NBA Insider with Ken Berger

Some quick hits for those of you with an appetite for NBA news during the supposedly quiet days of August (Updated as of 9:56 a.m. Friday):

· Kobe Bryant is putting on quite a show with Team USA in Las Vegas. He gave up junk food this summer, losing 19 pounds before Team USA training camp began last month, was the star of the intrasquad scrimmage, and had 14 points and five assists in 16 minutes in the Americans’ 112-69 victory over Venezuela on Wednesday in the opening game of the FIBA Americas qualifying tournament for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But Kobe isn’t turning heads with his typical assortment of eye-popping one-on-one play, but has impressed by getting after it in practice and taking his overall game seriously. Before facing Venezuela, Kobe was seen toting around a custom-made DVD of the player he was assigned to defend, Greivis Vasquez, a 20-year-old sophomore at Maryland. My colleague, Mark Heisler, quoted an awe-struck Vasquez in today’s L.A. Times. My question: Is Kobe auditioning for the Lakers’ brass or for his new team?

UPDATE: Kobe got into early foul trouble Thursday night, but Michael Redd replaced him and hit a flurry of three-pointers as Team USA improved to 2-0 with a 123-59 rout of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

· David Stern has appointed Lawrence Pedowitz, a former federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, to oversee the league’s review of its policies and procedures related to gambling and officiating. That’s good. I just hope this internal investigation – if I may call it that – will be transparent and open to public scrutiny. A behind-closed-doors review of policies and procedures would fall short of what the NBA really needs to restore confidence in the officiating in the wake of the Tim Donaghy scandal.

· Reggie Miller is still undecided on whether he will attempt a comeback with the Celtics at age 42. While Danny Ainge is at it, he could lace up a pair of shoes himself and see if Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish are available.

UPDATE: No mas, according to Reggie. Thankfully, Miller has decided not to attempt a comeback with the Celtics or anybody else. I prefer to remember Reggie as he was -- a pain in the __ to a Knick fan like me -- rather than see him come back as a mediocre sideshow.

· Las Vegas is on track to have not one, but two new arenas capable of hosting an NBA team. In addition to Mayor Oscar Goodman’s plan for a taxpayer-subsidized building, casino giant Harrah’s has a deal in place for a privately funded, $500 million arena to open in 2010. Ref scandal? What ref scandal?

· Latrell Sprewell’s yacht, “Milwaukee’s Best,” has been seized in Manitowoc, Wisc., by federal agents who allege that LSF Marine Holdings, a company run by the ex-Knick, has failed to make the $10,322 monthly payments and maintain insurance on it. The bank wants the yacht sold to pay off the $1.3 million remaining on the loan. I don’t really know what to say.

· Lastly, I want to give all of you a chance to keep the chatter going here next week when I will be on vacation. I’ll put up a post tomorrow inviting all of you to keep the discussion going in my absence. Nothing is off-limits, as long as it’s tasteful. I’ll answer all of your comments when I return and also want to offer a little pub to the reader with the most frequent posts and also something for the reader with the most insightful post of the week. Any ideas on what would be a just reward for such accomplishments?