Kobe asks out (or not!*)

After mincing words for a few days, Kobe Bryant went all the way today on ESPN radio and said the Lakers should trade him.

"I would like to be traded, yeah," Bryant said on 1050 ESPN Radio in New York. "Tough as it is to come to that conclusion there's no other alternative, you know?"

Bryant, interviewed by Stephen A. Smith, was asked if there was anything the Lakers could do to change his mind.

"No," Bryant said. "I just want them to do the right thing."

"[The Lakers] obviously want to move in a different direction in terms of rebuilding," Bryant said, adding he could have opted to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers or Chicago Bulls instead. "Three years ago when I was re-signing they should have told me they wanted to rebuild."

Asked if he had any preference for a trade destination, he said "At this point I'll go play on Pluto."

Whole story is at ESPN.com.

* We listen to this guy?: Later today — the same day! — Kobe said on AM 570 here that "I don't want to go no place else. I don't want to...I want to stay here. I hope they can do something." LAT

Also on the Sports beat: Steve Henson, the Times' Dodgers writer who took the buyout, is going to Yahoo Sports. He will be the editor supervising coverage of major league baseball.