Lakers Nation in an exclusive interview at his Kobe Basketball Academy on Wednesday. “For me to sit here and say, ‘Oh yeah, I’m just going to take a huge pay cut. Nah, I’m going to try to get as much as I possibly can.”

Well, that’s probably not what Lakers fans want to hear. Of course, a lot can happen in the next year.

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