There are many really good teams in our conference this season. Miami, Indiana and Detroit will be our fiercest opponents this year. But we just have to focus on our game and be patient with the realistic hope that we'll be on top after all is said and done.

Kobe enjoys that situation. Stepping up and making the big basket or being involved in a key play.

I'm a high-risk taker on the court in the sense of trying to squeeze things in there.

I try to anticipate exactly where my teammates are going to be. Sometimes I look good. Sometimes I look bad.

I came in the league as not a shooter, not a scorer. My game was to play defense and make my teammates better. The most important stat to me was that left column - winning. Nothing else matters.

I don't care what sport you're talking about. What you see with great franchises is structure - a structure that doesn't just take you from year to year, but day to day.

I'm a football guy at heart; maybe I should have played football for a living instead, because I play a lot of football videogames, I'm really into them.