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Disgruntled Kobe skips practice, but stays ready to play

Kobe Bryant has skipped practice the past three days and is so unhappy with the Los Angeles Lakers that he has removed some items from his locker but says he is ready to keep playing for the team.

"If I'm here, I'm ready to strap it up," Bryant said. "My job is to play the game and get ready to play the game and that's what I'm doing."

But that came after three days of missed workouts since Saturday in the wake of Lakers owner Jerry Buss' comments last week that he would look at trading superstar guard Bryant.

"It's my job to play basketball. It's not my job to worry about what management is doing and this, that and the other," Bryant said. "I'm just going to get ready and let them do their job."

Bryant has had discomfort in his right knee during training camp but Lakers coach Phil Jackson indicated physical ailments were not at the heart of Bryant sitting out.

"He asked me about resting his legs but I think he's feeling all right," said Jackson, a nine-time NBA champion coach. "He sat it out by mutual agreement. I think that's about all I'll say."

Jackson did say that Bryant had removed items from his locker, a possible hint that his days as a Laker are numbered.

"There are things that are out of the locker. I will say that," Jackson said. "We can't project anything right now. There's a certain progression of things that we have to go through. We have to see how the feelings are in the situation and see if there can't be some remedy to it."

Bryant had said he did not want his future to become a distraction for the team with a new season starting in two weeks.

"To kind of have this go on now, it's a bit of a distraction," Bryant said. "We just wanted to keep things quiet, go about our business. It kind of caught me off guard a little bit. We've just got to get back to basics and just get ready and go from there."

National Basketball Association (NBA) star LeBron James is aiming for not one but two crowns next year.

The All-Star forward has his sights set on the NBA championship after guiding Cleveland to the Eastern Conference title last season before being swept by San Antonio in the NBA Finals, as well as Olympic gold.

"I am always a leader on the Cavs," the 22-year-old said.

"I will grow and become a better leader and lead our team. As an individual, as a basketball player, I want to keep on improving every summer. I want my team to go further in the playoffs, and that means winning the championship," he said.

James, who has sparked a frenzy of NBA fever here, added that Olympic gold was another key goal.

"The goal is clear for everybody on the team -- we want the gold," he told the China Daily.

"I think it's a big challenge for us, and I think it's going to be a great experience trying to bring USA Basketball back on top and bring it back to dominance," James said.
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