Bryant Returns to His Court

A woman from a television network, risking revocation of the credential that allowed her to pose such questions, asked Kobe Bryant on Monday afternoon if he was concerned about the decision due from the courthouse in Eagle, Colo.

Hours later, Bryant learned he would be tried for felony sexual assault and the rest of the Lakers learned that their season would be played under the pall of an impending trial date. But for the moment, Bryant narrowed his eyes and said, “What courthouse?”

Then he smiled the best he could.

Bryant played basketball Monday morning, really played, for the first time since Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals, an elimination game that left him in tears. Presumably, there have been a lot of those since.

He practiced in El Segundo alongside Karl Malone, Gary Payton and Shaquille O’Neal, teammates all bound for the Hall of Fame. And afterward, before he learned of Eagle County Judge Frederick Gannett’s decision, Bryant said he intended to play Thursday night in Anaheim against the Clippers and again, perhaps, Friday night in Las Vegas against the Sacramento Kings.

The regular season starts a week from tonight against the Dallas Mavericks, and Bryant’s training camp, after shoulder and knee surgery followed by the rape accusation in early summer, has only just begun. He has five practices and two games to get from introductions to something approaching integration with three of the game’s dynamic figures.

And vice versa. After all, it was Bryant who, among them last season, scored the most points, took the most shots, played the most minutes and dictated the most possessions. By all appearances, however, this is a different Bryant, slowed by the two surgeries, hounded by the court case, dulled by an idyllic life turned difficult.

He was asked to measure his anxiety.

“Basketball? Basketball, zero anxiety,” he said. “Other stuff? Ah, a little anxiety. I pretty much give it up. I’ve pretty much done all I can here. Just, God will carry me the rest of the way. I’m pretty comfortable with that. You do that, you’ll have no problem whatsoever.

“When I play in the games I just don’t think about anything else but the game. Come to work, do your job. I love playing basketball; I love my job. I’m thankful for that.”

Monday’s ruling raises a potential scheduling conflict for Bryant and the Lakers. He is due in Colorado district court the morning of Nov. 10, when he will be advised of the charge, the possible penalty -- if convicted, he could face life in prison -- and his rights. The Lakers play the Memphis Grizzlies that night in Memphis, Tenn.

Laker management declined to comment on the trial or the effect on Bryant’s schedule.

In his parallel basketball world, Bryant said Monday he was gaining on his physical ailments and that he enjoyed his first minutes on the floor with the other three superstars.

“I feel pretty good,” he said. “I think I’m ahead of schedule, actually, as far as the strength of my legs. Now it’s about getting out there on the court and just playing, working back into condition.

“It felt good to get out there finally, to have our unit. We’ll see how it turns out.”

While newcomers Payton and Malone have made every practice and game, O’Neal missed nearly two weeks because of a bruised left heel and Bryant was mostly absent until Monday. By his own admission, Bryant will enter the season with limitations. He has problems with his “tomahawk dunks,” can’t “stop on a dime” and needs court time to improve his conditioning. And yet, Phil Jackson said, Bryant already has come a ways.

“He was still making his shot at the end of practice,” the Laker coach said. “That in itself is a declaration that his legs are coming back and he still has enough energy to gear up his shot. He’s doing double time right now with weight training, conditioning and trying to practice. That’s good. We’re pleased.”

Although Bryant insisted the pressing task was having the players learn and commit to the triangle offense, the greater challenge would appear to be the meshing of games and personalities and long careers spent as No. 1 options. It might come on Thursday. More likely, the Lakers are months away.

“I don’t know, it’s tricky,” Bryant said. “You never really know. It’s tough to put a timeline on that. You don’t know. You just kind of go out there and figure it out as you go on.”

It is not as if Bryant has been left far behind. Malone and Payton are triangle beginners and have only occasionally looked sharp together, even with O’Neal on the floor.

“They haven’t established anything,” Jackson said. “Karl and Gary can play together pretty well. But, they’re pretty new to each other also. They’ve been on the floor for untold hours during the preseason, but they’ve been waiting for Shaq and Kobe. They’ve had [about four] hours with Shaquille and now they’ve got to get some hours with Kobe out there. They’ll adjust and it’ll go quickly, but it still takes some time.”

They have a week. Bryant shrugged.

“It doesn’t really matter,” he said. “It is what it is, and we’ll figure our way through it. You know what I mean? Just make the best of it.”