Bryant Gets More Play Time

A more pressing number than 81, or even 100, for Kobe Bryant: 44.3.

The Laker guard had averaged that many minutes in a three-game stretch before the Utah Jazz came to town, ending a breakneck pace that had meant less time on the bench for Bryant and a trend toward the full 48.

“I’d play 48 minutes every game,” Bryant said before logging 36 in the Lakers’ 94-88 victory over the Jazz. “It might not be the healthiest thing. If I had my choice, I’d play 48 minutes.”

Bryant, in his 10th year, has played all 82 games in a season only once (2002-03), but the Lakers have had little choice but to use him, and use him, and use him.

He had 12 minutes of rest Monday against Utah, but only two against Memphis, three against Houston and a whopping six against Dallas.

“Last couple of games, I noticed it getting shorter and shorter,” Bryant said. “It’s fine by me.”

He won’t get much rest this weekend. While 95% of the league will be off on Sunday, Bryant will be playing in his eighth consecutive All-Star game. The day before that, he will be in a three-on-three team shootout and attending various functions in Houston as part of All-Star Saturday.

The other 14 Lakers will be off Thursday through Sunday.

“If you’re tired, suck it up,” he said. “We’ve watched all the great guys doing it when we were growing up. It’s the least we can do for the game.”

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Coach Phil Jackson didn’t seem overly concerned about Bryant’s extra activities this weekend -- “He knows how to pace himself,” Jackson said -- but had fewer optimistic words for the game itself, calling it “a long wait to see a bunch of guys play a game that usually is a bunch of lob passes. Spectacular, sometimes. Sometimes it’s futility. It’s an opportunity for the league to feed their sponsors and to enjoy the halfway point of the year.”

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With the Lakers a game away from the All-Star break, Bryant was asked to rate their progress this season.

“It’s tough for me to do that,” he said. “I don’t play for eighth seeds or seventh seeds or sixth seeds. I play for titles. I don’t even think about judging the progression of a season until we get to that championship form again and start contending for a title. We’re not there yet but this is the path.”

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An MRI exam on Chris Mihm’s right shoulder showed no damage beyond a sprain, but the Laker center will probably miss Wednesday’s game against Atlanta, the last for the Lakers before the break. Mihm missed his fifth consecutive game Monday.