"Kobe Bryant touched on a number of topics yesterday, many related to the Celtics.

It is clear the Los Angeles Lakers star, who will face the C's tonight at the Garden, has a great deal of respect for a franchise he's rooted against since he was a child.

Thus spake Kobe . . .

On Paul Pierce moving into second place on the Celts' all-time scoring list ahead of Larry Bird:

"I saw the highlights, and I thought it was great. You don't see too many players stay with one organization as long as he and I have. We've both been very fortunate in that regard.""