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Coach Is No Big Deal to Bryant

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Times Staff Writer

Phil Jackson’s career choices in the next two summers -- he has said could retire after this season or next, depending on his health -- will have no effect on the decisions Kobe Bryant must make, Bryant said Tuesday.

Bryant can opt out of his Laker contract after next season. Those close to him have long predicted he would exercise that clause, if only to experience free agency, and to test the parameters of what, presumably, will be a new collective bargaining agreement. They have also predicted that Bryant ultimately would re-sign with the Lakers. Bryant himself recently advised those talking about his departure to “breathe easy.”

Asked before Tuesday morning’s shoot-around if Jackson’s decision would affect his, Bryant shook his head and said, “No.”

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Asked if he would consider the candidates to become the Lakers’ next coach before choosing to opt out, he again said, “No.”

Bryant, of course, occasionally feels trapped in Jackson’s “boring” triangle offense, but recognizes that it has produced championships.

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Jackson received no revelations about the Lakers while watching television from his couch Sunday afternoon.

And he knows the Lakers too well to see something new.

“That’s not possible,” he said. “What you do see is how much irritation you have for reporters like Bill Walton and Tommy Tolbert, when they talk about your basketball club.

“That got angina for me, I’ll tell you that.”

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The effects of an allergic reaction to medication had eased for Jackson by Tuesday, though he still suffered some swelling around his eyes -- the reason he wore sunglasses Monday -- and redness on his body.

“But it’s not uncomfortable at all,” he said. “I have great energy. I feel fine, as far as that goes.”

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Rick Fox spoke to several teammates and Jackson on the telephone from the New York hospital where he is recovering from Monday’s foot surgery.

He probably will be released today and plans to spend at least a few days at his home in Chappaqua, N.Y., before rejoining the team.

Fox’s agent, Jill Smoller, is making his hospital stay as comfortable as possible. She ordered him dinner from Lusardi’s, his favorite Italian restaurant.

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