NBA Insider with Ken Berger

Here we are for opening night at the IZOD Center, which has a lot of new stuff displayed on the outside except for the one thing you would expect – the alligator logo.

Anyway, the Bulls are here, and if anyone was expecting Kobe Bryant to be lacing ‘em up in the visiting locker room, they were sorely disappointed. There is a ton of buzz about the Kobe-to-the-Bulls talk, but I’ll start with what I know first:

More than any other day up to this point, Wednesday was the day for Kobe to be traded to the Bulls. That’s because the Lakers want both Ben Gordon and Luol Deng in the deal, and Wednesday was the last day for both players to sign extensions before next summer. With a few hours left until the midnight deadline, both Deng and Gordon said before the game that talks are shut down and their deals won’t get done.

That figures to be a integral factor in the ongoing talks between the Lakers and Bulls. Had Deng and Gordon signed extensions, they couldn’t be traded for 30 days and their cap numbers to make the trade math work would have gone up enough to complicate matters. As it stands now, Gordon and Deng are as tradable today as they’ve been at any time since the Lakers and Bulls started talking.

A person with knowledge of the discussions told Newsday before the game that at this point, nothing appears imminent between the two teams. The person, who would be notified if a trade were imminent, had not yet been brought into the discussions.

The Lakers-Bulls talks aren't dead, because right now the Bulls are the only team on Kobe's list. WSCR radio in Chicago started chatter of a potential three-team deal involving Sacramento, but soon was refuting its own report, which is believed to have been off the mark.

The sticking point has been Deng, whom the Bulls don’t want to include in a deal. Nor does Kobe want to play in Chicago without him. Deng, however, can’t figure out why, if he’s so valuable, would the Bulls not budge from his agent’s five-year, $50 million offer on the extension.

Will be back as needed with updates on a very fluid situation.

Hope you enjoyed, are enjoying, or will enjoy Newsday's NBA preview section in Sunday's paper. Alan and I got paid extra for all that work, and I've got a bridge in London I want to sell you.

Speaking of London, check out Bob Glauber's NFL blog from across the pond. You know how they say wherever you go, you run into someone from Long Island? Well, Bob scored a ticket to the Chelsea-Manchester City "football" match from a group of guys that included a former Newsday paperboy from Wantagh. I kid you not.

Anyway, the Kobe Bryant situation is getting more and more interesting. Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com reports that the Lakers and Bulls have been engaged in daily trade talks, with the Lakers asking for Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Tyrus Thomas, and Joakim Noah. The Bulls so far aren't willing to give up that much, and Kobe apparently would veto such a deal anyway because the Bulls wouldn't have enough talent left to compete for a title.

According to the L.A. Times, Phil Jackson is beginning to question Kobe's commitment. Ya think?

Interesting thought: If the Bulls land Bryant with something similiar to the above package, they would be parlaying two assets they got from the Knicks for Eddy Curry -- Thomas and Noah -- into the best player in the NBA. So for this reason and many others, I have to believe that Isiah Thomas is involved in this situation on two levels: one, he must be among the dozens of GMs who've called the Lakers to see what it would take to get Bryant, and two, he must be talking to Bryant's agent, Rob Pelinka, to see under what circumstances Kobe would waive his no-trade clause for a deal to the Knicks.

I bumped into Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com tonight before the Knicks-Nets game, and he informed me that one of my posts about Kobe Bryant on Wednesday had a bogus video link. Chris reads everything about Kobe, because he and I are probably the only basketball writers in New York who believe he is going to get traded.

If you want to see how disinterested in being a Laker Kobe appears to be, here is a page with a working video link from his media session Tuesday:

http://cbs2.com/lakers/local_story_289184701.html

Be back in a few with some interesting pregame stuff from what is now called the IZOD Center. (Let's just call it the Meadowlands, shall we?)

This is my last Kobe update of the day. Promise. (Unless he gets traded before I go to bed.)

John Hollinger of ESPN.com also writes for The New York Sun, and he provides a pretty interesting take on how the Knicks could pull off a trade for Kobe. Check it out here. One hint: Isiah Thomas isn't going to like this, because Step 1 in Hollinger's recipe for making the Knicks a viable destination for Bryant is to fire Isiah.

Mike Bresnahan of the L.A. Times reports that Kobe Bryant resumed practicing with the Lakers Wednesday and is expected to suit up Thursday night for a preseason game against Seattle in Bakersfield, Calif. Strange times in LakerLand ...

Here's the link.

Also, check out Alan Hahn's blog for his thoughts on the Kobe mess, as well as an audio clip of Isiah Thomas addressing the matter at Wednesday's shootaround in Boston. You can try out your own Kobe trade proposals here at RealGM.com.

Amid hysterical reports in L.A. that Kobe Bryant had cleaned out his locker, the superstar’s future with the Lakers has reached what could be the final crossroads.

Kobe denied to reporters Tuesday that he’d emptied his locker, and his agent, Rob Pelinka, peddled the notion that Kobe had merely “reorganized” it. Either way, check out Kobe’s demeanor in this video and tell me he looks like someone who a) wants to be a Laker, and b) expects to be one for very much longer.

It’s not clear whether Bryant will play in Thursday night’s preseason game against Seattle after sitting out three straight days of practice. Kobe has either been resting his legs, or if you believe coach Phil Jackson, he’s “OK” and missed practice again Tuesday “by mutual agreement.”

This is getting weird.

“He’s in the training room,” Jackson said. “I think that’s about all I’ll say. He asked me about resting his legs, but I think he’s OK.”

Further confusing the matter, Jackson said he wasn’t sure if Bryant would travel to Bakersfield with the team Thursday if he’s not playing. Asked if Bryant had played his last game as a Laker, Jackson said cryptically, “I don’t know that at all. Who knows that? There’s certain things that have to be discussed and I think they will be. There’s nothing imminent. I’m on the inside of this, so I know all the statements before you ask the questions. We can’t project anything right now. I think there’s a certain progression of things we have to go through.”

Huh? Sounds like Kobe’s days as a Laker are more numbered than they’ve ever been.

When Bryant was asked the same question Tuesday about whether he’s played his last game as a Laker, he responded, “I don’t know, talk to Mitch [Kupchak] and Mr. [Jerry] Buss about that. I’m just getting ready. If I’m here, I’m ready to strap it up.”

After Buss’ comments last week that he’s open to trading his disgruntled superstar, Kobe has apparently resorted to referring to the Lakers’ owner as “Mr. Buss,” instead of the previously respectful “Dr. Buss.”

The Mavericks and Bulls have the inside track on a Kobe trade, which for the first time seems possible before the regular season begins. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports that Dallas is Kobe’s No. 1 choice. Bryant holds all the cards because he is the only player in the NBA with a no-trade clause.

Mavs owner Mark Cuban, interviewed during a recent taping of “Dancing With The Stars,” left the door wide open to pursuing the player most consider to be the best in the NBA.

“No one from our organization has talked to Mitch at all about it,” Cuban said. “Kobe is a phenomenal player, and the Mavs have always been opportunistic since the day I bought ‘em. If something were to present itself, we’d always have to explore it, but we have a great team.”

Kobe put out word through intermediaries last week that he’s taken the Knicks off his wish list because of all the turmoil at the Garden. Isiah Thomas has suddenly clammed up about the Kobe situation, but you can bet he’s working it hard behind the scenes.

I thought it would be interesting to get your thoughts on Kobe deciding that the Knicks are too much if a circus to be bothered with waiving his no-trade clause for a trade to New York.

This is extraordinary: The best player in the NBA takes a look at the landscape at the Garden and says, "No, thanks. Too crazy for me."

This is the word coming out of the Kobe camp, as I wrote in today's paper. It won't be stunning if the Knicks aren't able to trade for Kobe. It was always a longshot from the beginning. But the fact that he is ready to thumb his nose at what used to be the most honored stage in basketball is, quite honestly, sickening.

It should sicken every Knick fan out there and make you reevaluate the direction of your franchise.

As has been the case since Bryant first requested a trade back in May, he holds all the power. He has a no-trade clause (the only player in the NBA with one) and an opt-out clause after the 2008-09 season. After Lakers owner Jerry Buss made it clear he's ready to say good-bye in an interview this week, it appears more likely than ever that Kobe will be traded.

The Bulls and Mavericks are the new 1 and 1a in the Kobe sweepstakes. The Knicks are not on the list, in part because Bryant believes there wouldn't be enough talent left after the trade. Mostly, though, the message that Kobe is sending out through intermediaries is that he believes the situation at the Garden is too chaotic.

The Knicks' only chance to get into the Kobe mix is for Isiah to turn on the charm and change his mind. Nobody is better equipped than Isiah to pull that off, but it certainly appears that the odds are stacked firmly against him.

Be back later with some practice notes ...

Jerry Buss has given new life to the Kobe Bryant sweepstakes.

In an interview with Lakers beat writers Wednesday at training camp in Honolulu, Buss acknowledged for the first time that he tried to grant Kobe’s wish by trading him this summer. Far more interesting was the fact that Buss left the door wide open to considering more offers for his superstar if Kobe continues to threaten to opt out of his contract after the 2008-09 season.

“If he’s still in that frame of mind, then hopefully we can do the sign-and-trade and get some comparable value,” Buss said.

You can go through the articles from the various L.A. papers here and draw your own conclusions:

L.A. Times

Press-Enterprise

Orange County Register

You should also pay attention to what Ric Bucher of ESPN The Magazine has to say about this, because Bucher has a pipeline directly to Kobe.

Like me, Bucher is skeptical about how serious the Lakers really were about trading Bryant because he believes G.M. Mitch Kupchak was telling teams he wasn’t listening to offers for Kobe this summer.

This fits with what I know to be true about the Knicks’ involvement in the whole scenario. The Knicks were one of three teams Kobe is believed to have agreed to waive his no-trade clause for, and yet discussions between Kupchak and Isiah Thomas never got to the point of specific trade proposals being exchanged. That doesn’t sound like a team that was serious about trading Kobe.

What does it all mean? If the clock on Kobe’s time in a Laker uniform didn’t begin ticking May 30 when he first asked to be traded, then it’s certainly begun ticking now.

A few thoughts rattling around the basketball brain of yours truly:

I’m shocked this Isiah case is going to trial. If the Garden can pay Jerome James $6 million a year, why not make the same offer to Anucha Browne Sanders?

Sorry to hear about Shaq’s divorce. Must be Kobe’s fault.

Allan Houston is now “90 to 95 percent sure” he will return to the NBA this season. His agent, Bill Strickland, says Houston will hold a private workout for “several” teams on Tuesday. Will let you know if the Knicks are one of those teams, but I seriously doubt it.

Speaking of Kobe, it’s crazy how he’s being received like royalty on his Nike tour of Asia. If he thinks he’s huge in Manila, he should see what would happen in Manhattan if he ever wound up wearing a Knicks jersey.

I always read Mark Cuban’s blog. No. 1, the guy is entertaining. No. 2, he’s made a gazillion dollars with his innovations in online video and has some interesting ideas about how to use the Internet wisely and profitably – ideas the newspaper industry should listen to.

No. 3, he went to Indiana, and so did I. He made a joke the last time he was in the Garden, saying that when Isiah was there he (Cuban) was “just a freshman alcoholic.” That must’ve been true, because Cuban actually had his dates mixed up. I think he was a senior when Isiah was a freshman. Anyway, I didn’t know Cuban and I had the same major.

But I digress.

Check out www.blogmaverick.com, which is always worth reading – especially lately. Cuban is in a bit of a tinkling match with one of the producers for Bill O’Reilly’s show on Fox News. Funny stuff.

Speaking of Kobe, I guess the fawning “journalists” at his news conference in the Philippines Wednesday were too busy making goo-goo eyes to ask him if he still wants the Lakers to trade him. Or if he plans to show up at training camp in a few weeks.

Seriously, if the Knicks won’t use their mid-level exception on Anucha Browne Sanders, don’t you wish they’d give it to Charles Oakley? Just, like, for the heck of it?

I'm printing out and saving Peaceman's bold predictions for when, to whom, and for what Kobe eventually will be traded. He was so precise and sure of himself, I'm wondering if he got tipped off by Tim Donaghy.

Some of you have suggested in your comments that the Knicks should be shopping Nate Robinson hard. I agree, and I think that’s what this whole N8 transformation angle has really been about this summer. Be patient. Isiah is sitting on some very tradeable assets and will be ready to pounce if and when Kobe or Artest officially become available.

Unless, of course, he’s on the witness stand that day.

I’m back after some time off and pleased to see some activity and good discussion going on here in my absence. So rather than waste your time with pleasantries, let’s get right to it with some thoughts on the comments you posted.

I agree with David that there’s no rush for anyone to do anything with Artest at least until training camps open next month. Even then, Artest’s value won’t be as high as it will be at the trade deadline. But I think he’s overstating his opinion that Kobe “’simply won’t be traded.” I think it’s better than 60-40 that he won’t – maybe even 70-30. But don’t forget that Kobe holds all the cards. He could really throw the Lakers into chaos if he balks at showing up for camp in a few weeks. If he plays that card, all bets are off, and the Knicks are at least as well positioned as the Bulls are to make something happen. As Alan Hahn noted, Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune correctly pointed out that the Knicks will be major players in the Kobe situation as long as there is a Kobe situation.

As for the notion that acquiring Artest would overload the Knicks at a position where they are already “loaded,” I disagree. I tend to agree with Zdiddy, who points out that Artest is by far a better defensive 3 than anyone the Knicks currently have. And with Curry and Randolph not playing much D, they would be helped immensely by Artest’s defensive presence. He can defend the bigger 3s and some 4s in the post and also defend the perimeter. If you look at who the Knicks have to contend with in the East – LeBron, Pierce and KG, Carter, to name a few – Artest would draw the toughest assignment every night and hold his own.

Handcheck points out that there’s no reason the Kings can’t compete with Artest, Kevin Martin, Bibby, etc. I still think they’re trying to move Bibby, and if they do, you know Artest won’t be happy – unless he’s included in the deal. If Sac stays intact, where they stand in February will tell you everything you need to know about whether they are going to trade Ron. The most interesting thing he’s said to me this summer is that the only thing that really makes him angry is playing for a team that doesn’t believe it’s a championship contender. The Kings, as currently constructed, surely are not championship caliber. If they really struggle out of the gate, Artest will force his way out of there at the deadline – if it doesn’t happen sooner.

Since Kobe and Artest are dominating the discussion here, we should start a little contest. Give me the date you think either one will be traded, and to whom. Whoever is closest will receive the undying respect of everyone else on the blog.

While we’re at it, I’m also curious to get your thoughts on Team USA’s dominant performance in Las Vegas. There is no question they will be one of the two or three most intriguing stories next summer at the Beijing Olympics, where they will be heavily favored to bring home the gold. Tell me how you think this team compares to the ’92 Dream Team. You can take into account any categories you like, but I would propose experience, athleticism, and team chemistry as a starting point for any comparisons.

Keep up the good work. Only 28 days until the Knicks’ first practice in Charleston. I’ll leave you with one last question: Aside from the spare parts (Dickau and Jones), what player currently on the roster is least likely to be dribbling a ball in the College of Charleston gym on Oct. 2?

When the question is asked by a different reporter each day, the NBA gives a slightly different answer. But the crux of it is no different: With some sort of qualifier, such as “it is our current understanding,” or “it remains our understanding,” the league keeps saying that Tim Donaghy was the only referee betting on NBA games.

When ESPN Radio reported last Friday that Donaghy was set to name about 20 additional referees with gambling habits, the league said it had “no additional information” and declined to comment. It offered the same response to me when I pressed for a better answer on Saturday.

Then on Monday night, after other reporters around the country followed up again, NBA spokesman Tim Frank gave the following statement:

“There have been allegations that other referees violated NBA rules prohibiting casino gaming and the like, but it remains our understanding that Tim Donaghy is the only referee who bet on NBA games.”

This statement provided tacit acknowledgement of Donaghy’s allegations that some other refs may have gambled in casinos, which is against NBA rules. In the interest of full disclosure, I wrote in Sunday’s paper that casino gambling is prohibited for all NBA employees. That’s not true; the rule applies only to refs.

In any event, the basic facts as we know them haven’t changed. I am going to sound like an NBA spokesman, but as far as we know at this moment, Donaghy acted alone in this betting scandal and there were no other refs involved in anything similar. As Donaghy spills the beans over the next 2 1-2 months before his Nov. 9 sentencing, looking to buy himself less time in the hoosegow, time will tell if Commissioner David Stern was right about Donaghy being a “rogue, isolated criminal.”

As you might imagine, there is other NBA news besides Donaghy. Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com has been following Kobe Bryant around Las Vegas for a week or so, and he got some alone time with the disgruntled Lakes star on Monday as he walked toward the team bus after a Team USA practice. Sheridan is the master of asking the blunt, to-the-point question, a knack guys like Kobe appreciate.

Sheridan’s question: “Do you still want the Lakers to trade you?”

Kobe’s answer: “I’m not going to answer that question. The Lakers know exactly where I stand, and they’ve known exactly where I stand since the beginning of the summer.”

My interpretation: Kobe still wants to be traded, and he will play the ultimate trump card when he fails to show up at training camp in the first week of October.

Reading Kobe throughout this process has been harder than reading Tolstoy. He has dropped hints, reversed field, reversed back, leaving everyone guessing about his intentions and how this situation will play out.

A previous interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols was a perfect illustration, as outlined in Sheridan’s Kobe story.

Nichols: “You said one day you wanted to be traded, you said you wanted to be a ‘Laker for life.’ There were different phone calls back and forth.”

Bryant: “I think a lot of people misinterpreted it. But that’s water under the bridge to me, because going forward, we’re handling our situation between ourselves, meaning the Lakers organization and myself. If things, if things were to be different, we both would have handled the situation a little differently.”

What did Kobe mean by “water under the bridge?” I think he was referring to his emotional reaction, meaning that he regrets making his beef so public and nasty but doesn’t regret asking to be traded in the first place. Again, as far as we know, the official trade request given to Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak by agent Rob Pelinka back in May has yet to be retracted.

So there you have it: Something other than Tim Donaghy news will play out in a significant way between now and the start of the 2007-08 season. Which story is more interesting to you?

One last nod to starburyfan, who writes that I deserve credit if the Knicks trade for Ron Artest because I was pushing that story first this summer. ‘Preciate ya for noticing, starburyfan. I’ll give you a line that Herman Edwards used all the time when I covered the Jets: “If you want credit, go to the bank.” But I’ll take credit any way I can get it. Keep the comments coming.

It’s time for Kobe Bryant to come out and state publicly where he stands now that the Lakers are doing everything in their power to appease him by attempting to acquire Kevin Garnett.

Kobe had a lot to say a few weeks ago, to just about every media outlet known to mankind. Where is he now?

Where are the sound bytes? The proclamations? The contradictions? The Kobe-isms?

It’s been almost a month since Bryant sent shockwaves through the NBA by stating unequivocally that he wants the Lakers to surround him with All-Star talent or trade him.

You know the rest: Some comments he made about feeling better after speaking with coach Phil Jackson were misinterpreted by all but about two or three NBA media. Kobe didn’t back down that day, and he still hasn’t.

When trade talks that would send Garnett to the Lakers became public Monday, the first thing I thought was: What is Kobe going to think? Would this be enough to get him to state publicly that he wants to stay in L.A.?

So far no word from Kobe. It should be coming soon, as he will be making a public appearance this week at a basketball camp he is holding in Santa Monica, Calif. Promises to be a media frenzy that’ll make Paris Hilton jealous.

But while Kobe hasn’t spoken on the airwaves or anywhere else for attribution, he evidently has sent a smoke signal out through ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher, one of the only media types in the country in whom Kobe confides. My antennae went up Monday night when I heard Bucher on TV saying that to the best of his understanding, the Garnett situation in fact HAS NOT changed Kobe’s mind. He still wants out of L.A., Bucher said.

Hardly anyone has picked up on this, but the words should be taken as straight from Kobe’s mouth as far as I’m concerned. But that’s not good enough. If Kobe has an opinion one way or another about the Garnett deal, he needs to come out and say it. The Lakers and all the people he led on his magical mystery tour a few weeks ago need to know what he thinks now.

A few more thoughts on the Garnett trade talks:

1) Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom, and Kwame Brown are not enough for Garnett straight up. Minnesota should be looking for more.
2) That’s where a multi-team deal would come into play. The Celtics make the most sense, since they have the No. 5 pick. But various reports had Boston pulling out of a potential four-team swap also involving the Pacers because the Celtics weren’t pleased with what they’d get out of it. If they’re sending the No. 5 pick and Al Jefferson to the T-Wolves, the Celtics should get more than Jermaine O’Neal in return.
3) If a third or even fourth team is going to be needed to send Garnett to the Lakers, Jerry Buss and Glen Taylor will find that team. The involvement of the owners proves how serious both team are about appeasing their disgruntled superstars.

In the words of the late, great Kurt Vonnegut, the excrement hit the air conditioning today when an already intriguing NBA offseason got infinitely more intriguing.

The L.A. Times reported on its Web site that the Timberwolves and Lakers are discussing a blockbuster trade that would make Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant teammates in Los Angeles, sending shockwaves throughout the league.

Such a deal would be stunning enough if it only affected one superstar, Garnett. But if the Lakers and T-Wolves can pull this off, it would satisfy two of the league’s biggest stars and unite them on a team that would have to consider itself a power worthy of challenging the Spurs, Suns, and Mavericks for Western Conference – and thus, NBA – supremacy.

According to the Times, the discussions were brokered by Lakers owner Jerry Buss and T-Wolves owner Glen Taylor, who spoke for 20 minutes by phone on Friday. Initially, a four-team deal was discussed with the Pacers sending Jermaine O’Neal to Boston and the Celtics presumably sending their No. 5 pick in Thursday’s draft to Minnesota.

Now, two things need to be determined. First, would the Lakers acquiring Garnett be enough for Bryant to back down from his request to be traded? And second, would Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom, and Kwame Brown be enough for persuade Minnesota G.M. Kevin McHale to part with Garnett?

What McHale really wants for Garnett is a high draft pick, and the Celtics hold that card with the fifth pick.

Hands down, this will be the most interesting storyline in the run-up to the draft Thursday, but several other deals have a chance to be consummated.

Will the Suns send Shawn Marion to Boston even though he doesn’t want to play there? Will the Hawks make another bonehead pick with the No. 3 selection, or will they trade it? What will the 76ers do with their three first-round picks? If the Pacers can’t revive their involvement in the Garnett-to-L.A. scenario, will they find another suitor for O’Neal?

Where are the Knicks in all of this? On the sideline. The desire is there, but now that the heavy hitters have jumped into the ring, it appears that Isiah Thomas doesn’t have the assets to make a serious play for any of the top-tier talents who could be changing teams. Unless you consider Seattle’s Rashard Lewis a top-tier talent. Thomas does.

Big Chief Triangle sent out a puff of smoke Monday from his bunker, where he is recovering from hip replacement surgery.

“He’s made a decision that he feels justified to hold — one that I’ve questioned — that he has reasons to leave the Lakers,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson wrote in an email to the Los Angeles Times. Obviously, he was referring to Kobe Bryant.

“However, it’s my unshakeable feeling that Kobe will be a Laker next October … when training camp opens.”

That is quite a prediction. I have another one: If Kobe is, in fact, traded, then the Zen Master will not return for the third and final season of his three-year, $30 million contract to coach what the Lakers get back for Bryant.

Even as things stand now, with Kobe on the team, Jackson is on record as having doubts about whether it makes sense for him to coach the team next year. In an April interview, Jackson said: “Personally, as an owner, does [Jerry Buss] really want to spend the kind of money he’s spending on me to have a .500 team?”

Anyway, the Kobe stuff should calm down for a day or two, at least until Kobe returns from Spain or the video showing him viciously berating the Lakers is released.

I know some people think my theory about the Knicks having a shot at Kobe is farfetched. I’m telling you, it’s not as farfetched as you think.
Consider this: The Lakers will have a choice of going three different directions if they become convinced there is no way out of this other than to trade Kobe.

1) Try to get a somewhat comparable superstar who can get people excited enough to pass through the turnstiles at Staples Center. The only name in that realm among the teams Kobe wants to play for is Shawn Marion, and the Lakers are not trading Kobe to a Western Conference team.

2) Get a large enough collection of young players and draft picks so the team would remain a borderline playoff team – as they’ve been the past two years with Bryant. The Lakers could play the, “See, we have the same record we had with Kobe” card, and sell the fans on players who like each other, pass to each other, and aren’t selfish.

3) Gut the thing and start over by bringing on as much expiring money as possible.

No. 1 isn’t happening, at least not with a team out West. As far as Eastern superstars, Paul Pierce isn’t going to cut it, either. Gilbert Arenas? Maybe, but the Wizards would need a third team to facilitate.

Of the teams with a realistic shot of getting Bryant to waive his no-trade, only the Knicks have the ability to satisfy either of the other two options. That’s the benefit of having a $130 million payroll.

If the Lakers want to pursue the second avenue, the Knicks have the bodies available with the salaries to match.

If the Lakers want to blow it up, take their lumps for two years, and reload through free agency in 2009, the Knicks could help them do that, too. The Lakers, in fact, would have their choice of obscene contracts that expire after the 2008-09 season. Want a $22 million deal expiring in 2009? Here’s Stephon Marbury. Rather go the $17 million route? Steve Francis, come on down!

Every other team the Knicks would be competing against could only satisfy one of the three options at the Lakers’ disposal. Just something else to think about.

Well, gotta go for now. I’m going to lunch with the fellas, after which I plan to let them videotape me cussing out my bosses with a cell phone camera. Bidding for the clip will start at $1.99.

I was happy to see my Sunday column on Kobe Bryant generated so many intelligent comments from readers.

So many of you took the time to post comments on the article that I thought it was only fair to respond.

I appreciate Danny's assertion -- "Ken Berger, you are an idiot" -- and the assessment of Andi from Los Angeles that I need therapy, but was especially intrigued that the article prompted someone as far away as London to offer his two cents. Thanks for reading, Uzair.

Though some used more colorful language than others, you all essentially made the same point: That I failed to point out that Jordan -- unlike Kobe -- did not have to face zone defenses. Very fair point, and something I should have included in my analysis.

But rather than further aggravate you with my own analysis, I posed the Kobe-Jordan question to David Thorpe of Scouts Inc. today when I was speaking with him for a different upcoming column. Here is what he said when I asked him to evaluate Jordan's and Kobe's 50-point streaks in light of the two rules changes that have taken effect in the past few years:

"Here is how you do it," Thorpe said. "Jordan’s the only guy of his generation to do what he did. With the new rules, against zone defenses and quicker whistles, no one else has done it. In fact, no one’s come close to doing it.
In the last two years with the new rules interpretations and zone defenses being allowed, who else has even done two in a row?"

I took Thorpe's advice and called Elias, which reported that since zone defenses were allowed in the NBA starting with the 2001-02 season, there had been only one other instance of consecutive 50-point games before Bryant's four in a row. Allen Iverson had two in a row in 2004.

This period includes the rules interpretation I emphasized in the column, no hand-checking or impeding on the perimeter, which began last season.

"Because of rule differences, it really becomes apples and oranges," Thorpe said. "You could argue that it was tougher for Jordan. I probably would agree with that. But I'm not sure that it’s relevant. What’s relevant is, in the last three years, no one’s done back to back 50s and he did four of them. So in its own time, it is the best there is."

So there you have it. Thanks for all your comments, and hopefully that clears things up.

This entry was updated at 11:53 p.m. after an interview with Miami Heat coach Pat Riley.

Any time Shaquille O’Neal shows up in the locker room, he’s always worth a listen. Tonight, he stopped by the visiting room at Continental Airlines Arena before the Heat played the Nets and weighed in on the Kobe Bryant situation.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson got fined $50,000 for defending Bryant and saying the league was on a “witch hunt” against him. Bryant has received two one-game suspensions for striking players in the face this season, serving one of them in the Lakers’ only trip to Madison Square Garden to face the Knicks. This week, Bryant was retroactively assessed a flagrant foul for elbowing Philadelphia’s Kyle Korver – a play that wasn’t even called a foul in the game.

O’Neal, whose feud with Kobe when they were teammates in Los Angeles has been well documented, was asked if Bryant has an image problem.

“Image is reality, not what others create for you,” Shaq said. “You are what you are.”

Then Shaq broke into some Eminem lyrics, saying, “And I am whatever you say I am. And if I wasn’t, then why would I say I am?”

Heat coach Pat Riley has a $50,000 fine on his resume from 2004, although he remembered it being more.

“Did I?” Riley said. “Fifty or seventy-five. I think I got mine back. I called David [Stern] and said the money goes to charity, so he sent it to a charity of mine. I don’t know, to be honest with you, what’s going on with Kobe. He’s just protecting his player.

“Plus, you know, [Jackson] makes $10 million, so...”

Another interesting exchange occurred when O’Neal was asked about Courtney Paris, the center on the Oklahoma women’s team who has said she wants to emulate him.

“Hopefully she’ll be allowed to do it, because they’re trying to ban what I used to do and what I do,” O’Neal said. “So I wish her well.”

And really, no one can emulate Shaq.

“I’m unemulatable,” Shaq said. “I took the files and deleted them, ate them, used them in the bathroom, flushed it, it went to a sewage plant and blew a sewage plant up. So there’s no way my style can be copied. It’s gone, forever.”

Here’s where you can go for a link to more Kobe stuff, some observations from basket-blogger extraordinaire Henry Abbott on the epic Suns-Mavericks game last night, and some highlight clips that seem to prove Magic Johnson couldn’t go to his left.

See you tomorrow night from the Garden, where we will find out if the Knicks beating the Hornets will be enough for Isiah Thomas to get another contract extension.

By Ken Berger

With the news that you won't see Kobe Bryant at the Garden tonight because he's been suspended for one game for clubbing Manu Ginobili in the head -- unintentionally, Bryant says -- this seems like as good a time as any to start Newsday’s NBA blog.

I won’t waste your time with pleasantries or introductions; I’ll get right to the news, because one of my goals for this blog is to bring you news and reaction from around the NBA during the many hours of the day when Newsday’s presses aren’t churning. So here we go:

Kobe got off the plane last night in Newark and the team had a message that NBA security needed to speak with him. For those who didn’t see it, Bryant hit Ginobili in the face with his shooting hand while following through on a missed jumper with 2.7 seconds left in regulation of L.A.’s 96-94 overtime loss to the Spurs on Sunday at the Staples Center.

I saw the play, and I’ve never seen a player go quite as out of his way as Kobe did on that follow-through in an attempt to draw contact. Ginobili was really shaken up, missed the beginning of overtime with a bloody nose, and frankly I was surprised that more of a big deal wasn’t made of Kobe’s errant follow-through. I’m not saying he deliberately tried to hurt him, but let’s just say you would’ve thought Kobe believed it was cheap-shot artist Bruce Bowen coming at him from his blind side rather than Ginobili.

Anyway, here is some of what Kobe said at the Lakers’ shootaround today at the Garden:

“I’m extremely disappointed. I’ve been waiting to play here. This has always been a fun place for me to play, and I’m surprised and shocked by it, actually. I don’t know what to say.

“I unintentionally caught Manu Ginobili. What do you say? It’s a basketball game. You unintentionally catch people with elbows every once in a while. After the play, I just felt terrible about it. I went over to him, checked with him to make sure he’s OK. When we started overtime, I saw he wasn’t out on the floor. I went over to Tim [Duncan] and asked Tim, ‘Is Manu OK?’ I looked over at the bench, checked with him to make sure he was all right. He came back in the game, and I said, ‘I’m glad to see you’re doing all right. Is everything OK?’ I checked with him three times. It was unintentional, man. I felt horrible about it.

“I haven’t see a precedent for this. There are unintentional elbows that take place during the game all the time. I’m blown away by it, man. I really am. This makes no sense.”

Lakers coach Phil Jackson hinted that perhaps the Spurs had drawn the league’s attention to the play, because that is what teams do after reviewing the film and seeing something potentially punishable. But why would Gregg Popovich, one of former Knicks coach Larry Brown’s best friends, want to cut Isiah Thomas any slack by getting Kobe suspended for the Knicks game?

“Nothing shocks me anymore with the NBA,” Jackson said. “We’re amazed. … Clearly when a guy is going up for a shot and he’s being contested, you want to draw contact. That’s part of the game you play. And we see that every day with Gilbert Arenas and all our great guards that go to the basket. When their shots are getting contested, they’re trying to get contact to make the foul, especially in the game with a shot like that.”

Jackson also referenced the Knicks-Nuggets brawl of Dec. 16 as a possible explanation for the heightened attention on what was mostly an innocuous play, and also took some shots at league disciplinarian Stu Jackson.

“That’s somebody making a judgment out there that doesn’t really know basketball or know how the game’s played – just how it looks,” Jackson said. “I think that’s the problem.”

So the Lakers’ one appearance of the season at the Garden will be without Kobe, and most fans certainly would agree with Jackson’s next point.

“To miss this game cheats the fans,” he said.

Hopefully, I can inform you a lot, entertain you a little, and give you a place to post your own opinions. Occasionally, I hope to hit you over the head with news or observations even harder than Bryant hit Ginobili.