In recent days, the Lakers sent a shock wave through their sea of fans by trading Derek Fisher and Luke Walton. This mid-season blow came as surprise to some, since we still weren’t fully over the unexpected loss of our beloved sixth man, Lamar Odom.

If these recent trades and the trading trends of the past are to be analyzed, it could be argued that the next logical move would be getting rid of the next “old guy” on the team! Are Kobe Bryant’s days as a Laker numbered?

I’ll admit, I’ve never been a fan of Kobe Bryant. I was bitter about the Vlade trade that gave the Lakers draft rights to Bryant. I had it in for him from the start. He compounded his position on my shit list with his show stopping ball hog antics and lack of passing. Then came his public feuding with Shaquille O’Neal that lead to Shaq ultimately fleeing to Miami and who am I not to jump on the “Kobe raped a female” bandwagon? The guy is just hard to like!

No doubt, Kobe is a good player it doesn’t even have to be said, but is the sun setting on his glory days? His injuries are increasing and getting more and more serious. His age is creeping up well past the average age most NBA players. Granted he’s still not on the Top 10 oldest active players in the league list yet, but at 33 he’s now the oldest player left on the team after Fisher’s departure.

If Kobe is going to get a pass on his age for the being the team’s all star then perhaps the next oldest players, Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace better start dusting off their resumes because there’s already been talk about Gasol possibly getting the boot!

As a life long Lakers fan, I’m worried about the future of our team. Bynum, Barnes and Blake…The triple B’s, are they the future of the team? We may have lost Fisher whose clutch 3 point shots at crucial moments have won us games, but maybe it’s time to shift gears and realize Barnes and Blake could continue his legacy with the buzzer beater 3′s!

GO LAKERS!