Leave of Absence Story Just Sounds ‘Ridiculous’

It wouldn’t be a day in Lakerland if Kobe Bryant didn’t bubble to the surface of the news.

Friday’s topic was an ESPN report that the Laker front office held discussions last month on whether to give Bryant a leave of absence to relieve him of the pressure of shuttling to and from his pre-trial hearings and punish him for being late to practices.

It shows how much larger-than-life this team is when its thoughts -- not even its actions -- make for a national story.

But it also shows just how delicate this season-long balancing act with Bryant has been and how much strain it has put on the organization.

Truth be told, they all could use a sabbatical from each other right about now. Maybe it would make their hearts grow fonder, because right now I’m not seeing a lot of love. Tolerance, maybe, but not love. Bryant even placed the Lakers’ defensive problems in Coach Phil Jackson’s lap the other day, saying the team didn’t spend much time on defense in practice.

I don’t think the Lakers came close to giving Bryant time off, but I do think the subject was broached.

This summer’s top priority is persuading him to stay, and before that they would consider asking him to temporarily leave?

Before the Lakers’ 106-100 victory over the Clippers, Jackson addressed the story by ESPN’s David Aldridge. (A personal note: I’ve known Aldridge for more than 12 years, including two years working with him at the Washington Post, and he has always been a diligent reporter, not one prone to making up or exaggerating stories).

“The answer to his question ‘Did you ever consider [giving Bryant time off]?, and I said, ‘Any time you’re talking about a person going through a tense trial or a procedure, a pre-trial hearing like this, there’s all kinds of things that go into the effectiveness of an employer and employee relationship, from Kobe doing what he’s doing, which is performing ... going forward with the season, to a leave of absence,” Jackson said. “There’s all kinds of things in between the spectrum. We’ve discussed or talked about it from all different angles. That’s all I confirmed, that’s all I said in regard to that. There was no concrete plans, there was no timetable to what was said about it.

“From the beginning in July [when Bryant was charged with felony sexual assault] until Kobe declared in September what he wanted to do to us personally, Mitch [Kupchak] and I talked about the variety of things that we may have to consider during the course of the summer. I’m saying we talked about all those things between July and when Kobe declared himself that that’s what he wanted to do.”

Jackson indicated that this was a pre-season discussion, while Kupchak said there have been ongoing talks about how to handle Bryant’s situation, as well as continuous talks with Bryant’s representatives about the logistics of his hearings in the midst of the 82-game schedule.

Bryant himself said he thought about sitting out the season, but once he was in he was in. It’s clear how much he has relished playing.

This season has felt like a Twilight Zone episode. Friday specifically reminded me of the one where the entire town is afraid to say or think bad things about little Anthony, lest he use his special powers to send them to “the cornfield.”

Everyone’s worried about words and how they will be perceived.

Jackson has gone out of his way to support Bryant in his public comments. But when Jackson said Bryant needs to recognize that the offense should run through Shaquille O’Neal -- something any other coach with this roster would say -- Bryant took offense, showing how hypersensitive he has been.

Kupchak is afraid of losing Bryant on his watch, which would result in Laker fans condemning him to a sentence even worse than the cornfield. He also knows that the surest way to lose a headstrong kid like Bryant is to tell him what to do.

Kupchak called the leave-of-absence report “ridiculous.”

“Our position has been if he wanted time off he would have to come to us and tell us,” Kupchak said. “We’ve always said we want to be flexible.”

And they have, even if it has caused some teeth-gnashing. Bryant has had his way this season, coming and going as he pleased, starting with the day he missed the team plane to Hawaii for the start of training camp. He has been late to practices, something that didn’t happen in previous seasons. It’s as if he’s testing them to see where the boundaries are set.

Bryant stays on the edge. This week he rode his Ducati motorcycle to practices and Friday’s game, an eye-opening act eight months after the Chicago Bulls’ Jay Williams wrecked his career in a motorcycle crash.

There are those in and out of the organization who think Bryant has behaved the way he has and made some of his statements because the pressure of his sexual assault case is getting to him. And there are those who believe he simply likes the attention they bring.

He has to be emboldened by owner Jerry Buss’ infatuation with him, as well as his ability to leave as an unrestricted free agent.

Next Wednesday looms large on various fronts, with a critical hearing in Eagle, Colo., on the application of the state’s rape-shield law to this case and a Laker game against the Sacramento Kings.

Bryant plans to be at both, as opposed to indications last week that he wouldn’t come back for the game. The Lakers don’t plan to give him any time off, contrary to indications earlier in the day that they were considering it.

Only on this team, in this season, could Bryant’s expected participation in a game be news.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande, go to latimes.com/adande.