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NBA FINALS: MAGIC v LAKERS

June 11, 2009

Kobe Bryant

ORLANDO, FLORIDA: Game Four

Los Angeles Lakers - 99
Orlando Magic - 91

Q. In LA you talked about wanting it really bad. Can you talk about that in relation to this game? Is it kind of like losing the state championship your junior year, coming back your senior year with that in your heart and in your mind?
KOBE BRYANT: Absolutely. It's playing with that passion all year, having a goal in mind, and just trying to stay the course, you know, to get to this point.

Q. Can you talk about it in reference to this game? You really had to dig deep, Fish came up big, bench came up really big for you in the second quarter.
KOBE BRYANT: Yeah, you know, on a championship run you're going to have moments where you just make big plays, and tonight was one of them. The guys stepped up. Trevor made a big three, Derek obviously made two big ones, but that's what it's about. That's what the journey is about. You've got to have guys step up and make those big plays.

Q. What has it meant to have Fish back here again and you made these title runs again? Is he a guy that because of your bond with him and your history, he can talk to you a little differently than other guys on this team, that he can challenge you in ways that other guys would be uncomfortable challenging you?
KOBE BRYANT: We challenge each other. Fish and I have had a relationship where when we first got here, we were the guys that on back-to-backs would have to go and practice. Everybody else would wait and rest at the hotel. A lot of times we were the only two there, so we ended up playing full-court one-on-one basketball and we were almost fighting, literally, just because we were both competitive. From that point forward I just gained so much respect for him because of his competitiveness and his ability to hit big shots. You're absolutely right about that.

Q. What will the next two days be like for you on the verge of yet another championship with all the things you've gone through on this team and the highs and the lows this year?
KOBE BRYANT: It could easily be a different two days than we've had in the past, easily. But you have to stay focused. You have to say to yourself, you have to try to hold on to your excitement as much as you can and just prepare. Prepare, prepare, prepare and get ready to go.

Q. You've been in some real classics before. Where would you rank this one?
KOBE BRYANT: Right up there. Right up there with big games. It's just a lot of momentum-changing plays. They made big threes, Turkoglu made big threes, Rashard made big threes, we made big threes and big plays. It's right up there.

Q. Fish had been struggling, where did you get the confidence to go to him, to pass him the ball in that situation?
KOBE BRYANT: He's been there before. He's been there and done that. In the locker room I was kind of teasing him a little bit because he was 0 for 5 on three-pointers until he made those last two. But that's Derek, though.
He just has supreme confidence, and I think those shots at the end of the game are actually easier for him than the other ones.

Q. You were just talking about Fish, has there been a point during this series or even prior to this game where because he's a peer and you guys have a respectful relationship where he's perhaps pulled you aside and said, we're here, you don't have to do as much as you're doing?
KOBE BRYANT: No, he hasn't had to. He hasn't had to. I just take the doubles. I take the doubles and find shooters. The game is really simple for me. Just get in the post. If they come, kick it; if they don't, go to work. It's that simple.

Q. You commented earlier in the playoffs about your concern about some inconsistency in flagrant calls. Where does the Pietrus play on Pau and his vulnerability there, gets in the back, where does that fall on the spectrum to you?
KOBE BRYANT: Well, I think to make a hard foul is fine. I've made hard fouls before and I've fouled Dwight hard in this series. But I still check with him. I still check with him after the play just to make sure he's all right. Hey, it's a hard foul, but you're okay, that sort of thing.

Q. When you and Dwight tussled a little bit there were some words. Is there anything you can share what you might have said to him at that point?
KOBE BRYANT: You know Dwight doesn't curse anyway, so it was nothing malicious (laughter).

Q. But you did.
KOBE BRYANT: I don't curse (smiling).

Q. You were a double-team run away at the end of regulation. Were you expecting them to foul you there or foul Fish on the three or four dribbles he had?
KOBE BRYANT: I knew Van Gundy was not going to let me get up anything. I saw him coming out of the time-out telling Turkoglu to "go get him." They kind of had a conversation back and forth, and Pietrus thought he meant switch and you take him and stuff, and I was hoping they wouldn't get the message correctly. They did, and I just kicked it up, and at that point you've got to trust your teammates to make a play, and they did.

Q. The stat sheet says that the game is pretty close as far as second-chance points, but I thought it looked like the Lakers seemed to be getting every loose ball, including when the game was tied in overtime, you had like three 45-second possessions, three different looks before Derek Fisher had that big three.
KOBE BRYANT: The second half I think we did a much better job scrapping, fighting, clawing, playing like a team that got to this point. In the first half I don't think we did a good job of that at all. Second half our second effort was much better, our attention to detail was much better. We didn't get to the free-throw line at all, but we still played hard.

Q. Talk about that first half. You played with a lineup that I'm sure you probably didn't play with all season long because of the foul difficulty.
KOBE BRYANT: No, we're very comfortable playing with that lineup, Josh and D.J. We've had injuries, we have guys in and out of the lineup, and they've stepped in and made big contributions for us. We know what their strengths are, and we were pretty comfortable playing with them.

Q. Could you talk about your night. You missed 20 shots. Tough night for you?
KOBE BRYANT: You know, for me it's just getting the ball in positions to operate. I've got to get the hell off the top of the floor. I've got too many eyes on me. I've got to get that ball on the block, and try to go to work and if they double, try to get it out. Mickael was doing a hell of a job. Tonight I felt like I've really got to try to beat this guy because he's really doing a good job at the top of the floor playing one-on-one defense. I'm going to have to take him to the post and try to beat him up like my uncle used to beat me up in the post.

Q. How hard is it as a player, Fish was 0 for 5 to that point, Trevor had a terrible first half shooting the ball, how hard is it as a player to put that away and then take big shots as the game goes along?
KOBE BRYANT: One thing I always tell them is if you don't shoot them, you can't make them. That has to be your mentality all the time. You have to keep shooting. If you've got shots, you've got to shoot them. They both did a great job of that.

Q. Is that something that separates maybe guys who could be good scorers from great players?
KOBE BRYANT: Absolutely. That's what makes champions. Orlando is a classic team of that. They just do not get discouraged. If they have shots, they take them. They're consistent in that, and we are, too.

End of FastScripts

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