LOS ANGELES – In this corner, in the white trunks, from Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant. In the opposite corner, in the red trunks (or maybe blue), from New Jersey, Jason Kidd.
The two NBA All-Star heavyweights are on opposite sides tonight, a few months after blending talents to help bring gold to Team USA in the Olympic-qualifying tournament. And nine months ago, there were serious trade talks about uniting them as Lakers.
Kidd heard all the talk and was prepared if he had to change coasts.
“That’s the thing about this business, you can be traded at any time,” Kidd said. “That’s just the small print in the profession. So with all the talk there was last year, you had to be prepared to go. And with Kobe, that wouldn’t have been a bad place to go.”
But it didn’t happen. The Lakers were reluctant to part with Andrew Bynum. And the Nets were insistent that the young center be part of any deal for Kidd.
“Everything has worked out for both,” said Kidd, looking to lead the Nets to a third straight victory and a 3-1 road-trip with a win over Bryant and Co.
The Nets, after six straight losses, five with Vince Carter nursing a sprained right ankle, recorded wins in Portland and Seattle, something they had never done in their history. Now they seek their first winning Thanksgiving week trip in 10 years, since going 3-2 on a five- gamer in 1997.
But to get that, they have to handle Bryant and the Lakers.
“He’s playing off the charts like he always does,” Kidd said of Bryant. “He’s a competitor, he wants to win. He doesn’t want to settle for being second or third or fourth best. He wants to be first and that’s what drives him.”
That drive, that burning competitive spirit was something Kidd saw first-hand in Las Vegas this summer. Kidd said he knew what Bryant was about, knew he was intense. But until he watched on a daily basis, Kidd said he had no idea how intense.
“I’ve heard that he was a competitor, a guy who competes in everything that he does. But to see it up close on the same team, that was a whole different view,” Kidd said, explaining what he learned about Bryant. “Being on the same side, that was a lot of fun – his work ethic, his commitment to his profession. He always prepares, he takes care of himself and works extremely hard during the offseason and that was the biggest thing that I got to see personally.”
Of course, the view worked both ways. Though Bryant impressed the heck out of Kidd, the Nets’ point guard did the same for Bryant, who spoke about how Kidd amazes on the court.
“Sometimes you wonder just what the heck he’s looking at,” Bryant said last summer. “You wish you could see what the hell he’s seeing. It’s ridiculous.”