Read More: Kobe Bryant (G – LAL), JaVale McGee (C – WAS), James Harden (G – OKC), Brandon Jennings (G – MIL), Milwaukee Bucks, Washington Wizards, Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Lakers

According to Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports, Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant is considering joining Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings, Washington Wizards center JaVale McGee and the Drew League all-stars in their “Capital Punishment” exhibition game in Washington against D.C.’s Goodman League team. Your ears should be perked.

This comes after Kobe made a guest appearance in a Drew League exhibition game on Tuesday and dropped 43 points, including a game-winning buzzer beater from 17 feet over Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden, in a 129-127 victory. 

After the shot, Bryant was serenaded with “Kobe! Kobe!” chants from the LA crowd. 

Drew League commissioner Dino Smiley asked Bryant to participate in Saturday’s showcase in DC once it became clear that the five-time NBA champion was interested in playing in LA’s pro-am league: 

“We asked Kobe and he smiled at it, but he didn’t commit,” Smiley told Yahoo! Sports. “But if he comes, we will have a uniform waiting for him to represent Los Angeles – not D.C. Who knows? He likes drama and maybe he’ll show up to play for the Drew League.

“He saw the atmosphere today. He enjoyed it. All he has to do is get there.”

Having Kobe there would balance the rosters and add even more starpower to the game.

MANILA, Philippines – Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant is asking critics to “back off” from Miami Heat forward LeBron James.

In an interview with ESPN’s George Smith, Bryant addressed the media and fan backlash on James, whose team lost in 6 games to the Dallas Mavericks.

“I think people need to lay off that kid,” Bryant said, adding that he had gotten to know James well through the Olympic team.

The 2-time NBA Most Valuable Player was criticized for his failure in the NBA Finals, specially during the 4th quarter.

“They need to let him play, let him live his life, let him make his decisions and let him mature as a player,” Bryant added.

Bryant, who is a 5-time NBA champion, said that it was tough to be under the microscope all the time.

James and the Miami Heat were subject to intense media scrutiny throughout the 2010-2011 NBA season, after he and fellow All-Stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh came together to play in South Beach.

“I would like everybody to just back off him and just let him play,” Bryant said.

Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo! Sports basketball blog Ball Don’t Lie praised Bryant’s words, saying that it was “incredibly cool” of Bryant to defend James, especially as the 2 players were supposed to be big rivals.

But other sports bloggers say that Bryant’s words will have little effect.

The Lakers Blog on the Los Angeles Times says that James invited the media attention after announcing his free agency decision on a 1-hour special on ESPN, as well as claiming that the Heat will win multiple championships.

Matt Moore of CBS, meanwhile, says that Bryant’s comment was a nice sentiment, but it will not affect sports fans’ feelings towards James.

By Avinash

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Jul 31, 2011 – Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers isn’t going to let a little thing like an NBA lockout stop him from playing basketball. Bryant is exploring his options for overseas hoops next season, and it appears there are two country frontrunners. Ok, there are two countries being bandied about, but only one of them really has a shot.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports through his sources that Besikatas of Turkey has been most aggressively courting Kobe in public, but there has been nothing substantive to the talks.  However, China seems to be the more likely target for Kobe’s services–there are far greater endorsement deals with Kobe in the country, he’s perhaps the most popular basketball player in the country (even more than Yao Ming), and he’d have a nation devoted to basketball that would instantly follow his every move. Bryant to China seems far likelier if the lockout drags on, although the team that eventually gets him must be willing to pony up at least $1.5 million per month to get him.

And of course, being more likely to play in China than Turkey doesn’t mean much, considering it looks like there’s zero chance that  Kobe would play in Turkey. There’s a lot of numbers bigger than zero.

For more on Kobe and the Lakers, Silver Screen and Roll is your stop.

Read More: 2011 nba lockout, Kobe Bryant (G – LAL), Los Angeles Lakers

Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, a former NBA player and the father of Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, has been announced as the new coach of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.

Bryant served as an assistant coach under Jennifer Gillom, who was fired Sunday after the team lost their fifth consecutive game and fell to fifth place in the Western Conference.

“I enjoyed working with Jennifer, and it’s never easy to replace your friend and respected colleague,” he said in a statement issued to The Los Angeles Times. “What’s most important is the personnel on the floor hasn’t changed; we have the right mix of players to be a successful WNBA ballclub.”

Gillom faced adversity with injuries to key players during her tenure, as star forward Candace Parker has been sidelined since June 26 with a torn lateral meniscus in her right knee.

“I want to thank everyone in the Sparks organization for the opportunity to serve as head coach, especially [general manager] Penny Toler,” Gillom said in the wake of her dismissal. “I enjoyed coaching the players and working alongside my staff, and am confident they will accomplish great things this season.”

Bryant, who previously coached the Sparks from August 2005 to April 2007, was brought back as an assistant in March.

While promoting his foundation aimed to reduce homelessness in Los Angeles, Lakers guard Kobe Bryant argued it was “neither the time nor the place,” to discuss the hiring of Lakers Coach Mike Brown, his meeting with him last week or any other basketball related issues.

Bryant made those comments Tuesday at My Friend’s Place, a nonprofit resource center that offers free emergency services to about 1,600 homeless people a year, according to its website.

“I understand and will address that at the right time and place,” Bryant said. “But this is neither the time nor the place. Right now we’re focusing on bigger issues, greater issues, and that’s these kids that are here at the back. It’s not fair to them. When the time comes, I’ll address it. But now is not the time.”

When asked in a followup when Bryant will talk about the Lakers’ new coach, he simply said, “Now is not the time,” taking only questions pertaining to his foundation and refusing to make himself available to reporters afterwards. Though Bryant understandably wanted the focus solely on his initiative in reducing homelessness, he hasn’t spoken publicly about Brown’s hire, including when The Times Broderick Turner contacted him via cell phone the day his hire became official.

Brown had characterized the Lakers’ as “Kobe’s team,” shared that they talked about topics ranging from family, kids, his basketball philosophy and how the team can properly set up Bryant to get shots in his “sweet spots” and said his conversations “went very well.” But Bryant has yet to offer his take, with Turner reporting that people close to him saying he was “confused” over the hire. The Lakers had also taken plenty of criticism for not alerting Bryant about the decision beforehand. 

–Mark Medina

E-mail the Lakers blog at [email protected]

Photo: Kobe Bryant. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

CLEVELAND, Ohio — We would be inclined to say “poor Mike Brown” if not for the fact that he has been and will again be well compensated.

Brown coached the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA playoffs in all five of his seasons as the team’s coach, winning at least one series each year and highlighted by the run to the Finals in 2007 — albeit being swept by the San Antonio Spurs.

Now, after a year off that followed his firing by the Cavs a year ago, Brown has been hired by the Los Angeles Lakers — the 2009 and 2010 champions — to coach them in the aftermath of Phil Jackson’s retirement.

That all sounds good. The “poor Mike” inclination is because after five years of dealing with, arguably, the game’s biggest ego, LeBron James, Brown will have to work with another player who holds himself in quite high regard, Kobe Bryant.

The difference between Bryant and James, of course, is infinity, as in five championships to none. James’ Miami Heat teammates’ can help him reduce that title-deficit to four when they play the Dallas Mavericks in the championship series that begins on Tuesday night.

Brown encounters a different fan base with the Lakers than with the Cavs. While Cleveland fans are patient, charitable in their estimations of people and thrilled with any degree of success, the Tinsel Town crowd expects flash, universal adulation and titles.

And while Brown took over for Paul Silas (and interim coach Brendan Malone) in Cleveland, he replaces the 11-time champion Jackson in LA.

Brown’s hiring has not been greeted with overwhelming acclaim from Lakers fans and media.

LA executive Jim Buss, the son of owner Jerry Buss, sat down and talked with Los Angeles Times reporter T.J. Simers about Brown’s hiring, Bryant and other Lakers’ matters — with mention of the Brown-James Cavs’ era, too.

Simers writes:

Not too many happy campers in Lakers Land these days, so much criticism that shortly before sitting down, he put a call into new Coach Mike Brown to apologize.

“I’m surprised by the reaction to Mike’s hiring,” he says. “I wish people heard him speak. Let him show you what he showed us.

“I wanted him to know they are picking on me, which explains why they are picking on him. But it’s a reflection on me, not him. He hasn’t done anything wrong.”

As for Bryant, he supposedly favored the hiring of former teammate and Lakers’ assistant coach Brian Shaw as Jackson’s replacement. The Lakers say they interviewed Shaw and Rick Adelman besides Brown.

According to an ESPN.com report, sources say “that Bryant has great respect for Brown and is on board with the hiring, despite not being consulted about the choice.”

Simers writes in his Los Angeles Times story, quoting Jim Buss:  

“Looking back on it, we should have contacted Kobe,” Buss says. “Kobe said it was management’s job to pick a coach. He just said, ‘Defense first.’ That’s what we were doing, but we should have reached out to him.”

How will Kobe take to Brown?

“The way Mike impressed the three of us, I would think Kobe would be impressed as well,” he says. “Mike is a workaholic and Kobe is the workaholic.”

If Brown couldn’t control LeBron James on offense, how is he going to do so with Kobe?

“I’ve seen Kobe go off the place a few times, but I’m sure the coach will know how to handle it,” Buss says. “My dad loves Kobe and so do I; we think he has a lot left. And I know Mike has some ideas on how to elongate Kobe’s career.”

CLEVELAND, Ohio — We would be inclined to say “poor Mike Brown” if not for the fact that he has been and will again be well compensated.

Brown coached the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA playoffs in all five of his seasons as the team’s coach, winning at least one series each year and highlighted by the run to the Finals in 2007 — albeit being swept by the San Antonio Spurs.

Now, after a year off that followed his firing by the Cavs a year ago, Brown has been hired by the Los Angeles Lakers — the 2009 and 2010 champions — to coach them in the aftermath of Phil Jackson’s retirement.

That all sounds good. The “poor Mike” inclination is because after five years of dealing with, arguably, the game’s biggest ego, LeBron James, Brown will have to work with another player who holds himself in quite high regard, Kobe Bryant.

The difference between Bryant and James, of course, is infinity, as in five championships to none. James’ Miami Heat teammates’ can help him reduce that title-deficit to four when they play the Dallas Mavericks in the championship series that begins on Tuesday night.

Brown encounters a different fan base with the Lakers than with the Cavs. While Cleveland fans are patient, charitable in their estimations of people and thrilled with any degree of success, the Tinsel Town crowd expects flash, universal adulation and titles.

And while Brown took over for Paul Silas (and interim coach Brendan Malone) in Cleveland, he replaces the 11-time champion Jackson in LA.

Brown’s hiring has not been greeted with overwhelming acclaim from Lakers fans and media.

LA executive Jim Buss, the son of owner Jerry Buss, sat down and talked with Los Angeles Times reporter T.J. Simers about Brown’s hiring, Bryant and other Lakers’ matters — with mention of the Brown-James Cavs’ era, too.

Simers writes:

Not too many happy campers in Lakers Land these days, so much criticism that shortly before sitting down, he put a call into new Coach Mike Brown to apologize.

“I’m surprised by the reaction to Mike’s hiring,” he says. “I wish people heard him speak. Let him show you what he showed us.

“I wanted him to know they are picking on me, which explains why they are picking on him. But it’s a reflection on me, not him. He hasn’t done anything wrong.”

As for Bryant, he supposedly favored the hiring of former teammate and Lakers’ assistant coach Brian Shaw as Jackson’s replacement. The Lakers say they interviewed Shaw and Rick Adelman besides Brown.

According to an ESPN.com report, sources say “that Bryant has great respect for Brown and is on board with the hiring, despite not being consulted about the choice.”

Simers writes in his Los Angeles Times story, quoting Jim Buss:  

“Looking back on it, we should have contacted Kobe,” Buss says. “Kobe said it was management’s job to pick a coach. He just said, ‘Defense first.’ That’s what we were doing, but we should have reached out to him.”

How will Kobe take to Brown?

“The way Mike impressed the three of us, I would think Kobe would be impressed as well,” he says. “Mike is a workaholic and Kobe is the workaholic.”

If Brown couldn’t control LeBron James on offense, how is he going to do so with Kobe?

“I’ve seen Kobe go off the place a few times, but I’m sure the coach will know how to handle it,” Buss says. “My dad loves Kobe and so do I; we think he has a lot left. And I know Mike has some ideas on how to elongate Kobe’s career.”

Jim Buss, Los Angeles Lakers executive and son of owner Dr. Jerry Buss, says he regrets not talking to Kobe Bryant about the decision to hire Mike Brown as Phil Jackson’s successor.

“Looking back on it, we should have contacted Kobe,” Jim Buss said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that ran Saturday night. “Kobe said it was management’s job to pick a coach. He just said, ‘Defense first.’ That’s what we were doing, but we should have reached out to him.”

Bryant had previously endorsed longtime Jackson assistant Brian Shaw to be promoted to the head-coaching job. The Lakers struck an agreement with Brown on Wednesday, and sources told ESPNLosAngeles.com’s Dave McMenamin that Bryant has great respect for Brown and is on board with the hiring, despite not being consulted about the choice.

During an interview on ESPN during halftime of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals on Wednesday, Brown said he already had exchanged text messages with Bryant.
Brown also said he’s “looking forward to getting to know Kobe and being able to work with him to go and get us a championship.”

Jim Buss, Lakers executive VP of player personnel, expressed confidence that Bryant would mesh well with Brown, according to the Times report

“The way Mike impressed the three of us, I would think Kobe would be impressed as well,” Buss said. “Mike is a workaholic and Kobe is the workaholic.”

Buss was unconcerned about the possibility that Brown wouldn’t be able to corral Bryant’s talents for the good of the team.

“I’ve seen Kobe go off the place a few times, but I’m sure the coach will know how to handle it,” Buss told the newspaper. “My dad loves Kobe and so do I; we think he has a lot left. And I know Mike has some ideas on how to elongate Kobe’s career.”

The Lakers’ bid for a three-peat ended unceremoniously when the Dallas Mavericks swept them in the Western Conference semifinals.

Information from ESPNLosAngeles.com’s Dave McMenamin was used in this report.