To Stay, or Not to Stay?

Kobe Bryant took center stage -- where else? -- Friday at the NBA All-Star game media session in Century City and addressed his future, saying that he wanted to be “a Laker for the rest of my life,” although he wouldn’t rule out becoming a free agent after the season.

“The important thing for me is that Mitch Kupchak and Jerry Buss, they know what my sentiments are,” Bryant said. “That’s what really counts.... I want to be a Laker. I’ve been a Laker fan my entire life and I want to be a Laker for the rest of my life. That hasn’t changed.”

He added, though, that he planned to test the free-agent market just to see what it might be like.

Teammate Shaquille O’Neal took the latest Laker drama in stride.

Asked for his take on Bryant’s options, O’Neal was emotionless with his answer.

“You have to do what is best for you,” he said. “Would [Bryant’s leaving] surprise me? I wouldn’t have a reaction because I know that it’s all business and never personal. If he wants to go play with a different ballclub, [that’s Bryant’s decision].”

Bryant, occupied with his defense against a rape accusation, said that numerous factors would be involved in his decision.

“I’ll think about it at the end of the season,” he said. “I’m not going to sit up here and think about it now. We have too much going on. I have too much going on.... We’re all focused on the second half of the season.

“Just like I told Mitch, at the end of the season, then we can sit down and talk. But right now, there’s no reason to talk about it.”

Bryant also denied that he would return only if Phil Jackson were not retained as coach.

He said, “That was a question posed to me about whether Jackson’s contract situation was a distraction to me or what the team is trying to accomplish. I said ‘I don’t care.’ Some [reporters] probably heard that ‘I don’t care’ and ran with it. But it was within the context of the question.

“Of course I care about who the coach is [next season] because the coach is the general of our team. So I do care from that standpoint. But do I care to the point where it’s going to be a distraction this season? No. Phil’s our coach and we have our team in place and we’re trying to win right now.”

Bryant acknowledged that his rapport with Jackson had been up and down.

“Our relationship has always been kind of dicey,” he said. “It’s always been a kind of a push-and-pull type of relationship with me and Phil. He knows that I like to challenge everything and he challenges everything. If he says, ‘Run this or that,’ I’m going to say, ‘Why?’ and, ‘How does that work?’ Our relationship has always been that way, but it’s been successful.

“Of course I want him back next year. We only won when he got here and I don’t see why that shouldn’t continue.”