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He seems happy and energetic. Can’t wait for next Tuesday. 
CBS: The speculation is over.
Kobe Bryant reported to Lakers Media Day on Monday morning in El Segundo.
He is also with the team as they head for training camp in Hawaii.
A media circus mobbed the Lakers superstar, as he answered questions about his turbulent off-season.
You can watch Jim Hill’s interview with Kobe Bryant right here.
As NBA camps open, Lakers coach has serious doubts about his team.
ChicagoSports.com: Phil Jackson sat sipping his favorite soft drink, the Arnold Palmer mixture of lemonade and iced tea. Jackson’s cane, the one he uses as he recuperates from a second hip-replacement surgery, lay an easy putt away. Behind Jackson, the sun began to set into the glittering Pacific Ocean. The symbolism was obvious, even to me.
Is the sun about to set, not only on the brilliant coaching career of the newest NBA Hall of Fame coach but also on the glorious success enjoyed by the Los Angeles Lakers?
“We’re at a critical point,” conceded Jackson. “Players [once] jumped to get the opportunity to play with the Lakers. It meant an opportunity to maybe win a championship. Now we have to compete real hard for free agents.
“This is a team that is probably the No. 1 [road] fan attraction. It’s got a mystique about it. We are definitely covetous of that past. We know Kobe Bryant is one of the reasons why we are the team that draws like that. We need to add to that, by our play or the bettering of talent.”
NBA training camps open Monday for the 2007-08 regular season, which starts Oct. 30. There are many interesting story lines beyond the intrigue inside the Staples Center, like the San Antonio Spurs’ quest for their first championship repeat and the rebirth of the Boston Celtics with All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joining Paul Pierce. There’s the Western Conference challenges posed by the Phoenix Suns with Grant Hill, and the Dallas Mavericks along with the revitalized Houston Rockets, now with international star Luis Scola and new coach Rick Adelman.
Kobe Bryant said he’s recommitted to winning with the Lakers and will push for more production from his teammates.
O.C. Register: Kobe Bryant came back to the Lakers on Monday morning from wherever he imagined he might be able to go.
Bryant reported to the Lakers’ workout facility with the rest of the team to prepare for training camp and said his focus has shifted to “demand more” from his teammates to create the championship-caliber team he wants.
“It’s going to require everybody to do a little more, to go the extra mile a little bit,” Bryant said.
“We’re going to be asking to make some sacrifices, we’re going to have to police ourselves in terms of getting in gym early, staying late, working hard – do the extra things that can help us be extremely competitive in this league, particularly in the Western Conference. We have an uphill battle, but the only thing you can do is walk that hill.”
After asking for but not getting trades to bring more talent in or to ship himself out, Bryant said he is committed to winning again with the Lakers.
“I want to bring a title back to L.A.,” he said. “That’s Priority No. 1 for me, to bring a title back here. I just have to trust we’re all on the same page as far as getting that done.”
Inside the Lakers: Here are all of Kobe Bryant’s comments today. Whenever Kobe moved around the gym, he was met with a wall of cameras. It was interesting to watch Kobe’s interaction with the rest of the team when he took various publicity photos. He exchanged brief small talk with Phil Jackson and had a huge smile upon greeting Derek Fisher.
Here’s the Kobe stuff from today…
(Q: Kobe, did you have a change of heart or are you just accepting the situation for what it is?)
I’m going to do what I need to do here to help us win. You know what I mean. It’s not… When the season starts, it’s not my place here to say, `OK, this is what we need to do here and this is what we need to do here.’ That’s something that they need to do. It’s not my job. My job is to come out here on the floor and help us win ballgames, help Kwame Brown be better, help Lamar be better, help Luke be better, and that’s what I’m going to do.
(Q: Do you regret any of the things you said this offseason?)
You know what? The way it all came out and everything blew up, absolutely. I think if there was a way to do it differently, we all would have done it. With that being said, the way that things have been handled the last month and a half or so has been great for us. It probably hasn’t been so good for you guys. But there was never a doubt that I was coming to camp. They knew that, I knew that and we all knew that for a long time. Sometimes things get out there and it gets escalated. That’s what we don’t want to be a distraction. There’s a lot of media people here and hopefully a lot of you guys can go home after today.
Inside the Lakers: The event was, to the surprise of nobody, a complete circus. Although I must say it has improved. A couple years ago, the Lakers tried to keep the print media out of Media Day — how they figured that, I’m still not sure — but the access was good today and all of the players were very cooperative.
It was quite a scene when all the players walked into the practice gym…except Kobe Bryant. For about 20 minutes, the word was that Kobe wasn’t showing up. With the media buzzing, anticipating a huge story, Kobe walked in at 10:34 a.m. He stopped to greet Joel Meyers, Stu Lantz and Lawrence Tanter, then went about his business of doing different photo shoots and live reads. The most awkward moment of the day? That would be when Kobe crossed paths with Andrew Bynum. You know, Bynum, the guy Kobe REALLY wanted to ship to New Jersey. Kobe gave Bynum a shake and an emphatic pat on the rear, and they went their separate ways.
Finally, the media got a crack at Kobe. He spoke mostly in platitudes and didn’t do much to address the events of this summer. Kobe said he was focused on winning and bringing a championship to L.A. and that he didn’t believe there would be problems with teammates. I’ve got a ton of interviews to transcribe but I’ll get to Kobe’s first, because I know he’s the center of attention today.
Lakers’ Media Day was today and with that in mind, comes a slew of questions. What about Kobe? Will he be here? What will he say? Does he still want out from the L.A.? Yadda yadda… And what happened? Nothing. His going to Hawaii and work out with his team, he will require some of his teammates to do a little bit more, “… Go the extra mile,” he says. Should be an interesting season, nonetheless…
What do you expect from this season from our beloved Purple & Gold? Sound-off in the comments and tell us what you think!
LA Times: They filed out one by one from the trainers’ room at the Lakers’ El Segundo facility today, 17 of the 18 Lakers currently in uniform, for the start of media day. Then came Coach Phil Jackson and his assistants.
But all the gathered media didn’t flinch. They were waiting for the 18th member of the squad.
And finally, 34 minutes after the start of media day, Kobe Bryant, whose trade-me-don’t-trade-me tirades during the off-season kept him in the headlines, came out in uniform, apparently ready to begin another season with the Lakers.
Escorted by an armada of cameras and microphones, Bryant greeted Lakers broadcasters Joel Meyers and Stu Lantz and proceeded to stand before a camera and read team public-service announcements and television promos.
“I’m ready to go. I’m happy to see Fish and Chris back,” Bryant said of recent acquisition Derek Fisher and center Chris Mihm, who has returned from an injury. “I’m all smiles.”
Continue reading ‘The Lakers, with Bryant in tow, greet the media’
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