Surrounded by Talent, Kobe Regains Passion

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">LAS VEGASHere's how Phil Jackson put it recently when taking Kobe Bryant's explosive offseason and trying to put the blasted pieces together for a coherent picture: "He has already been to the mountaintop. Anything besides that makes it very difficult. I know that frustration."

The one thing laid-back Jackson long has been working with Bryant on is teaching him to loosen the white-knuckle grip on everything that is a control freak's reflex. Bryant's recent outbursts against the Lakers reflected his inability to deal with failures that were somewhat out of his control.

"Just had to put it aside, not think about it," Bryant said Saturday. "I just wanted to move forward, not be distracted by it."

That had been Bryant's initial plan after huddling with Jackson two days after the Lakers' season ended. Bryant said then he would not fret about the Lakers' need to make roster upgrades as the summer played out, mentioning the USA Basketball opportunities that awaited him. He failed spectacularly trying to let go of that Lakers-related frustration, but now that he is at the U.S. team's mini-camp this weekend, he is breezily succeeding.

"I'm in a better place ? I'm here," he said.

Bryant used the word "happy" to describe himself. He mentioned getting to know Dwyane Wade, with whom Bryant worked in a serious post-practice shooting drill Saturday to get used to particular spots on the differently measured international court. Meanwhile, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and Deron Williams jacked up NBA-length three-pointers at the other end of the court.

Bryant is clearly viewing this as carrying a flag toward an even higher mountaintop: securing an Olympic berth for Team USA at the Aug. 22-Sept. 2 FIBA Americas Championship, then getting gold in China next summer after U.S. teams failed in 2000 (when Bryant's ankle injury from the NBA Finals prevented his participation) and in 2004 (when he was facing a sexual-assault charge).

Bryant wrote a first-person perspective for Newsweek after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and wore a "God Bless America" band over his right wrist for every game of the 2001-02 season. He sees this summer and next summer as continuations of that.

"There's no bigger significance than representing your country," Bryant said. "It's something I've been looking forward to for a while, especially with the state of the world we're in right now and the battle we're in.

"It adds more significance to it than ever. This is kind of the small part we can play in representing our country and representing it the right way. I'm really, really excited about this. I can't stress that enough."</div>

Source: OC Register