Los Angeles star Kobe Bryant, who got injured after he signed a hefty contract of $48 million, said that LeBron James' current price tag is not "too much" and that the Cavalier deserves more than that.

According to Yahoo Sports, Bryant is said to be the highest-paid NBA player until 2016 with his contract extension with the Lakers. This even caused a stir in the basketball industry as some people claimed that his diminishing skills do not equate with this pay grade.

Sports Illustrated, in an article, noted that one anonymous general manager claimed that Bryant has "zero" trade value due to his current salary.

The same report said that Kobe only signed on his extension deal "as a show of defiance" since he believes that NBA star players are underpaid because of "strict maximum contract rules."

"Bryant believes that players like himself and LeBron James are underpaid, compared to what they would be worth on the free market (he told friends he thinks James would be worth roughly $75 million on an open market). With his last contract, he felt it was important to demonstrate to younger players that you should never take less than you're worth. When I asked if he was taking a stand of sorts, this was his response," the SI report noted.

Sports Illustrated also mentioned that despite his attained status as one of the biggest stars in the league, Bryant "continues to talk optimistically about what's to come" as he maintains to be confident in most of his games.

Kobe, for his part, said that athletes, who are considered public figures, become pressured to play not just because they love the game. "Of course you play for the love of the game! But do owners buy teams for the love of the game?"

Being a star-driven league, the NBA, according to Yahoo Sports, has rules which cap the salaries of the players. The new agreement in the league has about 30 percent cap on the maximum salary of the players. Yahoo Sports noted that under this deal, James is estimated to make only about $20 million for this NBA season.

As for Bryant, he said that James should be making $75 million though some statistics claim that it should only be around $30 to $45 million.

But in a separate report, CBS Sports, said that Bryant's current deal is "just too big a hit for one player" taking into consideration his recent injury that forced him out of last season's games.

Bryant reportedly is offering the Lakers more than just his play with the hope of being able to influence the monetary gains that NBA players get. CBS Sports also noted that the performances of star players like James and Bryant are ways for them to bargain something from the team owners and maybe, just maybe, offer them a lot more money than what they are receiving now.