What is amnesty provision NBA? Kobe Bryant made Mark Cuban eat his words about the Lakers using the Amnesty Provision on the Black Mamba

Amulya Shekhar | 25/02/2022
What is amnesty provision NBA? Kobe Bryant made Mark Cuban eat his words about the Lakers using the Amnesty Provision on the Black Mamba

Back in the days when the Amnesty Provision in the NBA was an actual thing, Mark Cuban wanted the Lakers to use it on Kobe Bryant.

The amnesty provision provided NBA teams with a very convenient exit from ill-advised, overpaid contracts. It was infamously named the ‘Allan Houston’ rule, even though the former Knicks star retired from basketball of his own accord.

What it allowed front offices to do was waiving a current roster player while still paying him. The player in question would then be allowed to leave as a free agent. This provision wasn’t activated unless a former star would actively become a black hole for his team.

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In such a situation, it is truly bizarre that Mark Cuban probably believed Kobe Bryant was a candidate for the provision. Cuban made the following comments about Kobe Bryant during the 2012-13 season as the Lakers languished in the bottom half of their standings:

“If you look at their payroll, even if Dwight (Howard) comes back, you’ve got to ask the question: Should they amnesty Kobe?” Cuban said on a radio show. “You just don’t know, right? It’s the same reason I wouldn’t get rid of Dirk (Nowitzki).”

Kobe Bryant came back at Mark Cuban with a characteristically venomous assault on the Mavs

Undoubtedly fired up by the disparaging comments made by Cuban (seemingly playing mind games), Kobe Bryant went on a mission to prove how faulty the broadcast.com founder’s words were.

Facing off against the Dallas Mavericks on February 24, 2013 (9 years ago today), the Black Mamba used his entire offensive arsenal to put together a masterful 38 point, 12 rebound, 7 assist outing in a 103-99 win.

Following this, Bryant took to Twitter to post possibly the best gloat by an NBA player: Amnesty THAT.

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Post Edited By: Amulya Shekhar

About the author

Amulya Shekhar

Amulya Shekhar is a sports junkie who thrives on the thrills and frills of live sports action across basketball, football (the American variant works too), parkour, adventure sports. He believes sports connect us to our best selves, and he hopes to help people experience sports more holistically.

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