Hoopla-Meter Is Way Down

There were a few reporters and a late-arriving television cameraman circled casually around Kobe Bryant, much less of a media gathering than for Bryant’s first game in Denver last season.

“Definitely less stressful,” Bryant said Wednesday before scoring 16 points in a 95-83 loss to the Nuggets. “It was a lot of hoopla. Things are just more calm.”

Sexual assault charges were dropped against Bryant in September in a courthouse 125 miles away in Eagle, Colo., prompting a reporter to ask whether Bryant felt closure within the confines of Colorado.

“It’s not a sense of closure,” he said. “The basketball court has nothing to do with when everything was done with. It’s completely separated. It was separate for me last year. The thing that made the game somewhat stressful was everybody else combining the two. Once you stepped out there on the floor, I just felt really relaxed and playing the game. To me, Denver and my situation [in Eagle have] always been separated.

“People like hoopla, they like drama. It’s very easy to get consumed by that and get caught up in all of that. I think people are just kind of moving on. I know I’ve learned from everything that’s going on in my life. Hopefully other people will learn from it as well.”

Bryant, who faces a civil suit, reiterated his thoughts of not playing last season because of his accuser’s allegations, and said he didn’t like how his season went.

“I wasn’t happy with the way I played,” he said. “But in looking back at going through a whole summer of not training at all, and then everything else, I think I did as good as I could possibly do.”

Bryant also said his meetings with Nugget officials during the free-agency period in July were genuine, despite the trying possibilities of establishing his career in Denver.

“All storms pass,” he said. “You have to not get caught up in what goes on Monday and Tuesday. You have to be able to look at the big picture, look down the road, and that’s what we were able to do.”

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Bryant and Cleveland forward LeBron James meet tonight at Staples Center, creating a host of comparisons and questions over which player was better at age 20.

“Completely different [styles],” said Bryant, now 26. “He’s a passer first. I was always a scorer first. People compare our athleticism, but as far as our game goes, it’s different.”

Just the same, Bryant said James’ game appeals to him.

“I love his game,” Bryant said. “I like watching him. It’s enjoyable.”

James, who turned 20 last month, said he counted Bryant among his role models.

“Kobe’s helping them win games, as simple as that,” said James, averaging 20.9 points and 5.9 assists. “He’s making other players on his team better, and that’s his job.

“I respect the man. I respect the way he plays, his determination. He’s always going to be a role model. First time I met him and had a chance to talk to him, he was fair and straightforward with me and he always has been.”

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TONIGHT

vs. Cleveland, 7:30, TNT

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- KLAC (570); KWKW (1330).

Records -- Lakers 18-15; Cavaliers 21-12.

Record vs. Cavaliers (2003-04) -- 2-0.

Update -- The Cavaliers have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, possibly the East’s second-best center, is averaging 16.5 points and 7.7 rebounds.