Kobe’s not there, so he will be there for Lakers

My first Lakers game of the season, and I thought I would start slowly with Coach Phil Jackson, you know, maybe get off to a better start than last season when a question prompted him to swear on national TV.

“Is it fun to do some coaching now without having the best player on the court?� Friendly, I thought, while subtly letting him know that I know how well the Lakers have done without Kobe Bryant.

Jackson’s response: “Is it fun to do some reporting now where you’re finally coming to a game and watching the game?�

We might as well be married a la the Bickersons -- it was like we had never been apart, and how funny is that? Phil and I married before Jeanie and Phil.

“Believe me,� I told him during his pregame news conference, “I don’t like being here any better than you do.�

A win or loss wasn’t going to make a bit of difference in the standings as far as the Lakers were concerned, but I was here even though it was a meaningless game.

“Why don’t you go back in your hole?� Jackson said, the Chamber of Commerce probably not going to take very kindly to Placentia being referred to as a hole.

“Go back in your cave and enjoy television,� Jackson said, and it’s a good thing we’re like brothers, or someone might think we don’t get along.

Quite the contrary. Jackson can be very thoughtful, the news conference over and Jackson making a point to tell me the “baseball season is starting� in Arizona.

It’s going to be a sacrifice, but I told him, “You and me, big guy, together now -- the rest of the way to the very end. It’s gonna be fun.�

He didn’t cuss, and I was so proud of the big guy.

Truth be told, the only reason I finally attended a Lakers game was because I expected a major announcement Thursday.

But I guess it was the injury that kept the Lakers from making a trade at the deadline and sending Kobe Bryant to a team that might still need him.

As everyone knows, the Lakers don’t win a championship without Gasol last year, the team locking up the Big G for another three years recently.

“We had a few teams who called about Kobe,� said Lakers GM MitchKupchak, and while he said those teams called “kiddingly,� it’s probably important now to limit the damage and make Kobe feel good because we know how he reacts when he thinks the Lakers don’t really love him.

I’ve always liked Kobe’s game, suggesting at various times he should take every shot, which would eliminate any chance of Sasha Vujacic shooting the ball.

I just wish he would play with more joy and come across the same way off the court. He always seems angry.

Maybe that’s why the fans in Staples the last few games have been so wired, as Times beat reporter Mike Bresnahan was telling me, everyone seemingly excited by the way the Lakers have been playing -- without Kobe.

All I know is the Lakers started the night 4-0 without the ball hog, and they could have cleared a ton of salary cap room to begin positioning themselves in the hopes of landing the best player in the game.

It would undoubtedly be a tough decision for LeBron -- the Lakers or the Clippers, but if the Clippers prevailed, the Lakers would still have Shannon Brown.

Brown hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to close the first quarter against the Celtics, and he would never have gotten the opportunity to do so if the other guy was healthy.

I don’t know about you, but it’s such an improvement going to Lakers games and not hearing the chants of “MVP, MVP.�

I’ve never understood why a Lakers crowd cheers so much for a guy playing in Cleveland.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in Vancouver for the Olympics?� Kupchak asked, his way of saying “anywhere but Staples Center,� and like Phil, you know he just teases like that.

The thing is I’m here now for the guys, ready to spend as much time as I can with Phil & Co.

The problem with staying for the whole game, though, as awful as Vujacic can look -- and there are no limits -- credit must be given for contributions in the fourth quarter.

The Lakers, down all night, even went ahead of the Celtics. I never thought it would be fun to watch the Lakers play without Kobe, but these upstarts had the chance to emerge and go 5-0 without him -- the topper being maybe beating the Celtics.

Three minutes to go, the game going back and forth, but no mystery if Kobe was playing. He’d take the last shot, and the Lakers would win or lose on it.

Just two seconds left, Lakers down by one and Phil has lost it -- he’s got Derek Fisher shooting and missing everything. Sure wish Kobe had taken the shot.

THE FASCINATING thing about the Tiger Woods’ love fest today, a gathering of those friendly, and agreeable to Woods’ liking, is that he’s still trying to control everything while he explains to everyone why he has no self-control.

I don’t believe Woods owes anyone an explanation other than his wife, but now that he’s going public, just imagine how many image makers, crisis managers and PR specialists have been consulted to craft the perfect mea culpa.

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