‘Kobe-Stopper’? It’s News to Him

Kobe Bryant said he was slightly bemused by the attention being given the matchup, but conceded he was eager to go up against former Laker and current SuperSonic swingman Ruben Patterson tonight in Seattle.

After signing with Seattle last summer, Patterson, who is starting at small forward these days, declared himself “the Kobe-stopper,” saying that in Laker practices last season he regularly controlled Bryant.

Would Bryant--who missed the team’s first matchup this season because of his broken right hand--like to prove that notion invalid?

“Sure, especially if he’s guarding me,” Bryant said Friday. “I don’t think they’re going to have him guarding me. They’ll probably put Gary [Payton] on me, for obvious reasons.

“I don’t think they believe he’s the ‘Kobe-stopper.’ ”

Bryant said that his memory of their practice battles are slightly different than what Patterson has described.

“Days when I felt like competing real hard, I had my way,” Bryant said. “Days I didn’t feel like I was completely into it, he’d have his little moments or whatever and then he’d start talking trash.

“Then I’d just nip it in the bud, and that was that.”

Tonight

at Seattle, 7

Channel 9

* Site--KeyArena, Seattle.

* Radio--KLAC (570).

* Records--Lakers 28-5, SuperSonics 20-12.

* Record vs. SuperSonics--1-0.

* Update--Seattle ended December on a five-game losing streak, with dissension and complaints, but started January with victories in Houston and San Antonio.