Kobe's absence could be a good thing

The idea of Kobe Bryant playing for the Los Angeles Lakers this season is getting dumber by the minute.

He's coming to training camp, then he's not, then he is, showing up for Saturday's practice after missing the first full-squad drills. His teammates want him, but only if he's committed to them. Some days he'll be on court, some days in court.

After working out lightly with the Lakers, Bryant spoke publicly for the first time since July 18 when he was charged with sexual assault in Eagle, Colo. Saying life has been an emotional roller coaster for him the last few months, and that the stress has kept him from training, he added that he's "terrified" about what lies ahead for him and his family.

Basketball has become secondary to him, he said, and he thought seriously about not playing this season.

"I feel more comfortable at home," he said. "But I have a job to do and I love to play basketball, so I came out here and I'll give it my best effort. My wife kind of encouraged me to go back out and play."

Asked if he's scared, Bryant replied: "Terrified. Not so much for myself but just for what my family's going through. They had nothing to do with this. But just because their names have been dragged in the mud, I'm scared for them."

No one can blame Bryant for wanting to play. This is still America and he's innocent until proven guilty. Basketball fans, especially Lakers fans, understandably would love to see him in uniform alongside Shaquille O'Neal and newcomers Karl Malone and Gary Payton.

But the question is whether Bryant is making the best decision for his team and himself, and whether they can all cope with him coming and going and brooding over his legal troubles.

"Let me explain something," he said. "My wife and I and our families, we're living through this. Every day we live through this. (My teammates) are watching me live through this while playing a game. What's hard about that?"

Plenty, in a team sport that depends on cohesion and continuity through a long season.

Meowing like a giant kitten, O'Neal set the tone for the Lakers' response to questions about Bryant.

"Meow," O'Neal purred whenever Bryant's name came up.

O'Neal created the acronym "CAT" -- "Can't Answer That" -- to toss out every time someone raised the issue of Bryant and the charges against him. O'Neal said "CAT" a lot, then settled on "meow" as a cuter response.

"Meow, meow, meow," he said.

Trouble is, there's nothing cute about Bryant's case, and there's no easy way for the Lakers or the NBA to pussyfoot around it. This case will weigh heavily on Bryant, his teammates and the league until it is resolved.

Some Lakers already are hinting they would be better off without Bryant, unless he's able to devote his mind and time fully to the team. That feeling will deepen once the season begins.

At the team's first full-squad practice Friday, O'Neal was asked how it felt not to have the full team here.

"The full team is here," he said.

Or as coach Phil Jackson put it: "All these people want to be here."

For the good of the Lakers, and maybe for his own good, Bryant would be better off staying away until his case in Colorado is settled. A player facing the possibility of a trial and a long jail term -- not to mention the grief he will invite from hecklers on every road trip -- isn't the most positive force on a team trying to win a championship.

Bryant upset the Lakers' management by missing the team flight and Friday's practice without even calling personally. His people told their people he was "under the weather."

He flew in late Friday night for Saturday's workout, knowing he will have to leave again in a few days for an Oct. 9 bond hearing and possible preliminary hearing in Colorado -- the same day the Lakers play their first preseason game in Hawaii against the Golden State Warriors.

If his case moves to a trial during the season, Bryant would miss many more games. If he is found guilty, his career could be over and he could spend years in jail.

In a very real sense, his ordeal becomes his team's ordeal.

Jackson already looks like a wreck, limping around on bum knees and hips, his stiff back tilted forward, his face drawn. He seems as if he's aged several years in the last few months as the strain of the Bryant case overtook the excitement of adding Malone and Payton to the lineup.

Everything could go right, and these Lakers could win another title. Everything could go wrong, and they could fall apart and watch Bryant go down hard.

"We just have to be real fluid, not get rigid, anticipate anything or get our hopes up, one way or another," Jackson said.

In a perverse way, Jackson thought, Bryant's problems could help this team gel more quickly.

"It could have the tendency to make the unit a bit tighter simply because they close ranks," he said.

Bryant's early absence gave the Lakers a sense of what it will be like without him at times this year.

"Things are going to be unraveling, moment to moment," Rick Fox said.

Bryant can make it easier on everyone simply by staying away and trying to clear his name. Until then, he's only hurting his teammates and himself by trying to be a part-time player.

Steve Wilstein is a sports columnist for The Associated Press.