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NBA FINALS: LAKERS v CELTICSJune 4, 2008Kobe BryantBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Practice Day Q. What's the mentoring process been like for you with young guys like a Jordan Farmar who's admittedly a little hard-headed, and how much have you had to get on him over the last couple years? KOBE BRYANT: On him in particular? Q. Yeah. KOBE BRYANT: Not much. I know how to communicate with hard heads. Q. How is that? KOBE BRYANT: We speak the same language. It's pretty easy. He works extremely hard. I think that's really been the key for him. He gets in the gym early, stays late. He does the necessary work. I think he's been great. I have no issues with him at all. Q. How much, if at all, do you think about the Lakers' past and kind of upholding that Laker legacy of greatness? KOBE BRYANT: It's always a part of it because it's such a rich tradition. I think when you look at the jerseys that hang in the rafters at Staples Center, and with the Celtics, as well, they're not only great Lakers players, but they're some of the greatest to ever play. So that's a great deal to live up to. Q. What's going to decide these Finals? When you get past all the hoopla, Celtics, Lakers, the banners up here, what's going to decide who's going to win or lose this series? KOBE BRYANT: Well, I mean, the team that executes the best. That's what it boils down to. With all the hype and all the media attention that surrounds the NBA Finals, once you step out there on the floor, it's about one thing and one thing only, and that's who can execute their game plan the best. Whoever does that will win. Q. When do you think your trust in your teammates this season became complete and total? KOBE BRYANT: It's tough to say. I think it was just an evolution. I think for me the most important step towards trusting my teammates was seeing that they wanted it as much as I do. So by me seeing them working hard, doing extra work, not just practicing at 10:30 and showing up at 10:25 but showing me that they want to do it because I'm there. So once I saw that they wanted to put forth that effort, it made it a lot easier. Q. Talk about the Celtics' defense. And do you take anything from the two regular-season games, the way they defended you, or is that too long ago to really gauge off of that and have you watch that? KOBE BRYANT: A little bit. I think you can watch any Celtics game, no matter who they play, and pick some stuff from it, because they play the same way. It's similar in regards to San Antonio and some of the other great defensive teams, the Pistons, where they really don't do anything special against a particular player, they just play solid defense all the time and they have principles that they stick to and they support each other extremely well, and that's no different than watching those games that we play or watching any other game that they play. Q. Have you been watching those past two games, or do you even care much about those past two games? KOBE BRYANT: No, I've watched them. I don't know, just to torture myself, I guess (laughter). Q. When is the last time you thought about 2004, The Finals against Detroit and the chance to, I guess, get rid of that losing Finals feeling? KOBE BRYANT: We thought about it right after we won the Western Conference title game or whatever, something that Phil brought up instantaneously about remembering that sensation. Q. When you face a team, do you check out who you think is going to be covering you? I know they're going to do a mixture of people as far as against you and try to adjust your game plan to know who's going to be on you at one time. KOBE BRYANT: Not really, no. I look at it as a quaterback, really, because the defenses that I face are always support defenses. Not necessarily looking at an individual but just looking at where the help is coming from and where my wide receivers are going to be, and when they're going to be open and if I have to call an audible, and if I do, which one. So it's just going through those check-downs. Q. I'm sure you remember your first time going for a championship, the hunger you had. What's it going to be like going against three guys on the Celtics that have had a long time to build up that hunger? KOBE BRYANT: Tough (laughing). It's going to be tough. You know, what it boils down to in The Finals is you obviously have a lot of hunger, you have the will to win, which is great. But from my experience, you have to execute. You can want it worse than anybody on this planet, but if you don't have a group of guys or a team that collectively executes well enough to win, you're not going to win. Q. And to follow up, fair or not, do great players need to win that championship to have that validation? KOBE BRYANT: Depends which club you're talking about. Are you talking about the Jordan-Magic club? If you want to get in that club, then you have to win. The other club you don't have to win. Depends what club you want to get into, the 21 and over or the 18 and under. Depends which one you're looking at (laughter). Q. What have the last couple of years taught you about the value of having the right group around you or the right teammates? You came into a team that was going deep into the playoffs even your first few seasons, so the last few years were different for you. Talk about climbing back up and the appreciation you have for teammates, having the right guys around you. KOBE BRYANT: Well, it's a lot tougher the second time around because you're fortunate to be at the top of the mountain and now you're at the bottom and looking up again. It's tiring, but I feel very fortunate to have a group of guys around me that work. It's very tough in this day and age to be able to pull that off. It's an answer to the prayer, to be honest with you. Q. Do you look across and see a similarity in what Ray and Paul and Kevin had to go through as individuals for many years without having the great help around them that they have now discovered? KOBE BRYANT: Yeah, no question about it. It's taken them a great deal of pain and suffering to get to this point to be able to have a collection of guys around them that work. This is my second time around now, and you just have to be lucky a little bit. Q. Can you talk about what you and Paul discussed when you were hooping it last summer at UCLA? And are you shocked you're both here playing for your respective teams? KOBE BRYANT: Stunned. I think we both are shocked in a pleasant way. We talked about a lot of things. We talked about who was getting traded first. I guess that's one thing that I'm happy I did not win. We just had a good time playing. Q. Were there any discussions in specific with what team you would want to go to? KOBE BRYANT: No, I don't remember it being so. Q. Lamar just indicated he's a little more comfortable with the fact that you and Fisher have been in The Finals before. Have you and Derek had some words with your teammates about that experience? KOBE BRYANT: A little bit. The thing that we tell them is it's just basketball. When it boils down to it, you've just got to go out there and play the do the things that you've been taught. All this hoopla is not going to play the game for you. Once you step out there you've just got to do what you've been taught. Q. Did you mention that like at practice or will you be mentioning that to them? KOBE BRYANT: We discussed it a little bit. I'm sure we'll be discussing it more as the days go by. End of FastScripts |
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