HONOLULU -- Jerry Buss looked relaxed in a seashell-print shirt and khaki shorts as he sat down near lush hotel grounds of botanical gardens and koi ponds, a paradoxical setting for his frank discussion of the very real possibility that his star player might not be on the team in two years, if not sooner.
The owner of the Lakers spoke publicly for the first time since his team's off-season of disarray, providing details of his involvement and his deepest thoughts during several months' worth of distress signals emitted by Kobe Bryant.
The conversation Wednesday also steered in other directions, touching on his opinion of his front office, whether he would sell the team in coming years, and Coach Phil Jackson's unclear future with the franchise.
Buss, who has presided over eight championships and five other NBA Finals appearances in his 28 previous years of ownership, acknowledged considering offers for Bryant over the summer -- none of them deemed remotely good enough to act upon -- and also conceded that the gaping hole in Bryant's contract could make the nine-time All-Star an ex-Laker by 2009.
Buss, 74, also said Bryant was not necessarily off the table now that the new season had started. Offers will inevitably continue to trickle in, particularly if the Lakers struggle before the February trade deadline.
"I would certainly listen," Buss said. "At any time, I think you have to do that with anybody. It's just part of the game, to listen to somebody who has a dissatisfied player that you think is going to fit. You can't keep too many loyalties. You've got to look at it as a business. He looks at it the same way I look at it."
Bryant has four years and $88.6 million left on his contract, although he can end his Lakers career by terminating his deal in two years. Such a move by Bryant would leave $47.8 million of his money on the table, but would also leave the Lakers without one of the most dynamic players in their 60-year history.
"I tend not to think in basketball terms that many years down the road because things change so dramatically, but he could test the waters at that point," Buss said. "If he still is in that frame of mind, then hopefully we can do a sign-and-trade and get some comparable talent. I would like to think that we win between now and then so that it doesn't come up."
This will be Bryant's 12th season with the Lakers, the former child prodigy now 29 and coming off an eminently vocal summer in which he requested to play for any other team, even if it meant being shipped to Pluto.
