"With Kobe Bryant on board to play for the 2008 Olympic team and Lamar Odom hopeful of also making the trip to Beijing, the Lakers could have their two top players committed to playing each of the next three summers. Odom met with Phoenix Suns chairman Jerry Colangelo, the managing director of USA Basketball´s men´s senior national team, after Friday´s shootaround, and Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he agreed a summer program was necessary. "It´s a big commitment, there´s no doubt about it," Jackson said. "They´ve done the right thing, I think, by making the players commit to giving a couple years to the national team so that they can build a connected unit when they play overseas or in these international tournaments." Los Angeles Daily News
"But (Phil) Jackson said he was concerned about the wear and tear Bryant and other players could face, likening it to the long playoff runs his Chicago Bulls players went through in the 1990s that Jackson believed took years off their career. Jackson equated the Olympic program with possibly shortening a player´s career by a year. Bryant has played more games by age 27 than any player in NBA history, plus another 119 playoff games in his career." Los Angeles Daily News
"Odom, who played for the U.S.´s bronze-medal winning team in Athens, met with Colangelo for about 15 minutes Friday and said things went well. "We didn´t really talk about playing, just about what he expects from the guys who do come," Odom said. "We talked about the last time I went. I told him how cool it was, how I´d like to go again." Los Angeles Daily News
Insidehoops
Hoiberg souhaite revenir à la compétition après son opération du coeur.
Hoiberg trying to play despite pacemaker.