Bryant Queries on Quote

Incensed at an anonymous quote in Tuesday’s editions of The Times that was critical of his play Sunday, Kobe Bryant approached many of his teammates before a morning shoot-around and demanded to know the source.

The quote -- “I don’t know how we can forgive him” -- was in response to Bryant’s game in Sacramento, in which many Laker players privately believed he passed up shots to reestablish his importance to the offense.

Bryant insisted the Kings’ defense had taken his game away, and Coach Phil Jackson supported the notion.

On Tuesday evening, Bryant arranged to appear on KLAC’s Laker pregame show for the first time this season. He was interviewed by hosts Larry Burnett and Mychal Thompson, then took telephone calls from the public.

He told Burnett and Thompson he had addressed his teammates individually on the subject of Sunday’s game and their reaction to it.

“Now, as a leader, I nip it in the bud immediately,” Bryant said. “I went to practice this morning, I asked every single one of my teammates, ‘Do you have a problem with what happened on Sunday? Do you think I did this on Sunday? Did you say this in the paper?’ Every single one of them say they didn’t say it.

“We’re trying to win a championship. If somebody has an issue on this team, especially something as preposterous as that, I want to know. We need to talk about it, we need to resolve it, so we can move on.”

Asked whether he believed the issue -- his part in the game, specifically, in which he took one first-half shot -- was dead, Bryant said, “It’s dead to me. That’s why” he went to his teammates.

Although the published quote caused Bryant’s morning outburst, Bryant’s activity in the 17-point loss remained the central theme. Bryant declined a chance to comment after Monday’s practice, feeling he’d explained himself the day before, but apparently he felt the need to address the subject 90 minutes before game time.

“I’ll take full responsibility, I’ll take blame, as far as us losing the game. But, that sabotaging the game, that’s just ridiculous,” he said, later adding, “I’ve been playing this game since I was 3, and I love the game so much there’s no way I would disrespect the game by doing that. That’s just ridiculous to me.

“For anybody to say that, they haven’t been watching me play for all these years.”

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Gary Payton is a combative player, which Memphis Coach Hubie Brown knew well before Friday night, when the two jawed during a game at Staples Center and then were separated after the game in the players’ parking lot.

Payton has declined to comment. Brown responded only generally in the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

“We talk to our guys about respecting the other team and respecting their strong suit,” Brown said, apparently referring to his on-court discussion with Payton, “ ... but if you are now going to talk or be physical beyond what’s necessary, then you have to be tough enough to take the retaliation. Because we do not allow anybody to intimidate our team. And we don’t care who it is. That’s as far as I want to go with that.”

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The Kings play tonight at Golden State, where they lost their previous game this season, 98-91, the day after Christmas. Overall, the Kings are 2-1 against the Warriors. The Kings have lost three of four.... Jamal Sampson, who had surgery on his right foot a month ago, said he has had complications during rehabilitation and could need more surgery.... Kareem Rush had a bone scan on his right foot. The results were negative for a stress fracture.... Rick Fox (dislocated thumb) said he hopes to play in the first playoff game but admitted it would be a longshot.

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HOW THEY COMPARE

*--* 2003-04 statistics (before Tuesday): Lakers Opp. Points/game 98.0 94.1 Reb/game 43.1 42.4 Assists/game 23.7 20.8 Field goal % 45.3 43.8 3-pts/game 4.4-13.5 5.1-15.1 3-pt % 33.0 33.7 FT/game 19.9-28.7 18.0-24.0 FT% 69.3 75.0 Fouls/game 21.1 24.7 Steals/game 8.2 7.5 TO/game 13.8 15.2 Blocks/game 4.6 3.7

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THE LAST 10

*--* RESULTS W-L UTAH W 91-84 NEW ORLEANS W 107-88 HOUSTON W 93-85 AT SEATTLE W 97-86 SAN ANTONIO L 95-89 PORTLAND L 91-80 MEMPHIS W 103-95 AT SACRAMENTO L 102-85 GOLDEN STATE W 109-104 GAME REMAINING W-L AT PORTLAND, today 1-2

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SEASON LEADERS

*--* SCORING KOBE BRYANT 37 SHAQUILLE O’NEAL 30 GARY PAYTON 9 SLAVA MEDVEDENKO 5 DEVEAN GEORGE 3 KAREEM RUSH 2 KARL MALONE, BRIAN COOK 1 REBOUNDS SHAQUILLE O’NEAL 47 KARL MALONE 11 HORACE GRANT 7 SLAVA MEDVEDENKO, KOBE BRYANT 6 DEVEAN GEORGE 4 JAMAL SAMPSON, GARY PAYTON 3 LUKE WALTON 2 BRIAN COOK, RICK FOX 1 ASSISTS GARY PAYTON 40 KOBE BRYANT 29 SHAQUILLE O’NEAL, KARL MALONE 10 RICK FOX, DEREK FISHER 6 LUKE WALTON 3 B. RUSSELL, K. RUSH, D. GEORGE 1

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