Unlike Bryant, He Has It Covered

He is only 17, a junior at St. Vincent-St. Mary High in Akron, Ohio. But LeBron James has already made it to the cover of Sports Illustrated and is poised to jump straight to the pros.

Kobe Bryant can relate. He made the leap from preps to pros. But even he was never on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a high school junior. If he had been?

“I never would have gone to class,” Bryant said.

How does he think James would fare in the NBA?

“If he is as good as they say he is,” Bryant said, “he’ll still have to improve his game. And if he is not as good as they say he is, he’ll have to improve even more.”

Bryant wouldn’t pass judgment on whether James should skip college.

“Do what you want to do,” he said. “But if you come to the NBA, you have to sacrifice a lot. It may not be a business for you, but it’s a business for them. And they are paying you millions of dollars.”

Does Bryant have any regrets about his own move to the pros at the expense of spending a few years experiencing college?

“What better experience is there than the NBA?” he said.

Bryant, who heatedly protested Tuesday when the referees ruled that what would have been a game-winning basket against Boston did not beat the buzzer, grudgingly admitted after viewing a videotape that the officials were right--that the ball was still on at least one fingertip when the clock hit 0:00.

“They guessed a good call,” Bryant said, “because there is no way they could know that for sure.”

TONIGHT

at Charlotte, 4:30 PST

Channel 9 (5:30)

Site--Charlotte Coliseum.

Radio--KLAC (570).

Records--Lakers 36-16, Hornets 27-26.

Record vs. Hornets (2000-01)--2-0.

Update--The Lakers will try to even their record in the second of back-to-back games. They are 5-6 in those games this season.