Team Wants to See Kobe Get in Games

INDIANAPOLIS —  Assuming Kobe Bryant’s left ankle is sound enough by the USA Olympic basketball camp in late August, Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak said the franchise would love to see Bryant, passed over in the initial selections, added to the Olympic team.

Bryant declined feelers when a previous opening came up, but has not completely closed the door to recent speculation that he could replace the injured Grant Hill, who withdrew from the team Thursday.

“I played in the ’76 Olympics and Jerry [West] played in the ’60 Olympics,” Kupchak said Thursday. “Personally, I don’t know why anybody would turn down that opportunity to do it. . . .

“Our No. 1 concern is that he takes some time off and gets that ankle healed. I actually spoke to our team doctor this morning--he does need to get rest.

“The Olympic issue won’t come up until the end of August, as far as participation, although the decision to bring him aboard may be earlier.

“But I don’t know why, if he’s healthy, he wouldn’t love to play in something like that, and as an organization . . . as many of our players play in the Olympics, we’d be happy for them and we’d be proud to have them on our team.”

On Thursday, after his 47-minute performance in Game 4, Bryant said his ankle felt fine.

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There’s a strong chance owner Jerry Buss will be in attendance tonight, but will West attend his first road playoff game of the season, with a championship within reach?

“No way,” Kupchak said with a smile. “There’s an excellent chance he won’t even watch it [on television].”

West’s wife, Karen, and son, Jonathan, have been in town for the Indianapolis games, but West, as usual, has remained in L.A., and refuses to even watch the games.

“I could see why he feels the way he feels. Because it is torturous to sit and watch,” Kupchak said. “But you kind of have to.

“That’s how he chooses to endure the torture of being in this business. Some of us would prefer to watch it happen and some of us would prefer not to watch it. And Jerry half the time prefers not to watch it.”

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There is no hiding the Laker anticipation.

“It’s like window shopping,” Glen Rice said. “Once you get the money, you go in there and buy the ring. Tomorrow night we try to get the money.”

Coincidentally, Rice has a tattoo on his right arm that reads: “G-MONEY”

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In the wake of one of the great championship-round games in memory, it was tough not to notice the similarities between what happened Wednesday at Conseco Fieldhouse and what happened June 9, 1987, at Boston Garden.

Both involved the Lakers in the finals, both were in a Game 4, both gave them a 3-1 lead on the road, and both involved Larry Bird, then as a Celtic and now as the Pacer coach. In fact, it was Bird’s closing-seconds missed three-pointer that allowed the Lakers to claim a 107-106 victory, just as Reggie Miller’s three-pointer bounced off the rim as time expired.

“And Magic [Johnson] hit his baby hook shot and it gave us the victory,” said A.C. Green, who played in both games. “ . . . That’s probably the only thing I think is close to a phenomenal kind of finals game.”

Will the connection continue? In 1987, the Lakers lost Game 5 on the road before winning in Los Angeles on the next try. A victory tonight by the Pacers could set up the same scenario.

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Turns out that Derek Fisher was the designated Travis Best stopper, after all. That was Shaquille O’Neal out on Best on the perimeter in the closing seconds of regulation Wednesday, a matchup created by a switch off a pick and roll. Best missed the shot over O’Neal with about three seconds left.

“I’m a little man trapped in a big man’s body,” O’Neal said. “All big guys want to be little guards. Travis is a great one-on-one player. I just tried to stay in front of him.”