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NBA FINALS: MAGIC v LAKERS

June 13, 2009

Kobe Bryant

ORLANDO, FLORIDA: Practice Day

Q. The Magic did a great job in protecting the lane and keeping you from penetrating. But you made eight assists in every game of the Finals, and Derek Fisher now just said you see yourself more as a scorer than a passer. How did you do that?
KOBE BRYANT: Well, just reading the defense. Reading the defense, making plays, taking the challenge if they want to stop me and throw a couple guys at me, to be able to find other guys. I just take a lot of pride in it.

Q. By the way, the number 8 is a lucky number in China; everybody loves it.
KOBE BRYANT: Thank you (smiling).

Q. How would you describe your relationship with Phil, and how do you think it's evolved most during your time together?
KOBE BRYANT: I think the second time around it became more of a personal relationship, us having been around each other, then having this new group of guys, guys that we both had to lead. I think the relationship has carried over to off the court, whereas in the past it's always just been more of an X's and O's kind of relationship.

Q. People talk about he's been surrounded by great talent and people say maybe they just roll the ball out and he wins titles. How do you feel that he's on the cusp of No. 10?
KOBE BRYANT: That's phenomenal. That's phenomenal. I can't name one coach that won a championship with a bunch of scrubs, so that argument makes no sense.

Q. Talking about Pietrus' foul on Gasol. Rashard Lewis suggested that it was because of disrespecting the team that Gasol shouldn't have dunked the ball, should have held it because the game was he thought out of reach at that time. Any comment on that?
KOBE BRYANT: Well, you know, Pau is just not that type of player. He had a basket right there, and at that point you just take the basket. He's right underneath the basket, so I don't think it was something that was meant to be disrespectful in any kind of way.
That's something that we've always talked about throughout the postseason, last year during the playoffs, always have respect for the opposition and not to try to do anything to embarrass them or anything like that.

Q. What was your take on the foul? Gasol said it was clearly meant to hurt him, and Pietrus said, "No, no, I was just going for the ball."
KOBE BRYANT: I couldn't care less. It doesn't matter. You can't be sensitive. Hurt Pau's feelings because he fouled him? It is what it is, no big deal.

Q. You're a great student of the game, and Phil hasn't passed Auerbach yet, and in your opinion is he already, based on his whole body of work, the greatest NBA coach ever or the luckiest, or both?
KOBE BRYANT: They kind of go hand in hand, I think, although Coach Auerbach also had a lot of lucky, very fortunate situations. But you have to have that. They've got to go hand in hand. But in my opinion he's the best.

Q. You were quoted recently as saying you can't imagine anyone else but Phil sitting down the bench from you. What does the future look like? There's a lot of us who think, he wins the tenth, it would be a nice poetic gesture to ride off into the sunset. Can you imagine the Lakers without him or playing for a different coach?
KOBE BRYANT: No, I've been spoiled my whole career playing with Phil. It's hard to imagine playing for anybody else, obviously. I grew up with him.

Q. Do you think he's thinking that way? I know he takes his time after the season to decide that. And if he were to decide in that direction, how much would you be lobbying for him to come back?
KOBE BRYANT: I don't think -- I think he's just more amused by everybody thinking that he's thinking that, if that makes any sense. He's really just in the moment.

Q. Each championship has its own significance. If you look back, the first one was because you won the first and the second helps validate, can you get a sense of how a fourth would be different from those first three, and what do you remember about the individual satisfaction of each of those?
KOBE BRYANT: I think this one is special because you rarely have the opportunity to get back up to the mountain twice in a career. In other words, you have your first run and then you hit rock bottom, and then you've got to build back up and get back to the top again. In careers, Derek and I both feel very fortunate to be part of something like that.
And then on an individual level you feel very good about it because the contributions you make as an individual for the betterment of the group helps you win that championship. That's what we remember feeling like, and hopefully we have that feeling again.

Q. Is there any importance to you as you know the list of guys that have the collection of the most rings at the top to be in that group?
KOBE BRYANT: It feels good, being in great company, obviously. The most important thing to me is winning. We put ourselves in a really good position right now, and hopefully we can finish it off.

Q. Lamar talked a little bit about the situation in Phoenix when you guys held the 3-1 lead and you weren't able to close it out. Have you as a team talked to your guys about that and making sure you don't give the Magic any hope? And my second question is, is it any more difficult because you're on the cusp of a fourth championship?
KOBE BRYANT: It's not difficult at all. We just focus on what we've fought to do. We've done a good job of that all season, being focused, being in the moment, coming out and playing. I don't think it'll be that much of an issue. Phoenix series, they were a better team than us. We weren't ready. We were young, inexperienced, didn't know how to execute too well. This situation is a little different. We've got guys who are focused, hungry, know what we want to do, know what our identity is, and we're ready to go.

Q. You've led the team in assists each game in a series. How important is that role of facilitator been to the team's success in this series?
KOBE BRYANT: Well, it's been important to us in the playoffs because of the defense that we see and how teams try to play me personally, and then it's up to us to make adjustments in the playoffs. We've done a good job of that, keeping teams off balance and not sure how they want to play us defensively which in turns gives us a good rhythm.

Q. The pass to Pau at the end of regulation, how did you see that play develop? Did you know that he was here? It looked like he had nowhere to go in the last second.
KOBE BRYANT: Well, I knew he was going to keep running and I saw Dwight standing there, and one of the things I wanted to try to do was cut Dwight off because I felt like if I shoveled it to Pau then Dwight could stand there and change the shot or alter it. So I wanted to decoy him, cut him off and get it to Pau.

Q. Bill Russell's 11 may be out of reach for you, but do you look at Michael's six championships and say, that's a number I'd like to chase?
KOBE BRYANT: I'm trying to get this damn fourth one (laughter).
I'm just really happy to be in this moment right now and just trying to get this fourth one. We're fortunate enough to be back in that situation, a fifth one, but I'm so happy right now to be in this situation, so we can just start with four.

Q. Even you judge other athletes in sports. Off the top of your head you may not know how many MVPs a guy has won or what he averaged in his career, but do you say, I know how many championships a guy has won?
KOBE BRYANT: That's the most important is the championships. It's a tough thing to do in team sports to have multiple championships. I mean, it's hard. So I think that's always the first thing that we remember because it's so difficult to do.

Q. You mentioned Phil being amused by people thinking that he's thinking about his future. How does it strike you that after the turmoil that you were involved in a couple of summers ago, now only a few weeks away from you having a decision about your future, that it's really not being discussed or talked about?
KOBE BRYANT: I have a decision about my future?

Q. You can terminate your contract after the season.
KOBE BRYANT: I have no idea what you're talking about (laughter).

Q. How does it strike you that when that moment comes that it'll be, again, a topic, whereas it's not now?
KOBE BRYANT: It won't be a topic. Won't be an issue.

Q. Could you elaborate on what you mean by that?
KOBE BRYANT: No, that's exactly why it won't be an issue (laughter).

Q. I guess because you just brought it up, can you imagine playing for anybody else besides --
KOBE BRYANT: I didn't bring it up (laughter). I deflected.

Q. Could you imagine playing for anyone else besides the Lakers next year?
KOBE BRYANT: No.

Q. Looking back to The Finals of last year, what is the biggest thing, just the trust in your teammates?
KOBE BRYANT: I think we're just better at playing together. But you also can't underestimate the value of Trevor Ariza, Andrew Bynum being healthy. That makes us a different team than last year. It makes us a deeper team, more athletic team, more versatile team. So I think having those two guys in the lineup, as well as us playing better together gives us the difference that we have right now.

Q. And how important is it for you to have a guy that you are tight with like Derek Fisher?
KOBE BRYANT: It's extremely important.

Q. Just for chemistry?
KOBE BRYANT: Extremely important because we know each other like the back of our hand. I know where he's going to be before he even gets there. I can throw a pass blindfolded to him and I know exactly where he's going to be just because we've been playing together for so long.

Q. I'd like your insight on Dwight Howard. You got to play with him on the U.S. team, almost three summers ago and now this year as an NBA player. Can you think back to that first practice as USA Basketball and now today?
KOBE BRYANT: The first time I tried to box him out in a scrimmage and he literally just swatted me out of the lane with one hand. I realized how strong he was because during the regular season I've never had that kind of confrontation with him. I thought, man, this guy is a strongest player I've ever felt. It's like Shaquille O'Neal. Then I saw his work ethic every day, worked on his shot, worked on his free-throw shooting, worked on his foot work, and you kind of get the sense that everybody thinks he's a goofy kid, and he is, but he has a work ethic underneath that. He likes having a good team, but he works extremely hard, too.

Q. How much has being a Laker affected your career, having Magic Johnson being part owner, Kareem a coach and James Worthy roaming the hallways? How much have you become a better player from legends like that?
KOBE BRYANT: The person I talk to the most is Jerry West. That's the person I've spoken to in terms of getting advice from. Magic, I've never really talked to Magic about advice or things like that. James Worthy, I've seen him around the locker room a lot, he and I have conversed, I've stolen a spin move from him and things like that. So it definitely helped.
But the NBA is such a fraternity. I remember coming in the league and speaking with Oscar Robertson. These are things that are just as a kid growing up, you're just like a kid in candystore, some of the players you get to talk to.

Q. What do you think of the Lakers that if you guys won, you'd have 15 rings, second most in the league. Any reason why it's perhaps the best franchise in league history?
KOBE BRYANT: There's no question. When you go inside Staples and you look up and you look at all the numbers that are retired, these aren't just great Laker players, you're talking about Top 50 of all time. I mean, that's pretty incredible when you think about the numbers that are retired. They're not just Laker players, they're just all-time greats. That's just such a rich tradition.

End of FastScripts

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