LAS VEGAS -- A seriously slimmed-down Kobe Bryant sat at a steakhouse table at the Wynn resort here with Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski and head honcho Jerry Colangelo on Tuesday night and made one simple, strategic request.
"Coach, I'm ready," Bryant declared, according to Colangelo. "And I want the best player on the other team every single night."A new face has been added to Team USA, and after going through false starts in 2003, 2004 and 2006 when, respectively, a knee injury, a rape accusation and then a shoulder injury kept him off the team, Bryant is finally going to don a USA senior men's team jersey for the very first time.
"Coach, I'm ready," Bryant declared, according to Colangelo. "And I want the best player on the other team every single night."A new face has been added to Team USA, and after going through false starts in 2003, 2004 and 2006 when, respectively, a knee injury, a rape accusation and then a shoulder injury kept him off the team, Bryant is finally going to don a USA senior men's team jersey for the very first time.
It'll happen Friday afternoon on the campus of UNLV, where 17 national team members will assemble for two days of practice and then an intrasquad scrimmage before the team splits up for three weeks and then reassembles to prepare for the Tournament of the Americas, in which two berths in the 2008 Beijing Olympics will be at stake.
Only six players return from the 2006 World Championship team that placed third last summer in Japan, and you'd have a nearly impossible time -- even in this gambling Mecca -- finding a single person who believes this version of Team USA will do anything other than crush this summer's competition.
Part of the reason is the lack of competition -- Argentina will be missing several key NBA players from the squad that won Olympic gold in Athens in 2004, and Brazil still does not know if it will have its best big man, Anderson Varejao -- and another key factor will be the upgrades the Americans have made to their roster.
Instead of Kirk Hinrich and Chris Paul running the point, it'll be Jason Kidd and Chauncey Billups.
Instead of having no natural shot-blockers as the last line of defense, Tyson Chandler will be in the mix.
Instead of having Carmelo Anthony play the role of designated shooter, there will be a choice among Anthony, Bryant, Michael Redd and Mike Miller.
Instead of a lack of heft down low, well … OK, there's still at least one issue.
But the biggest x factor of them all, without a doubt, will be Bryant.
"His competitive juices are really flowing, and that's indicative of where he is," said Colangelo, who said Bryant told him he had dropped 19 pounds since the NBA season ended while getting in shape for his first summer with the national team.
"Kobe is in the best state of mind you could want a player to be in," Colangelo told ESPN.com. "I think we're catching him just right. We look at his toughness and his ability to be a big factor with this group."
Only 17 of the 32 players on the full national roster will be present and in uniform for the minicamp, although Wade (shoulder surgery), Paul (shoulder injury) and Shawn Marion (plantar fasciitis) are expected to be in attendance even though they will not play. The roster will be trimmed by two or three players -- J.J. Redick, Kevin Durant, Shane Battier and Deron Williams seem to be on the bubble -- following Sunday night's intrasquad scrimmage, and the team will reconvene in Las Vegas on Aug. 13 for another week of preparations before the Tournament of the Americas begins.
Returning from last summer's Japan team are Anthony, Battier, Chris Bosh, Hinrich, Dwight Howard and LeBron James. They will be joined by Billups, Bryant, Chandler, Durant, Kidd, Miller, Tayshaun Prince, Redd, Redick, Amare Stoudemire and Williams.
Only six players return from the 2006 World Championship team that placed third last summer in Japan, and you'd have a nearly impossible time -- even in this gambling Mecca -- finding a single person who believes this version of Team USA will do anything other than crush this summer's competition.
Part of the reason is the lack of competition -- Argentina will be missing several key NBA players from the squad that won Olympic gold in Athens in 2004, and Brazil still does not know if it will have its best big man, Anderson Varejao -- and another key factor will be the upgrades the Americans have made to their roster.
Instead of Kirk Hinrich and Chris Paul running the point, it'll be Jason Kidd and Chauncey Billups.
Instead of having no natural shot-blockers as the last line of defense, Tyson Chandler will be in the mix.
Instead of having Carmelo Anthony play the role of designated shooter, there will be a choice among Anthony, Bryant, Michael Redd and Mike Miller.
Instead of a lack of heft down low, well … OK, there's still at least one issue.
But the biggest x factor of them all, without a doubt, will be Bryant.
"His competitive juices are really flowing, and that's indicative of where he is," said Colangelo, who said Bryant told him he had dropped 19 pounds since the NBA season ended while getting in shape for his first summer with the national team.
"Kobe is in the best state of mind you could want a player to be in," Colangelo told ESPN.com. "I think we're catching him just right. We look at his toughness and his ability to be a big factor with this group."
Only 17 of the 32 players on the full national roster will be present and in uniform for the minicamp, although Wade (shoulder surgery), Paul (shoulder injury) and Shawn Marion (plantar fasciitis) are expected to be in attendance even though they will not play. The roster will be trimmed by two or three players -- J.J. Redick, Kevin Durant, Shane Battier and Deron Williams seem to be on the bubble -- following Sunday night's intrasquad scrimmage, and the team will reconvene in Las Vegas on Aug. 13 for another week of preparations before the Tournament of the Americas begins.
Returning from last summer's Japan team are Anthony, Battier, Chris Bosh, Hinrich, Dwight Howard and LeBron James. They will be joined by Billups, Bryant, Chandler, Durant, Kidd, Miller, Tayshaun Prince, Redd, Redick, Amare Stoudemire and Williams.
Out of the mix from last summer's team are Gilbert Arenas and Bruce Bowen, who were displeased by being two of the final cuts last summer, Elton Brand (knee injury), Joe Johnson (calf injury), Brad Miller (plantar fasciitis), Paul and Dwyane Wade (shoulder injuries) and Antawn Jamison (who decided not to attend after being used sparingly in Japan).
Also among the players missing for minicamp will be Carlos Boozer (family reasons), Adam Morrison and Luke Ridnour (no chance of making the final roster), Lamar Odom (shoulder surgery), Greg Oden (tonsillitis) and Paul Pierce (elbow surgery).
"There are not a lot of questions to be answered other than do we take 14 or 16 players to the Tournament of the Americas," Colangelo said.
Well, that may be the way Colangelo feels, but there is one monumental question on the minds of basketball fans everywhere, especially in Los Angeles: Bryant's future with the Lakers. It has now been more than seven weeks since Bryant issued his infamous and contradictory "I want to be traded" and "I want to be a Laker for life" statements, and he has passed on numerous opportunities since then to publicly clarify his position.
His most recent statement on where he stands -- "I said what I said," Bryant told L.A. reporters last week -- did nothing to clarify the situation, because when Bryant said what he said, different people took it a different ways. But Bryant has clearly not said anything to indicate that he has officially withdrawn his request, and the Lakers have held steadfast in their public statements that they have no intention of trading him.
When I was in Las Vegas a week ago for summer league, I asked asked GM Mitch Kupchak where things stood with Bryant. "Those types of discussions regarding Kobe and management, we won't disclose that type of strategic information," Kupchak said.
Not exactly an "everything's copacetic" quote, eh?
Whether Kobe might hold out of training camp if the Lakers refuse to move him remains an open question, the answer held by the party that feels it holds ultimate leverage in what still could develop into a testy standoff.
Colangelo has counseled Bryant to deflect all questions regarding the Lakers by saying he's entirely focused on Team USA, so don't expect that part of the equation to become any clearer over the next three days. Bryant was offered the opportunity to clarify his position through an interview with ESPN.com on the eve of minicamp, but he declined through his agent.
Should Bryant succeed in obfuscating the trade issue through this weekend, he'll be able to lie relatively low until Team USA reassembles on Aug. 13. And if he sticks with the same strategy through the Tournament of the Americas, there will be a whole month more for the matter to fester before NBA training camps open in October.
First, however, he'll slip on that Team USA jersey for the first time Friday, becoming the highest-profile member of a team that probably will not be tested until 13 months from now when the Beijing Olympics roll around. And by the time the start of the 2008-09 season arrives, perhaps he'll have an Olympic gold medal to show off when he plays his home opener, wherever home will be at that point.
But that's still a long ways away, and for now he's said to be skinnier and hungrier than we've possibly ever seen him. He's about to suit up in something other than a Lakers (or All-Star) jersey for the first time since he left high school.
And so the summer of Kobe will continue, the clarification everyone's looking for likely to remain a mystery. For now, and again in late August, we'll have to appreciate what he'll bring to Team USA. As for what the future holds, the only thing that seems certain for him is a spot in Beijing.
Also among the players missing for minicamp will be Carlos Boozer (family reasons), Adam Morrison and Luke Ridnour (no chance of making the final roster), Lamar Odom (shoulder surgery), Greg Oden (tonsillitis) and Paul Pierce (elbow surgery).
"There are not a lot of questions to be answered other than do we take 14 or 16 players to the Tournament of the Americas," Colangelo said.
Well, that may be the way Colangelo feels, but there is one monumental question on the minds of basketball fans everywhere, especially in Los Angeles: Bryant's future with the Lakers. It has now been more than seven weeks since Bryant issued his infamous and contradictory "I want to be traded" and "I want to be a Laker for life" statements, and he has passed on numerous opportunities since then to publicly clarify his position.
His most recent statement on where he stands -- "I said what I said," Bryant told L.A. reporters last week -- did nothing to clarify the situation, because when Bryant said what he said, different people took it a different ways. But Bryant has clearly not said anything to indicate that he has officially withdrawn his request, and the Lakers have held steadfast in their public statements that they have no intention of trading him.
When I was in Las Vegas a week ago for summer league, I asked asked GM Mitch Kupchak where things stood with Bryant. "Those types of discussions regarding Kobe and management, we won't disclose that type of strategic information," Kupchak said.
Not exactly an "everything's copacetic" quote, eh?
Whether Kobe might hold out of training camp if the Lakers refuse to move him remains an open question, the answer held by the party that feels it holds ultimate leverage in what still could develop into a testy standoff.
Colangelo has counseled Bryant to deflect all questions regarding the Lakers by saying he's entirely focused on Team USA, so don't expect that part of the equation to become any clearer over the next three days. Bryant was offered the opportunity to clarify his position through an interview with ESPN.com on the eve of minicamp, but he declined through his agent.
Should Bryant succeed in obfuscating the trade issue through this weekend, he'll be able to lie relatively low until Team USA reassembles on Aug. 13. And if he sticks with the same strategy through the Tournament of the Americas, there will be a whole month more for the matter to fester before NBA training camps open in October.
First, however, he'll slip on that Team USA jersey for the first time Friday, becoming the highest-profile member of a team that probably will not be tested until 13 months from now when the Beijing Olympics roll around. And by the time the start of the 2008-09 season arrives, perhaps he'll have an Olympic gold medal to show off when he plays his home opener, wherever home will be at that point.
But that's still a long ways away, and for now he's said to be skinnier and hungrier than we've possibly ever seen him. He's about to suit up in something other than a Lakers (or All-Star) jersey for the first time since he left high school.
And so the summer of Kobe will continue, the clarification everyone's looking for likely to remain a mystery. For now, and again in late August, we'll have to appreciate what he'll bring to Team USA. As for what the future holds, the only thing that seems certain for him is a spot in Beijing.
No comments:
Post a Comment