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NBA FINALS: LAKERS v CELTICSJune 7, 2008Kobe BryantBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Practice Day Q. Sort of slow news day, so I want to ask you about your teammates who wear your sneakers. Any thoughts on Vladdie, Turiaf, Pau, Lamar, D.J. wearing the Kobes? KOBE BRYANT: Well, they all have an interest in jumping over cars. It intrigues them, so they wear the shoes. Q. Is it nice to see them wearing those? KOBE BRYANT: Yeah, it is. What we try to do is just make sure it's extremely comfortable for the other players that want to wear them. We try to make the best shoe possible, best shoe on the market, then other players tend to enjoy them. Q. Phil just said you were an unstoppable force, you've been an unstoppable force in this game and they basically just need you to play your game. Does this add up to pressure? And I know you've been asked this before, but this is the NBA Finals, how do you feel in this situation? KOBE BRYANT: Well, I'd much rather have the pressure of this moment as opposed to having the pressure of deciding which swim trunks I'm going to wear in Bora Bora, the Gucci ones or the Yves Saint Laurent ones. I'd much rather have this pressure. Q. What do you expect from Paul Pierce? And if he's not 100 percent, how does that help you or what are you expecting? KOBE BRYANT: Well, I expect him to come out and play the way he's been playing. We can't afford to think any other way. He's going to be ready, and we have to make sure we're ready. We're just going to approach it like he's 100 percent. Q. I know you said after Game 1 some of the shots rimmed in and out. Have they kind of crept into your thoughts the last couple days? KOBE BRYANT: Absolutely. Absolutely. Just had to tweak a couple things here and there and see if I can't put the ball in the hole a little better tomorrow night. Q. When you say "tweak," is that for you or the team offense? KOBE BRYANT: No, just me. A couple mechanical things on the shot, release and arc and things like that. Q. It was a couple years ago, Game 7 at Phoenix, the second half you didn't force your offense. When you look at the big picture, did that affect the way you evolved and approached your game the last couple years? KOBE BRYANT: I mean, a little bit. I think that was the beginning process of me and my teammates really starting to get a rhythm and feel for things and kind of having an inner belief that we can do things out there on the floor. I think that was the beginning. I think the season has kind of come to a head and the guys are playing extremely well, believe in themselves and I believe in them. It's just basically been an evolution for the last three years or so. Q. Did that game have anything to do with it when you think back? KOBE BRYANT: No, not really. Not really. Q. You know Paul really well. What do you know about how tough he is and his ability to play through injuries? KOBE BRYANT: Well, he looked fine to me. I think he's -- at this stage, at this moment, I know how bad he wants to win a championship. He and Kevin and Ray, this is it. He's going to come out and he's going to be ready to play for sure. Q. You have to win one game here in order to win the championship, and you don't want to go back home 0-2. Does that make Game 2 even more critical? KOBE BRYANT: Yeah. But you know, it's part of it. This is part of playoff basketball. You have games where you lose the first one and the second one is the one you want to get. You just go from there. It's kind of a seesaw of emotions. But we're ready, we're focused on it. We're going to come out and play much better. Q. Just to follow Mark's question about Phil using the term "unstoppable," how do you feel about that as a description of you? Is that how you would describe yourself? KOBE BRYANT: Yep (laughter). Q. How do you feel about that? KOBE BRYANT: I'm just joking (laughter). It's kind of weird to be honest with you. It's awkward because -- I don't know, it's awkward. It's weird, uncomfortable even. Q. Uncomfortable because there's a mic in front of you or -- KOBE BRYANT: No, just uncomfortable, period. Because to me it's always been about what the defense does. I mean, the defense can take a player out of the game any time they want to, all they have to do is focus on one guy. I think what I've been trying to do is make my teammates threats, this way it makes it a little harder for teams to key in on me, just by moving the ball and making them targets. Q. You've known Tom Thibodeau for a long time and you've also had to face his defenses a lot. How much of a challenge is that? KOBE BRYANT: You know, it's always been tough. He has an unfair advantage: He started drilling me, NBA basketball drills, when I was 14. So he kind of has inside information on what I like to do because he taught me most of the stuff. I've been facing his defenses here for some time, and they're tough, very, very tough. Every single team he's been on has had great strategies and physical defense. He's awesome. Q. Is it the same here now as when he was in Houston or -- KOBE BRYANT: Yeah, absolutely. Q. There's been some conversation that you guys need to be more physical in Game 2. I don't know if you buy into that, but is this team really designed to be a physical kind of team? KOBE BRYANT: Yeah, we had to be physical to beat Utah. Utah, they scratch and claw every possession. They're as tough physically as it gets. We managed to elevate our physical play, not to the point where like bam. Pau is not going to -- you run into Perkins and Pau in an alley, you're probably going to go Pau's direction (laughter). But I think his skill and everything that he does gives him a huge advantage in his length. So it's not about us being tough or anything like that. You've just got to play a little bit harder. Q. How do you see the rivalries today versus the game in the '80s and even the '90s just in terms of hatred? KOBE BRYANT: You know, I've heard stories in the past of them coming here and not getting room service and stuff like that. I mean, my room service is cool (laughter). You know, I got the nice apple pie with the ice cream on top, á la mode. I didn't even ask for the ice cream but they hooked me up (laughter). I've heard just horror stories from the past in the '80s when the guys came here. It's not like that. There's a healthy competition, and they obviously want to win, the city wants to win, but it's not like "I hate your guts." End of FastScripts |
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