Bryant says he is ready to play

By DARRELL FRY

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 14, 2000

INDIANAPOLIS -- Kobe Bryant, his sprained left ankle feeling "a lot better," all but said Tuesday he will play tonight in Game 4.

Asked if any circumstance would stop him, Bryant said: "I don't think so."

Bryant took some shots and said the ankle, injured in Game 2 Friday, is getting better. "A lot better, actually," he said.

"I'll probably be limited when I come back, but so what? I've just got to find a way to get around it, and we're going to find a way to get around it."

Added Pacers star Reggie Miller: "He won't be 100 percent, but 80 percent of Kobe is still pretty good."

FINDING THE RIGHT WORDS: Pacers coach Larry Bird, who plans to retire after this season, said the hardest thing he has done as a coach is tell veteran forward Chris Mullin, whom Bird played against, that his playing time this season would become severely limited because of the development of Jalen Rose.

"You know, I've known him since he first came to the league," Bird said. "I've always idolized him because he works hard, he is dedicated to the game. It was a tough decision, and it will go down as the toughest decision I had to make."

Mullin's only appearance in the Finals is four minutes in Game 1.

PRACTICE, PRACTICE: It seems everyone has something to say about Shaquille O'Neal's free-throw shooting difficulties. In the series, O'Neal is 22-of-58.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson says O'Neal has a wrist problem that hampers his stroke. Others say O'Neal's problem is mental. Bird, an excellent free-throw shooter as a player, said it's a matter of practice.

"I hear he practices a lot, and I believe that if you want to become a good free-throw shooter, it just takes repetition, time after time after time," Bird said. "I was very fortunate when I was younger. We had to show up in the gym at 6:30 in the morning and shoot free throws before school. That continued throughout my career. It just takes practice, and the more you do it, the better you become at it."

DID YOU KNOW?: Two years ago, Miller and Bryant were taping a segment for MTV in which they played five-on-two against an MTV crew. In preparing for the shoot, Miller and Bryant played a game of one-on-one.

Who won?

"He beat me," Miller said, "but the reason why he beat me was (the Lakers) went out (of the playoffs) in the first round and we went to the conference finals and I was tired and I hadn't done anything. So, that's the only reason why he beat me."

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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