Chapter 55: Preseason Game 3 & 4: "November's Coming"

The flight to Sacramento was quick enough that Kobe barely registered the landing. He listened to Fisher mutter about the smell of cow fields and Shaq complain that the seats weren’t built for anybody above six-nine.

By the time they rolled their bags through the tunnel at Arco Arena, the floor crew was still finishing up along the sidelines.

Kobe’s attention was already somewhere else.

Mitch Richmond.

Richmond was thick through the chest, economical with his feet, and comfortable creating space through contact. He rarely needed much. A shoulder into the defender, half a step coming off a screen, enough room to get the ball above his forehead. There were things about Richmond’s game Kobe understood better now than he ever had at seventeen, and he wanted to feel the difference up close.

He dressed, laced up, and waited through warmups. At some point Fisher bumped his shoulder.

“You checking the clock?”

Kobe looked at him. “No, just thinking.”

Kobe turned back toward the floor. Fisher grinned and went back to taping his wrist.

Harris stayed with the same starting group he had used throughout preseason: Van Exel, Eddie, Ceballos, Campbell and Shaq. The game started with the Lakers going inside.

Sacramento doubled Shaq on his first deep catch. He kicked the ball back out, and Van Exel swung it around the perimeter. The next time down, Shaq caught closer to the block, spun baseline, and drew the foul. He made the first free throw, then the second.

Fisher shouted beside Kobe. “Both?”

Shaq was already jogging back. “Yo, don’t sound so surprised.”

A few possessions later, Shaq sealed his defender beneath the rim. Eddie dropped the ball over the top, and Shaq finished with two hands before the help could get there. Sacramento called timeout.

Kobe stayed seated, elbows resting on his knees. Richmond was already working on the other end. He caught near the block on one possession, used his shoulder to create room and scored over Eddie. Later he came off a screen, took one dribble and pulled up before the defender could recover.

The Lakers kept feeding Shaq. There wasn’t much reason not to. Van Exel ran the offense, Eddie found his openings, and Sacramento kept having to decide how many defenders it wanted around the paint.

By the second quarter, Harris finally looked down the bench and caught Kobe’s eye.

“Kobe.”

Kobe pulled off his warmup and headed toward the scorer’s table. Before he checked in, he looked across the floor.

The first matchup came naturally. Richmond caught on the right wing and used a screen that brought Kobe into the action. Eddie called the switch, and Kobe picked Richmond up as he worked toward the block.

Richmond held the ball high. Kobe settled behind him and felt Richmond lean back into his chest. One hard dribble. A second bump. Richmond turned over his shoulder and rose.

Kobe got a hand up.

The jumper still dropped.

Kobe ran back the other way. Fisher brought the ball across and started the set before swinging it to Kobe on the wing. Richmond closed and settled into his stance.

Kobe jabbed toward the middle. Richmond stayed with him. Kobe put the ball down, crossed back, and tested the other side. Richmond shifted with him and kept his body between Kobe and the lane.

Ben came up to screen.

Kobe used it, saw Richmond go underneath, and pulled up.

The ball caught the front rim and bounced out. Richmond grabbed the rebound.

A couple of possessions later, Kobe drove off the catch and drew help before kicking the ball to Fisher in the corner. Fisher missed, but Ben ripped the rebound away from two Kings and kicked it back out. On the reset, Richmond cheated toward Kobe’s route and got his hand on the pass. The ball came loose. Kobe got to the floor first and knocked it back toward Fisher.

“Slow down,” Fisher called, bringing the ball back out.

Kobe got up and wiped his palm against his shorts.

Richmond was looking at him.

The next time Sacramento came down, Richmond used a tight curl off a screen. Kobe fought over it and stayed on his hip. The pass came anyway. Kobe reached across and got enough of the ball to change its direction.

Ben collected it.

“Go!”

Fisher took the outlet and pushed up the middle. Kobe filled the right lane, Bowen the left. Fisher waited until the defender committed before floating the ball ahead.

Kobe caught it in stride and finished with two hands.

Richmond was already calling out the coverage when Kobe turned to run back.

A few minutes later, Richmond worked through another screen and caught near the top. He jabbed, put the ball down and tried to get into Kobe’s chest again. Kobe had already felt the angle. He moved first and met Richmond before he could turn the corner.

Richmond pulled the ball back.

He tried right instead. Kobe stayed attached and forced him toward Ben, who had stepped up from the paint. Richmond picked up his dribble and moved the ball to the wing.

Sacramento ended the possession with a contested jumper.

At the other end, Kobe started on the weak side. He came off a brush screen and caught Richmond closing. Kobe showed the ball, put it down when Richmond stepped forward, and took one hard dribble.

Richmond recovered toward the lane.

Kobe stopped from eighteen.

The jumper dropped.

Richmond glanced at him as they ran back and gave him a small nod.

Kobe picked up his man.

The horn at the scorer’s table sounded at the next dead ball. Kobe looked over and saw a Sacramento substitute waiting.

Richmond was coming out.

Kobe watched him walk toward the bench.

Fisher came alongside him. “Wanted that one, huh?”

“Yeah.”

The game changed once Sacramento went deeper into its bench. Fisher kept the Lakers organized, Ben controlled the glass, and Bowen turned a deflection into a runout. Kobe picked off a lazy reversal and pushed the other way before finding Bowen ahead of him for the finish.

A few possessions later, Sacramento switched a smaller guard onto Kobe. Kobe took him toward the block, caught the entry, and felt the help coming before he turned. Instead of forcing the shot, he dropped the ball underneath to Ben.

Ben finished at the rim.

Sacramento tried a bigger defender later. Kobe pulled him away from the paint, attacked his front foot, and got to the line. On another trip, Kobe got the pull-up he wanted and missed it long. He was already back near half court by the time Ben fought for the rebound.

The Lakers stayed in control. Shaq had done most of the damage early, and the second unit never gave Sacramento enough room to change the game.

By the final horn, Kobe was already heading toward the bench when Fisher caught up with him. They exchanged a quick slap of hands and followed the others toward the tunnel.

Lakers 108 – Kings 94Kobe: 22 PTS, 5 REB, 6 AST, 3 STL in 22 minutes

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The Forum was louder than Sacramento had been, even during warmups. Kids leaned over the railings with jerseys and programs, people along the baseline yelled for players who couldn’t hear them, and Shaq stopped twice on his way back to the locker room to sign something.

Kobe got his shots up, went through the usual routine with Fisher, then followed the others inside when Harris called them in.

Harris stayed with Van Exel, Eddie, Ceballos, Campbell and Shaq to start. Kobe was back with the second group. He’d expected as much by now.

When Harris called him in, Fisher was already at the scorer’s table. Ben joined them at the next whistle, and it didn’t take long for Kobe to get involved. Fisher came off a screen, reversed the ball, and Kobe caught near the elbow with his defender trailing. He pulled up from fifteen and made it. The next time he caught on the wing, the defender came at him harder. Kobe went to baseline, got his shoulder past him, and drew the foul when the help came over. He made both.

The Clippers changed the matchup a few possessions later and put a smaller guard on him. Kobe let him crowd him on the perimeter, moved the ball, and went straight to the block. Fisher waited until he had a position before throwing it in. Kobe caught, felt the guard leaning against his back, and turned away from the pressure for the jumper.

“Too small,” Ben said as they ran back.

Kobe laughed. “It was expected.”

Bowen started the next break. He got a hand on a pass, Fisher picked it up, and Kobe was already running. Fisher waited until the last defender stepped toward him before putting the ball ahead. Kobe caught it near the lane and finished with two hands.

The Clippers weren’t giving him much trouble offensively, but Harris found something on the other end. Kobe sank toward the paint when the ball went middle and stayed there a beat too long. The pass went behind him to the corner. By the time he recovered, the shot was already up.

“Kobe! Watch the corner!”

Kobe looked toward Harris on the way up the floor.

The Clippers came back to something similar a few minutes later. This time Kobe stayed higher. When the pass went toward the corner, he was close enough that the shooter had to put the ball down. Ben met the drive, Fisher contested the kick-out, and the possession ended with a miss.

Kobe didn’t look toward Harris. Fisher was already pushing the other way.

The Clippers were having a harder time deciding how they wanted to guard him. Give him room, and he pulled up. Crowd him, and he got into the lane. A smaller defender couldn’t do much with him near the block, and when a bigger wing checked in, Kobe made him move his feet away from the basket.

Not everything went in. Ben screened for him midway through the second quarter, and Kobe came off with enough room for the jumper. He left it short.

He got back on defense.

A few trips later they came into the same action. The defender went under again. Fisher found Kobe in nearly the same spot.

Kobe shot it again.

This one went down.

The Clippers called timeout not long after. Kobe came to the bench and took a cup from the trainer. Fisher dropped into the chair beside him.

“You got nineteen.”

Kobe took a drink. “Thanks, assistant.”

Fisher turned toward him. “Assistant?”

“You keep track of my points. What else am I supposed to call you?”

Fisher stared at him for a second. “Keep talking. Next time you ask for the ball, I’m throwing it to Ben.”

Ben looked over from two seats down. “I’m good with that.”

Kobe laughed and took another drink.

Harris stepped in front of them with the board. “Ben, don’t chase all the way out. Fish, get him back toward the help.” He looked at Kobe. “Better on the weak side.”

Kobe nodded.

Harris was already onto the next thing.

The Clippers tried a longer defender when Kobe went back in. He bothered Kobe’s first pull-up enough to get a hand on it and knock the ball out along the baseline. Kobe took the inbound, gave it back to Fisher, and cut through. His defender followed. Ben screened Fisher at the top; Fisher turned the corner and dropped the ball to Ben for the finish.

Next time Kobe got the longer defender by himself, he didn’t bother with the pull-up. He attacked his front foot, got into the lane, and stopped before the big could reach him. The short jumper went in.

By the third quarter the Clippers had started changing things more often. They showed the zone for a few possessions. Van Exel moved the ball to Shaq near the high post, Kobe cut behind a defender who had turned his head, and Shaq hit him on the move.

Kobe finished at the rim.

The Clippers went back to man soon after that. Kobe kept scoring. One came off another screen when the defender backed away. Another came in transition. When help arrived early, he gave the ball up, and Ceballos got an open look. He found Shaq underneath on another possession after two defenders came with him.

There wasn’t much reason to force anything. The shots kept coming anyway.

Bowen knocked another ball loose late in Kobe’s stint. Fisher picked it up and pushed. Kobe ran the right side, caught the pass with one defender back, and slowed near the foul line. The defender kept retreating toward the rim.

Kobe stopped and shot.

The jumper went in.

At the next whistle, Harris called him over.

Kobe took the towel from the trainer as he came off.

He stayed there for the rest of the game. Fisher handled most of the remaining minutes with the reserves, Ben kept working the glass, and Shaq spent more time talking from the bench than sitting in his chair. Kobe watched until the horn.

The locker room had mostly emptied by the time Kobe got back to his stall. He sat down and started unlacing his shoes.

Van Exel passed behind him, then stopped.

“You trying to take somebody’s job?”

Kobe looked up.

Nick was grinning.

“Depends,” Kobe said. “You worried?”

“About you?” Nick scoffed. “Man, please.”

He started toward the showers.

“Don’t start sweating just yet.”

Nick stopped and looked back.

“Keep talking, rookie. November’s coming.”

Kobe smiled and went back to his shoes.

After his shower, he dressed and headed down the hallway. Harris had been stopped outside the press room by several reporters. Kobe was almost past them when one question rose above the others.

“Coach, with the way Bryant’s playing, are you considering him for the starting lineup?”

Harris barely paused.

“It’s preseason.”

“But has he played well enough to make it a conversation?”

Kobe slowed without meaning to.

Harris looked toward the reporter.

“He’s played well enough to earn more opportunities.”

Another reporter jumped in. “With the starters?”

“We’ll see.”

Kobe kept walking.

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Lakers 112 – Clippers 96Kobe: 28 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST, 3 STL, 1 BLK in 24 minutes