"It's fitting that Mike Brown hung up that Jacob Riis quote in a frame on the wall space of the Lakers' locker room right next to where Kobe Bryant gears up and winds down every game.

It's there that you'll always find the special calf stretch block for added protection against resultant injuries to the ankles and knees. Then there is the oversized training basketball Bryant uses to prepare better for handling the regulation ball. After each game there'll be the tub of ice water for Bryant's ankles and monster ice packs bound over both knees with a timer for military precision on how long everything must stay chilled.

These days, over Bryant's right wrist also rests a fat postgame ice wrap roughly the size of rookie guard Andrew Goudelock, Bryant trying in vain to minimize swelling after acting on the court as if there isn't a torn ligament in there.

Bryant has been taking a numbing injection to that wrist before every game in hopes of performing normally. Yes, it's that bad."