Even though the Lakers ended up saving a couple million dollars by dealing Steve Blake, Kobe Bryant is not happy about that deal:
Not cool with @SteveBlake5 being gone AT ALL One of my closest teammates and psycho competitor GS picked up gem #smartmove
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) February 20, 2014
By all accounts, Blake was very well liked and a big part of the LA community. The problem though for people that wanted the Lakers to keep him: it’s not show friends it’s show business.
The Lakers had to shed salary to avoid a bigger luxury tax penalty. Poor Kobe.