Lakers 2007-2008 media day
Escorted by an armada of cameras and microphones, Bryant greeted Lakers broadcasters and proceeded to stand before a camera and read team public-service announcements and television promos.
"I'm ready to go. I'm happy to see Fish and Chris back," Bryant said of recent acquisition Derek Fisher and center Chris Mihm, who has returned from an injury. "I'm all smiles."
Bryant was asked if spending part of a long summer playing with the U.S. team in an Olympic qualifying tournament helped alleviate some of his frustrations about the Lakers.
"It was a big help playing with guys who enjoy basketball. It was a monster of a team," he said of the U.S. squad, "so I don't relate it to the other team.
"The guys are ready to go, and whatever management decides to do, my role is to get the best out of this team."
Bryant was asked what made him stop his public criticism of the team during the off-season.
"There was too much going on," he said. "I didn't want any distractions; I didn't want anything hanging over the team, so I just shut it down."
Before addressing the media, he clasped hands with Andrew Bynum, who had been mentioned as ideal trade bait by Bryant in a video made and released by several fans during the off-season.
"I just hope everything is cool," said Bynum, who will be starting his third season as the Lakers center. "I think he was just a frustrated veteran, tired of losing. Everybody wants to win, but he might want to win more than anyone."
Bynum said he had heard about the video but hadn't seen it.
"All he wanted to do was make the team better," Bynum said of Bryant. "And Jason Kidd [part of a proposed trade for Bynum] definitely would do that. All he did was make me work harder. I'm good with everything. I just know that I want to be as good a player as I can be."
Escorted by an armada of cameras and microphones, Bryant greeted Lakers broadcasters and proceeded to stand before a camera and read team public-service announcements and television promos.
"I'm ready to go. I'm happy to see Fish and Chris back," Bryant said of recent acquisition Derek Fisher and center Chris Mihm, who has returned from an injury. "I'm all smiles."
Bryant was asked if spending part of a long summer playing with the U.S. team in an Olympic qualifying tournament helped alleviate some of his frustrations about the Lakers.
"It was a big help playing with guys who enjoy basketball. It was a monster of a team," he said of the U.S. squad, "so I don't relate it to the other team.
"The guys are ready to go, and whatever management decides to do, my role is to get the best out of this team."
Bryant was asked what made him stop his public criticism of the team during the off-season.
"There was too much going on," he said. "I didn't want any distractions; I didn't want anything hanging over the team, so I just shut it down."
Before addressing the media, he clasped hands with Andrew Bynum, who had been mentioned as ideal trade bait by Bryant in a video made and released by several fans during the off-season.
"I just hope everything is cool," said Bynum, who will be starting his third season as the Lakers center. "I think he was just a frustrated veteran, tired of losing. Everybody wants to win, but he might want to win more than anyone."
Bynum said he had heard about the video but hadn't seen it.
"All he wanted to do was make the team better," Bynum said of Bryant. "And Jason Kidd [part of a proposed trade for Bynum] definitely would do that. All he did was make me work harder. I'm good with everything. I just know that I want to be as good a player as I can be."
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