Bryant Back With Time to Spare

The dome light glowed in the sport utility vehicle beneath Staples Center early Thursday evening, and the journey had ended again, Kobe Bryant back in Los Angeles in time for basketball.

He stepped from the truck a few minutes before 5 p.m., more than 75 minutes from the opening tip.

Bryant was released from his pretrial hearing and left the Eagle, Colo., courthouse at about 3:15 p.m. Mountain time. There appeared to be no delays, and about 2 1/2 hours later he was on a cart with two security guards and his agent, being whisked to the Laker locker room, which he entered in his suit, tie pulled away from his neck, whistling.

On days like Thursday, the Lakers keep an eye on the clock and an eye on the door.

“We realize the whole troop’s not here,” Karl Malone said. “We look at the clock. As it gets closer to game time, we do.”

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Bryant’s next court date is scheduled for June 21. The last possible date for Game 7 of the NBA Finals is June 20.

Assuming Judge Terry Ruckriegle does not add a hearing, Bryant’s court-basketball conflicts appear to be over for the season, he and the Lakers having gotten through five.

“We’re glad for that part,” Phil Jackson said. “But we remember that it’s not over for Kobe.”

Despite their growing relationship, Malone said he has never asked Bryant about the night in question.

“Not one of us has asked him what happened,” he said. “Not one of us ever will.... It’s only our business if he wants it to be. If it’s not, it’s not.”

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Kareem Rush would replace Bryant in the starting lineup, so he roots for Bryant to return in time and for his chance to play, at once.

“I always figure he’s going to make it back somehow,” Rush said. “Either way, he’s going to be here eventually.

“Devean [George] is always messing with me. When [Bryant] walks through the door he goes ... “ Rush made a motion like a broom with his hand, “scoot down the bench.”

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Rush was to have a jagged edge on a molar filed down after the game. He chipped the tooth when Latrell Sprewell crashed into him in Game 3.... If the Lakers were to reach the Finals, they would have home-court advantage against the Detroit Pistons, but not against the Indiana Pacers, based on regular-season records.