He Stops By to Talk Fatherhood With Kobe

He has to worry now about her getting her driver’s license and shopping trips to the mall. And boys, oh yes, boys.

In fact, I started talking senior prom and college entrance exams with Kobe Bryant on Monday night, and with all these things on his mind now that he has become a father for the first time, I wasn’t surprised to hear the resignation in his voice as he talked about the upcoming three-point contest with my daughter.

“If your daughter kicks my butt,” he said, while taking extra shooting practice three hours before the game with the Clippers, “then my daughter will grow up and kick your daughter’s butt.”

So now we know two things Kobe will be looking forward to in the years to come: three-point revenge and a good night’s sleep again. (I hope his kid never meets a Grocery Store Bagger; Kobe will never sleep peacefully again.)

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THERE HAD been some discussion before the birth of his daughter Sunday afternoon about naming the child, T.J., and while Kobe and his wife, Vanessa, didn’t actually partake in these conversations, it’s pretty apparent what they had in mind when they named their baby Natalia Diamante -- or N.D., for short.

We know what her first words will be -- “Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame.”

Now without knowing about N.D.’s birth and seeing the big smile on Kobe’s face, most people would have just assumed the Lakers were scheduled to play the Clippers. I knew why he was smiling, of course, because I remember what it felt like to get an additional tax exemption.

“Saw the whole thing,” Kobe said of the baby’s birth. “Cut the cord, and didn’t pass out.” No word if he’s changed a diaper yet -- and passed out.

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CLIPPER COACH Alvin Gentry was one of the first to seek out Bryant and discuss Bryant’s new role as a father. “If I was your coach,” Gentry told Bryant before the game, “I’d have made you to stay home. You should be with your new baby.”

Bryant laughed and told him it was a good try, probably better than any the Clipper players were going to employ to keep him from scoring, and so Gentry tried an alternative. His instructions to the team were, “We are going to double Kobe and Shaq.” That would leave one Clipper guarding the remaining three Lakers, which is just about right the way most of the Laker role players have performed. (There’s no reason for anyone to guard Devean George the way he’s playing.)

Staples Center officials had also put up a double set of curtains outside the Clippers’ locker room -- I presume on Gentry’s orders -- in a nice effort to keep the Clippers from seeing who they were going to be playing until the very last minute.

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WHEN THE game got underway, I noticed Helen Hunt sitting in the third row opposite the Lakers’ bench. Salma who? The Lakers must have also been distracted, too, which is the only way I can explain how Michael Olowokandi got away with scoring six of the Clippers’ first eight points.

About this point I would imagine a chill ran through Shaquille O’Neal’s rather large body as he pondered the morning headlines in the Times: “Clipper Stiff Has His Way With Shaq.” Shaq responded with a dozen first-quarter points.

Maybe it was the Clippers’ new blue uniforms, but they looked like a different team than the one that resides in last place in the Pacific Division as they stayed right with the Lakers. It was not only a game entering the second quarter, but what a display of amazing talent assembled here -- and I include Hunt -- with the potential star power of the young Clippers in Lamar Odom and Elton Brand, the defending champions, and Jack Nicholson taking a bow for his Golden Globe victory the night before.

The Lakers, winners of 116 of the previous 154 games played against the Clippers, went to the locker room tied at the half. With 6:22 remaining in the third quarter in a game as entertaining as any played here this season, the team that was supposed to lose was winning by a point.

Dennis Hopper was sitting five seats down from Gentry, and if I was reading his lips correctly, he was yelling, “Run the picket fence,” and it’s too bad Hopper couldn’t be available more often because the Clippers were up by three .

In fact, Phil Jackson, who probably thought he had a gimmie in the Clippers to claim his 200th win as Laker coach, jumped up cussing when his team fell behind, 64-61. By now you’d have thought he’d be used to his team falling behind.

The Clippers were up by five with less than five minutes to play, Derek Fisher hit a three and both Nicholson and Hunt -- on opposite sides of the court -- were on their feet. The Lakers tied it at 82 and then one of those guys the Clippers chose not to cover, Rick Fox, hit a pair of three-pointers, the Lakers holding on for a 96-92 thrilling win.

All in all -- As Good As It Gets.

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NO WORD yet from Matt Damon in the Super Bowl/Bachelorette Contest, so everyone remains alive in the quest to receive a free $400 Super Bowl ticket and a date with the daughter. Well, almost everyone.

Gary Jones: In response to whether he would be attending the Super Bowl wearing spikes, handcuffs or an eye patch, he answered incorrectly when he said, “No. However, I would not be opposed to [your] kid wearing those items.”

Gary will be watching the Super Bowl on TV by himself.

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TODAY’S LAST word comes in e-mail from Dave Lemery:

“Forget the Super Bowl, can I take your daughter to a hockey game?”

No. I love my daughter.

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T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com.