Bryant Is Talking It Up

Ordered by Laker management to refrain from speaking to the media on Monday, the day after he bickered through reporters with Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant went public anyway. He told ESPN that if he left the Lakers next summer, it would be because of O’Neal’s “childlike selfishness and jealousy,” then listed what he believed were several other of O’Neal’s character deficiencies.

He also said that he might not play in the Laker season opener tonight against the Dallas Mavericks, because his right knee, operated on four months ago, was not yet sound. Only Sunday, Bryant had said his knee would not inhibit his play and that, despite O’Neal’s advice, he would not consider modifying his game.

At the team’s practice facility in El Segundo on Monday afternoon, General Manager Mitch Kupchak, Coach Phil Jackson and several players insisted that the clash involving O’Neal and Bryant had been dealt with and promised that the team would proceed with something approaching decorum.

Those minutes passed quietly, O’Neal and Bryant sequestered in the locker room, banished by employers weary of infighting and determined to get something out of the season.

“I’m not going to say it’s been put behind us,” Kupchak said. “I’m saying it’s been addressed.”

O’Neal on Sunday challenged Bryant to play within the team’s system or “opt out” of his contract at season’s end. He and Bryant met separately Monday with Kupchak and Jackson for about 30 minutes each. The general manager and coach said they were satisfied with the meetings.

Then Karl Malone and Gary Payton, each of whom took massive pay cuts only to be caught on the fringe of the Laker maelstrom, said they, too, were satisfied that the team could move forward, starting tonight.

Malone said he told both players, “You’re not paying me enough for this [stuff],” and believed that his point was taken. O’Neal smiled silently from a doorway that led to the trainer’s room and left without saying a word. Bryant, talking to ESPN, had the last word, which now, almost certainly, will not be the last word.

Reached in his office early Monday evening, Kupchak said he was unaware that Bryant had decided he would be unable to play tonight. Bryant played a combined 55 minutes in the Lakers’ last two exhibition games and, although he looked slower and less nimble than in years past, said he would start the season on the floor.

Bryant practiced Monday without incident, neither Jackson nor Kupchak mentioned a setback, and there were suspicions within the organization that Bryant was healthy and simply pouting.

These crisis-a-day Lakers, a franchise of historic lineups and a pending criminal trial, open their season tonight, drama now coming as hard and fast as expectations once did.

Remember, it was Jackson who first mentioned 70 wins in the same sentence as implosion, a take-your-pick scenario in an all-or-nothing season that begins at Staples Center with the Mavericks.

O’Neal and Bryant, famously talented and divided again in their eighth season together, will stand with Malone and Payton in what could amount to a one-year championship grab.

Of a 15-man roster and five-man coaching staff, 13 could leave the franchise after the season, including Bryant, Malone, Payton and Jackson.

Of them, Bryant, a five-time All-Star at the age of 25, seems the most likely to go, and perhaps he was never closer than Monday night, when he reportedly told ESPN, “It doesn’t matter whose team it is. Nobody cares. I don’t, Karl doesn’t, Gary doesn’t and our teammates and fans don’t either.

“There’s more to life than whose team this is. But, this is his team, so it’s time for him to act like it. That means no more coming into camp fat and out of shape when your team is relying on your leadership on and off the court. It also means no more blaming others for our team’s failure or blaming staff members for not over-dramatizing your injuries so that you avoid blame for your lack of conditioning. Also, my team doesn’t mean only when we win. It means carrying the burden of defeat just as gracefully as you carry a championship trophy.”

There was much, much more. Bryant also took on O’Neal on the subjects of:

* Leadership.

“Leaders don’t beg for contract extensions and negotiate some $30-million-plus deal in the media when we have two future Hall of Famers playing here basically for free. A leader would not demand the ball when you have three of us besides you, not to mention the teammates that he’s gone to war with the past three years.... By the way, you also don’t threaten not to play defense and not to rebound if you don’t get the ball every time down the floor.”

* Playing in pain.

“I don’t need Shaq’s advice on how to play hurt. I’ve played with IVs before ... with a broken hand, a sprained ankle, a fractured tooth, a severed lip and a knee the size of a softball. I didn’t miss 15 games because of a toe injury that everybody knows wasn’t that serious.”

* And staying in touch.

“He is not my quote-unquote big brother. A big brother would have called me up over the summer.”

Bryant also told ESPN that he saw this coming, and that he had asked Jackson to do something about it.

“I asked Phil on Sunday to say something to calm this situation down before it boiled over,” he said. “But, he backed away, so now here we are.... Somebody in the organization had to speak up, because [O’Neal’s] unprofessionalism hurt us last year and I don’t want it to hurt us this year.”

Laker management was said to have been disappointed with Bryant’s observations. Bryant will be asked today to meet again with Kupchak about the decision to talk to ESPN so shortly after there appeared to be a team-wide agreement to avoid the subject.

Although Kupchak has promised not to trade Bryant under any circumstances, it is possible Bryant’s disobedience is an attempt to force a deal. Though Bryant is out of shape, on a bum knee, expensive ($13.5 million this season) and facing charges that, if convicted, could mean life in prison, Kupchak probably would find many willing trade partners.

As for Bryant’s knee, team publicist John Black said, “Our understanding is he’s probably going to play. Either way, the decision’s going to be made [today].”

Meanwhile, many inside the organization are beginning to sympathize with Malone and Payton, whose financial sacrifices, once a rallying cry for the players, has been lost in the hostilities.

Malone sought Monday to lead the Lakers away from the pettiness, and, hours before Bryant spoke to ESPN, said he’d achieved it.

“It’s not going to continue, trust me,” he said.

Although he avoided divulging many details, Malone hinted that he spoke to O’Neal and Bryant by telephone, perhaps on Sunday night, before the morning newspapers hit. He reminded them of their championship goals, he said, and he reminded them of his own decision to become a Laker, at a cost of millions of dollars.

“When you come to me for advice, I’m going to give it to you,” Malone said. “That’s why I don’t think we’ll have this anymore.... I’m really slow on imposing my wisdom up on a person, but when they call and they ask for it, I give it to them. Then we go out and handle it like professional athletes. So, when they did it, I said what I needed to say and we said what we needed to say as a team, and we’re going to go from there.”

Said Payton: “It’s all resolved. We’re talking about basketball now. That’s all we’re going to talk about. We’re talking about basketball. We’re not talking about who’s saying this and who’s saying that. Everything is fine here in our camp, and that’s the way it’s gonna be.”

Despite the stormy history of their relationship, an assumption was developed that O’Neal and Bryant could manage their disdain for each other. They had won championships while hating each other, won them while putting up with each other, and all agreed that the latter was preferable.

Then, after a summer in which he had two surgeries and was charged with felony sexual assault, it was Bryant who arrived in camp in typical Shaq shape, and O’Neal who toiled in the gym. Payton and Malone arrived, Bryant skipped out on much of training camp, opening night drew near, and, in the hours before the regular season arrived, O’Neal and Bryant rediscovered their dislike for each other.

All of which left the other players, the coaching staff and team management to explain how it really wasn’t all that critical to their season, and how the healing lessons of the past would help them today.

“We know as a unit that we always have to work things out, there’s always things we’re going to have to work out as a team, and those things we’ve adjusted to over the years,” Jackson said. “This year, we didn’t anticipate it starting before the season began, but we’re ready to deal with it and it’s probably better that it happened early than late.

“All four of my superstars -- my superstars, our superstars -- all four of these guys have said, ‘I don’t care if I score 10 points a game or not, all I want to do is win.’ They’ve all expressed it and I believe them. I mean, that’s sincerely what I believe. So, I think we have to wait and see how they play on the floor.... We’re going to find out what’s going to work best for us as a team.

“On certain nights, somebody’s going to have to score 25 and somebody’s going to have to be a passer and score 10. So, we’re going to find it out as a basketball team as the season goes on. That’s the intriguing thing.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

ROSTER

CENTERS

*--* No. Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Comment 34 SHAQUILLE O’NEAL 12 7-1 340 He made an effort to get leaner and harder in the off-season. 31 JAMAL SAMPSON 2 6-11 235 A project, Sampson, 20, played eight minutes for the Milwaukee Bucks last season.

*--*

FORWARDS

*--* 7 BRIAN COOK R 6-9 234 He’ll start the season on the injured list because of a fractured finger. 17 RICK FOX 13 6-7 235 An important postseason defender, Fox could be back by Christmas. 3 DEVEAN GEORGE 5 6-8 240 Lakers still await the fruition of his potential. 54 HORACE GRANT 17 6-10 245 Full of veteran savvy, he’ll be the first off the bench to spell O’Neal, Malone. 11 KARL MALONE 19 6-9 256 Two NBA Finals and two losses to Jordan led him to L.A., where he longs for another chance. 14 SLAVA MEDVEDENKO 4 6-10 250 A breakout training camp was slowed by a heel injury. 9 BRYON RUSSELL 10 6-7 225 Could end up in the starting lineup tonight by default. 4 LUKE WALTON R 6-8 245 Jackson likes his pass-first mind-set but would like him to shoot better.

*--*

GUARDS

*--* 8 KOBE BRYANT 8 6-6 208 It could be a long, tortuous season for Bryant, who will attempt to lose himself on the floor. 2 DEREK FISHER 8 6-1 205 He’ll be the utility man, out of the starting lineup for the first time in four years. 12 JANNERO PARGO 2 6-1 175 He’s end-to-end quick on a team that’s end-to-end veteran, and he’s added a jump shot. 20 GARY PAYTON 14 6-4 180 Key to players’ wishes to push ball and key to Jackson’s desire to play better team defense. 21 KAREEM RUSH 2 6-6 215 He has yet to show the shooting touch that drew the Lakers’ interest.

*--*

Note: Sampson, Cook and Fox will start season on injured list.

-- Tim Brown