Who was the last person to give Kobe the finger?

April 17th, 2008, 5:41 pm · Post a Comment · posted by KEVIN DING, OCREGISTER.COM

EL SEGUNDO — There certainly is a more relaxed mood as the postseason approaches for a No. 1 seed.

The Lakers looked confident and comfortable as they chatted with reporters before embarking on a 5 p.m. video session about the Denver Nuggets, with a team-bonding dinner to follow. Pressure to win? Hardly. The Lakers looked a lot cooler than in previous years — especially last season, when there was no real hope — without having to go about justifying why they could conceivably/maybe/why-not upset the Phoenix Suns.

That mood was illustrated with Kobe Bryant, who brought up how that fun, optimistic playoff vibe is afoot and he’s getting fans honking their horns and waving and yelling to him while he’s stopped in his car at stoplights. Someone said all the celebrities get some of that in L.A., but Bryant said: “Yeah, but I didn’t get the finger.”

I asked him when the last time he got the finger was — wondering if it might’ve been just shy of a year ago, if you know what I mean. Bryant thought for a long time and finally said: “Not for awhile, not for awhile.”

It’s a telling answer on a lot of fronts.

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