Star-studded distraction

LAS VEGAS -- There was a righteous attempt at affecting a business-as-usual atmosphere at Friday afternoon's USA Basketball team practice at Cox Pavilion on the UNLV campus.

So, just for the moment, let's pretend the NBA is not facing a crisis of epic proportions, brought on by a heretofore nondescript referee named Tim Donaghy, and look in on the team that, if logic prevails, should crush the opposition in the Olympic qualifying tournament that begins in late August back in Vegas.

And what better way to begin than with the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant, that one-man generator of news throughout the slow summer months?

Actually, Kobe Bryant didn't offer much in the way of clarification about whether or not he had backed off his demand to be traded. So we must assume that he has not. But he did say: "If I had it to do over again, I would've done it differently." Done what differently? Made his demands less public? Been less harsh in his criticism of Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, who, by the way, has not backed off his claim that he is not trading Kobe Bryant? Not trashed the talents of young teammate Andrew Bynum to a young man holding a cell phone? Kobe Bryant would not be more specific on any of those topics, other than to confirm that he had talked to Andrew Bynum.

At any rate, Kobe Bryant was friendly and diplomatic, copping to a weight loss of almost 20 pounds that was precipitated by a scale that registered 200 pounds and a pepperoni and grape-soda binge that made him feel bloated. "So I got on the track and was feeling a bit heavy," said Kobe Bryant, "and I realized I had to cut back a little bit."

Indeed, the first day of practice was in some respects the Kobe Show. His presence is considered the main reason the U.S. will perform better than it did in last summer's qualifier -- when it lost to Greece -- and certainly better than it did in winning the bronze medal in Athens in 2004.

"Kobe wants to represent his country because he's never had the chance to do that before," said head coach Mike Krzyzewski. "He's like a little kid." In this spirit of diplomacy, we'll gloss over some of the reasons that Kobe Bryant hasn't had that chance -- such as legal difficulties stemming from an assault charge -- and confirm that Kobe Bryant has seemed, in fact, as enthusiastic as a little kid.

There he was after practice, for example, tossing passes to J.J. Redick as they wore out their shoulder sockets launching jumpers. Feel free to insert own joke here -- Ha! That's the last time you'll see Kobe passing to ball to J.J. -- but this is a team in desperate need of perimeter shooters, and that's what Redick does.

There were two other kids of note there, one being a Kidd. At the initial team meeting on Thursday night, Jerry Colangelo, the executive director of USA Basketball, pointed out that New Jersey's Jason Kidd was the only one in the room with a gold medal; and, further, that he has a 28-0 record in international competition. "And don't mess with that," said Kidd, turning to LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, both of whom played in the losing game last summer. Kidd was the one player whom Kobe Bryant singled out from Friday's scrimmage. "Jason threw me an alley-oop pass, and I didn't even think he saw me," said Kobe Bryant.

The other kid is Seattle rookie Kevin Durant, who played extremely well in the scrimmage. Kevin Durant repeatedly expressed his amazement that he was in the company of all-stars before playing an official NBA game.

"It's been a whirlwind," said Kevin Durant. "When I think of where I was at this time last year ..." And where was that?

"Living in a [University of Texas] dorm taking a summer class," he said.

The subject was Sex Education. "I got a B," said Kevin Durant. "It was a hard class." The questions continued until Kevin Durant got embarrassed. "Hey, I don't want to answer any more questions about Sex Ed," he said. The topic that no one wanted to address, however, was the one in the air: The probability that Donaghy will surrender to authorities and face charges that he conspired to make calls during games that would affect the point spread of games.

"It puts thoughts in your head, no doubt about that," said Anthony, one of the few players who would even creep up on the topic. Kobe Bryant answered it thusly: "David Stern is a great commissioner, and he'll handle it."

Everyone else pretty much stayed away from it, though one USA Basketball type shook his head sadly. "You look around at all the good things going on here," he said, "and this story comes along and could cancel it all out."

Right now, NBA officials would love it if Kevin Durant's Sex Ed. class was the most controversial subject it had to deal with.

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