It’s Home, but It’s Not Sweet

Kobe Bryant was not in Cleveland, but, according to a team official, he planned to join the team in Philadelphia today, when the Lakers play the 76ers.

A lingering illness kept Bryant from flying directly from his motions hearing in Eagle, Colo., to Cleveland on Tuesday night, officials said Wednesday. The illness, which kept Bryant from Monday’s hearing, has been described as a stomach virus.

Bryant is on the injured list because of his lacerated right index finger, and cannot play until Sunday in Orlando, at the earliest.

When it appeared Bryant might not return until the weekend in Orlando, Coach Phil Jackson said he understood had Bryant wanted to skip a night in Philadelphia.

Though he considers it his hometown, Philadelphia has been hard on Bryant. He has been booed there throughout his career, and never more than two years ago, when he took over the 2002 All-Star game and was named its MVP. As Bryant held the trophy over his head after the game, the boos poured from the stands.

“It’s very difficult to sit on the bench and take the barrage that goes on in those games,” Jackson said. “I really don’t blame him for not wanting to be there in that situation, if it’s going to be like that. It’s much easier to play.”

Primarily because of his felony sexual assault charge, Bryant has been the target of fan abuse in many arenas. Many believed Philadelphia’s Wachovia Center would judge him the harshest.

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Gary Payton gave up millions to come to the Lakers, but that wasn’t all.

His scoring is down nearly six points a game, and this week it probably cost him a 10th consecutive All-Star berth. Western Conference coaches filled the All-Star roster with guards Ray Allen and Sam Cassell.

“You always want to keep your game as an All-Star,” Payton said. “But it happens. I had to sacrifice some, we knew that. If all the guys were back, probably it would be different. If we were leading the conference and stuff, they probably would have recognized it a little better. But we had a lot of stuff going on. And the coaches didn’t feel that way, so it’s fine. I’m not really bitter about the situation. I just go ahead and play. I got a couple more years to play. I can make the All-Star team next year. It don’t bother me. Having had nine of them, let some of these new guys go in there and get a little whiff of it, so it’s fine.”

Payton, apparently, was more revealing to Shaquille O’Neal.

“He was kind of upset about not making the All-StargGame, so he’s going to be getting back to the ‘mean Gary’ here, and that’s what we need,” O’Neal said. “I was looking at the standings today.... As horrible as we’ve been playing, we still have a chance to turn this thing around. So, we look forward to doing that.”

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Payton suffered a cut just below his left calf Wednesday morning when he brushed against a glass table in his hotel room, Payton said Wednesday.

Trainer Gary Vitti treated the injury with a glue-like substance and Payton played with the area covered by a bandage and wristband.

Vitti called the gash deep enough to be “suture-able.”

Last Thursday, Bryant slashed his finger on a window in his garage, according to Bryant and the team, and six days later Payton veered too near a table in his suite. Jackson called it “the ghost of Kobe’s garage.”

“No, no,” Payton said, laughing. “Don’t put me in that category. I’m good. I got scratched by a table. I’m G. I’m cool.”

Uh, G?

“Gary. I’m cool.”

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Laker publicist John Black is not with the team. His mother, Elaine Van Mullekom, passed away this week in Bay City, Mich. She was 69.... Maurice Carter’s first NBA points were on a two-handed dunk Wednesday night, a fastbreak he finished after a pass from Payton. He considered a one-hander, but reconsidered. “I was too nervous,” he said.