Bryant Is Weary of ‘Gossip’

Kobe Bryant sat on the edge of some bleachers in El Segundo on Friday afternoon, two days from Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.

In a conversation that bounced some, Bryant said he’d defend Tony Parker if asked but insisted Gary Payton was doing an adequate enough job.

He said his jump shot felt perfectly fine, despite his misses, that he still had some hope of playing in the Olympics and that he’s weary of talking about relationships with teammates.

“You know what? With me, it’s just about moving on to the next game,” he said. “I think it’s really silly when people bring it up, people want to talk about it, people want to pry for information. It’s gossip. Some of it may be factual, some of it may not be. I don’t really care. All I care about is Game 3.”

Bryant appeared to be tired, but he would, considering Phil Jackson had held them all through 45 minutes of weight work, two hours on the floor and another half-hour watching themselves lose Game 2 in San Antonio.

He said he hadn’t seen, but had heard about, the criticism from Philip Harrison, Shaquille O’Neal’s stepfather, between Games 1 and 2, but appeared to have little reaction.

On his Olympic decision, Bryant said, “I don’t know. We’ll have to see how it flows. Have to see how it flows. If I can play, I’ll play. If I can’t, I won’t.”

USA Basketball is in the process of replacing Bryant on the roster.

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For a man who might also be unemployed soon, Jackson quite casually assessed the firings on Friday of NBA coaches Terry Stotts and Tim Floyd.

“A lot of guys you see in Santa Monica who are homeless people used to be coaches too,” he said.

They’re the ones yelling at referee Steve Javie.

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There were a lot of leading questions Friday about when a Laker was going to make Parker pay for his trips into the lane, and O’Neal was about the only one to bite.

Asked if the 175-pound Parker needed to be knocked down, O’Neal said, “Yeah.”

Asked why it hadn’t happened yet, O’Neal said, “I don’t know.”

But it had been discussed in the locker room?

“Yeah,” O’Neal said. “This is going to be a different team you see on Sunday.”

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Today it’s Payton’s fault. Tomorrow, somebody else will get it. It’s a rite of the big early deficit, Karl Malone said.

“This is the time of year that, if you really want to analyze newspapers and radios and TVs, everybody, when you’re down 0-2, is being picked on,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anybody excluded. More importantly, when you get like that, you can’t try to do it yourself. You’ve got to stay in the team system. I think Gary’s doing fine. What we have to do as a team is just stick with each other.

“I don’t think you can pick out one particular guy and pick on him.”