Don't forget about the great Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on during a game against the Miami Heat. (Jan. 19, 2012) Credit: Getty Images
There will be a buzz at the Garden tonight, and it won't be totally Kobe Bryant-generated.
The Lakers superstar makes his annual visit to New York, but Jeremy Lin will be the recipient of most of the attention when the Knicks go for their fourth straight win. His sudden appearance on the NBA landscape has made Bryant somewhat of an afterthought Friday night.
Bryant is used to being the show, especially at the Garden, where he has owned the New York night so many times.
With the Knicks missing their two stars -- Carmelo Anthony has a strained right groin and Amar'e Stoudemire is in Florida for his older brother's funeral -- Bryant's motivation could come from being in the World's Most Famous Arena and playing against the NBA's Most Famous Undrafted Point Guard.
"It'll be electric as usual," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Kobe will be coming in and looking to light up the Garden as he usually does."
Rookie Iman Shumpert hopes to dim Bryant's light.
Since 2000, Bryant has scored at least 30 points seven times at the Garden, including a building-record 61 points on Feb. 2, 2009. He also has led the Lakers to a 9-2 mark in the games he's played in New York this century.
Shumpert, a confident rookie whose forte is defense, knows of Bryant's Garden dominance. He looks forward to the challenge of trying to contain Bryant.
"I'm not scared or something," Shumpert said. "It's about us. I'm not really a guy who reads into all that. How he plays at the Garden is how he plays at the Garden. I play the same way every night. I just have to keep it even-keeled.
"Guys have three or four hands in his face and he knocks the shot down. If he knocks shots down like that, we're just going to have to live with it, but I'm going to have to do my best to keep him off-balance."
It wouldn't be surprising if Bryant was thinking something similar about Lin.
Bryant could tell Lakers coach Mike Brown he wants to guard Lin if the new Knicks point guard is playing well again. Bryant doesn't like taking a back seat to anyone -- and that could work against the Knicks -- but Lin likely will be the marquee player Friday night.
"If you look at all the point guards over the last week in the NBA, he's playing better than any of them," Jared Jeffries said. "There's no reason why he can't keep that up. He should be the biggest story. A kid like him doing what he's doing, he deserves all of the attention he's getting and more."
