Bryant May Play Tonight

Kobe Bryant told Coach Phil Jackson on Tuesday that he hoped to play tonight in Houston, the Lakers’ final game before Sunday’s All-Star game.

Since Jan. 12, the night he bruised his shoulder against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Bryant has played two games -- 67 minutes over a month. He sat out his seventh consecutive game Tuesday because of the finger he cut, in an accident in his garage.

Tuesday afternoon, though, he wore out the local ball boys, betting his shoes against their conditioning on half-court, left-handed jump shots. One kid ran laps. Another ran stairs. Turned out, he gave them shoes anyway.

“Man,” Bryant said afterward, laughing, “I’m killing those kids.”

He dribbled with both hands, shot only with his left. But apparently, he felt there was improvement in his finger, a day after having up to 15 stitches removed.

“He says he’ll play,” Jackson said.

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Given Bryant’s injuries -- the Lakers remain more concerned with his shoulder than the finger -- Jackson said, “There’s ample reason for him not to even play in the All-Star game, if he wanted to sit it out.”

The leading vote-getter in the Western Conference and touched by the sentiment during a period in which he’s fighting rape allegations, Bryant presumably would like to participate.

“I think the finger will be sufficiently healed by that time,” Jackson said. “The shoulder, I’m sure, is still going to bother him some. His game, maybe he’ll get some rust out of it and he’ll be able to play better on Tuesday.”

The Lakers resume their season Tuesday against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Asked if he preferred Bryant not play over the weekend, Jackson said, “ ... of course, you don’t want [players] to play in a game that could possibly get them hurt or whatever. Last year, Yao Ming probably played, what, 15 minutes in the ballgame and [Shaquille O’Neal] played a ton of minutes in a situation he wasn’t in the best of health. It hurt him coming back out of the All-Star game.”

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Yao played 17 minutes and O’Neal played 26 in last year’s game. But O’Neal’s tough enough to handle it, according to USA Today, which Tuesday called him sports’ ninth-toughest athlete.

“Keep in mind, I’m not allowed to be tough,” O’Neal said. “I’m tamed.”

Asked for his three toughest athletes, O’Neal listed Allen Iverson, Gary Payton and Karl Malone.

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Jackson is the Muscular Dystrophy Assn.’s 2004 sportsman of the year. He will speak at the MDA All-Star dinner Thursday night at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Tickets: (310) 450-9032.