With his scoring on track and the drama gone, Kobe Bryant’s re-emergence officially has begun.
“I think I’ve been forgotten about a little bit as far as what I can do on the basketball court,” the Los Angeles Lakers star guard said. “People forget.”
During the past two seasons, the sexual-assault case in Eagle, knee and ankle injuries, and missing the playoffs last season caused Bryant to fall from the ranks of the NBA elite.
He also received a lot of the blame for coach Phil Jackson’s contract not being renewed and Shaquille O’Neal being traded. The Lakers missed the postseason for only the second time since 1976 (1994 was the other).
But with all that behind him, Bryant has started strong in his first two games. The Nuggets get another chance at stopping Bryant tonight after being scorched Wednesday by his 33 points, including eight in overtime of the Lakers’ 99-97 win in Denver. He followed with 39 points Thursday in a 122-112 loss to Phoenix.
Nuggets forwards Kenyon Martin and Carmelo Anthony laughed at the notion Bryant was forgotten.
“I don’t see how anybody can forget about him,” Martin said. “Especially the Nuggets.”
Said Anthony: “You can never sleep on Kobe. You can never count Kobe out.”
With his mind free and with time to work out, Bryant focused on conditioning this offseason.
“The past two seasons, I didn’t train all summer,” said Bryant, who fell to the all-NBA third team after making the first team the previous two seasons. “I picked up a basketball two years ago the first day when I went to camp. Last summer, it was a week before camp. So the past two seasons I’ve played without any offseason training, which is like a religion to me.”
While Bryant did charity work in the past, it wasn’t well known; but he was one of the players who played in a Hurricane Katrina benefit game Sept. 11 in Houston and also visited shelters.
“I didn’t think anybody thought he was coming,” Anthony said of Bryant’s appearance in Houston. “We had everybody; all the top players in the game were there. You never see him at stuff like that, charity games. But for him to show up for that was a good deal.”
Bryant also served as an ambassador at the National Kids Day event in Santa Monica, Calif., and was a guest speaker for youngsters at Camp Lakers in Santa Barbara.
While he has been considered distant in the past, Bryant is fitting in with Jackson’s return and leading the team. His signature Nike shoe is back in stores. But still there are skeptics.
“It was like 12 o’clock (Wednesday morning) and ESPN came on and all these people were talking about how he was not liked and that’s why he doesn’t have endorsements,” teammate Lamar Odom said.
“They don’t live in his shoes. He’s been through a lot.”
While LeBron James, Allen Iverson and Dwyane Wade have taken away a lot of the spotlight Bryant once owned, he soon may regain it if his stellar play continues.
“This is the best I’ve felt in my life,” he said.
Nuggets at Lakers, 7:30 p.m.
SPOTLIGHT ON SMUSH PARKER
Parker played 16 games with Detroit and Phoenix last season and also played with NBDL Florida. Now, the undrafted guard is the starting point guard for the Lakers. The 6-foot-4, 180-pounder had 20 points, six assists and four rebounds in a career-high 41 minutes in a 99-97 overtime win at Denver on Wednesday. The ex-Fordham star also had 21 points and four steals in a 122-112 loss to Phoenix on Thursday. His given name is William, and his nickname was passed down to him from his father, William Parker Jr.
NOTEBOOK
* MARTIN DETERMINED: Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin said his left knee is sore, but he plans to play tonight. “Until I can’t get out of bed and walk, that’s the only time I’m not going to play,” said Martin, who had offseason knee surgery.
* FOOTNOTES: The Nuggets (1-2) have lost six straight road games to the Lakers (1-1) and 16 of the past 17. … Nuggets center Marcus Camby has grabbed at least 10 rebounds in all three games and posted a double-double the past two games. … The Nuggets’ 39-point margin of victory (107-68) over Portland on Friday tied their second-largest since joining the NBA in 1976. The largest was against the Los Angeles Clippers by 46 (139-93) on Nov. 6, 1987.
– Marc J. Spears, Denver Post staff writer
Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.
