Kobe Bryant and coach Phil Jackson both thought the injury-depleted Lakers would get a stern early season test from the New Orleans Hornets. Instead, their visitors barely put up a fight. Yes, DJ Mbenga and Shannon Brown were just that good. Bryant scored 28 points, Brown added 15 and Los Angeles thrived again without its top two big men, beating the New Orleans Hornets 104-88 Sunday night.
Ron Artest and Trevor Ariza traded elbows, trash talk and last-minute 3-pointers in regulation. In the end, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers got in the last word. Bryant scored 41 points, Andrew Bynum added 17 points and 17 rebounds and the Lakers beat the Houston Rockets 103-102 Wednesday night for their second overtime win in two nights.
Ron Artest finally got to experience what it's like to be on the same team when Kobe Bryant finishes off a win. Bryant scored 31 points including the go-ahead jumper in overtime as the Los Angeles Lakers got tested in their first road game of the season, beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-98 on Tuesday night.
Kobe Bryant is quite familiar with the exquisite pain of playing against Ron Artest's defense. He's grateful that frustration now belongs to his opponents — including Joe Johnson, the first top scorer to get locked down by the Lakers' new defensive stopper. Bryant had 41 points and eight rebounds, Andrew Bynum added 21 points and Artest extinguished Johnson's outstanding start in…
Kobe Bryant slipped the ring on in the locker room, his finger weighed down by the 14 brilliant white diamonds set in yellow and white gold. Then he took it off and returned it to the custom box that would soon end up stored for years to come in a vault at home. "I never wear them except for the night that I get them," he said Tuesday after the Lakers opened defense of their NBA…
Derrick Rose tutored the top teens in China on a basketball teaching tour with Dwight Howard. He shot a video game commercial with Kobe Bryant, too, so there really were some fun moments during the offseason no matter how bad it looked at times. That photo of him flashing gang signs wasn't one of his finest moments.