Kobe Bryant was good to his word.

The MVP of the NBA finals decided not to terminate the final two years of his contract with the NBA champion Lakers and become an unrestricted free agent, it was confirmed by a club spokesman Wednesday.

That reinforced Bryant’s comments following their five-game victory in the finals over the Orlando Magic when he said, “I’m not going anywhere. I know I ain’t going nowhere, so it’s just a waste of our breaths just talking about it.”

The Lakers and Bryant’s agent will negotiate a contract extension. If they don’t come to an agreement, he would earn $23 million next season and could opt out next June.

With Bryant’s status not an issue, the Lakers can turn their attention to unrestricted free agents Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom, who played key supporting roles in the organization’s run to a 15th NBA title.

Ariza made $3.1 million last season and his play in the finals against Orlando is expected to earn him a major pay raise. Odom made $14.1 million last season and is expected to have to take a substantial pay cut to stay.

Guard Shannon Brown is the Lakers’ third unrestricted free agent. He made $796,000 last season after coming over with Adam Morrison in the February trade that sent Vladimir Radmanovic to Charlotte.