NEW YORK — Kobe Bryant flashed a wry smile when asked whether another superstar could help the Knicks make a deep playoff run.
“Is that your way to ask me about the ‘Melo stuff?” Bryant said after scoring 33 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in the Lakers’ 113-96 win over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
“They have some really good pieces here and I think the future is bright for them. But who are we kidding? We’re talking about Carmelo Anthony. Let’s not go crazy. Carmelo Anthony is a bad boy, so you figure it out.”
When asked if the Lakers might get Anthony instead, Bryant said, “Don’t start that [stuff], man.”
Before the game, Bryant’s teammate, Ron Artest, said he was rooting for the Knicks to land Anthony.
“I hope they get him,” said Artest, a Queens native who roots for the Knicks when they aren’t playing the Lakers.
Bryant made some other news when he was asked about potentially playing in Italy if there’s an NBA lockout next season.
“I mean, I wouldn’t be opposed to it,” said Bryant, who grew up in Italy while his father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, played there.
Would he be locked into playing in Italy?
“I’m not locked into anywhere,” he said. “I’m locked out. I don’t know, you just gotta play it by ear. Obviously, you know how much I love Italy. I mean, I grew up there.”
Danilo Gallinari, the Knicks’ “Italian Stallion,” tried guarding Bryant, but to no avail as Bryant dropped 19 points and six rebounds in the first quarter.
“I was asking him, ‘What the hell are you guarding me for? You don’t want to be over here,'” Bryant said of Gallo.
Bryant had 23 at the half and 33 midway through the third period, before spending the fourth on the bench during garbage time.
“He did get that hot hand that he wanted to stay in and we ran him through the [first] quarter,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.
Bryant entered averaging 41.8 points in his last four Garden appearances, including a building-best 61 points two years ago.
While the Lakers improved to 4-0 on their road trip, all the Anthony talk seems to be taking its toll on the Knicks.
The Nets are 6-6 since owner Mikhail Prokhorov pulled his team out of the ‘Melo Drama, but the Knicks are now 4-8.
“It’s being talked about too much,” point guard Raymond Felton said. “Either it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. If it’s not, it’s not. That’s my thing.”
Pressed on whether he was tired of hearing about Anthony, Felton added: “These are my teammates, I’m going to fight for my teammates. I love my teammates. You keep hearing all this extra stuff about your teammates, yeah, it’s starting to really get on my nerves.”
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(Photo courtesy Daily News)
