As much as Jackson might like O’Neal’s good heart, Jackson admires Bryant’s killer instinct. Odom calls it “the mentality of a pit bull.”
“Kobe helps me too, because if I’m ever lying back too much, him trying to get open or him fighting wakes me up,” Odom said. “Kobe’s game is like smelling salts. If you’re lying back, he’s going to get you up. He’s the best player I’ve ever played with.”
Bryant and Odom were OK last season. This season, with the former a little more mature and the latter a little more secure, they’re tighter.
Off the court, Bryant has continued his gradual career-long unwind as a teammate - now playing cards, doing dinners. Yet he insists the tenacity still boils; it’s just perceived differently.
“When I step out on this practice court, I’m the same edgy, competitive dude who’s just going to drive you nuts,” he said. “I think the difference is they (my teammates) know that about me. And they know that’s consistent all the time. And they look for that and they use that for fuel to drive them.
“They know it’s nothing personal. They just know that’s how driven I am. I think they embrace that now, whereas when I came out and I was 17-18 years old and I was that driven, they looked at it as kind of being arrogant.
“But I’ve been that way since I was 6. I think it was just misinterpreted because I was so young. When I was 21-22-23, the guys we had on the team were all on the team when I was 17, so their interpretation of it remained the same. You get a fresh batch of guys that come in here, and now I’m the older, kind of veteran guy — and now that’s viewed as leadership.”
In practice the other day, Bryant found himself in the zone, making shots all over the place, blocking some, too. Assigned to Bryant was rookie Von Wafer, and the kid not only had to take it, he had to hear it.
“You can’t score on me!” Bryant howled. “Ever! Evvvvv-errrrr!”
Wafer went on about his business, mute. On the sideline, Odom was amused.
“Ever?” Odom said with a smile. “That’s a lot of time!”
Bryant has no qualms with a life philosophy that says the sharper your edge, the more likely your axe sticks at the mountaintop - even if you leave some people behind in the snow.
“Having my type of personality weeds people out very quickly,” he said. “People understand immediately if they relate to me or if they don’t. I don’t settle for losing, I don’t settle for second place. I just do not like it; I do not accept it.
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