Brown Again Expresses Admiration for Bryant

The mutual display of admiration continued Thursday between Kobe Bryant and Larry Brown, this time with the Detroit Piston coach musing about Bryant.

Brown is under contract with the Pistons through 2007-08, but he has been mentioned as a possible long-term replacement for Rudy Tomjanovich. Brown and Bryant have admired each other from afar for years.

“He’s special,” Brown said. “I’ve known him for a long, long time. Karl [Malone] and I recruited him to get him to play on the [2004] Olympic team.

“It’s kind of funny. [Atlanta General Manager] Billy Knight was with Indiana scouting Kobe and went to see him play in an all-star [high school] game ... and didn’t know if he was quite ready. So boom, he’s ready.”

Bryant on Wednesday called Brown an “amazing coach” who commanded respect.

“I love him,” Bryant said. “I’ve been fortunate to have sat down and talked with him in the past about basketball things and stuff like that. If he’s available to be considered, I’m sure he’s one of the guys that [General Manager] Mitch [Kupchak] and [owner] Dr. [Jerry] Buss would consider.”

Brown is in the second year of a five-year, $30-million contract, although the Pistons and Brown have had moments of tension since the Pistons defeated the Lakers in the NBA Finals.

Piston executives want Brown to play center Darko Milicic, the second overall pick in the 2003 draft, but Brown prefers veterans Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace and Antonio McDyess. Brown also irritated Piston officials when he said last month his dream job would be to coach the New York Knicks.

He has since said his last coaching job would be with the Pistons, although he has a well-documented history of jumping from team to team.

Brown has coached 10 teams since his career began in 1972. He coached UCLA for two seasons, from 1979 to ‘81, and the Clippers for 1 1/2 seasons, from 1992 to ’93. He still owns a home in the Los Angeles area.

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Bryant, who has sat out 14 games because of a severe ankle sprain, will try to practice Saturday, although an official return date has not been set.

The Lakers have a road game Sunday against Cleveland and a home game Tuesday against Utah before the All-Star break begins. If Bryant plays one of the games before the break, he will play in the All-Star game Feb. 20 in Denver.

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Laker guard Chucky Atkins, who was traded last season from Detroit to the Boston Celtics before the trade deadline, had three points on one-of-seven shooting Thursday against his former team.

“It let us know we’ve got a long way to go,” Atkins said.