LeBron's free agency drama is taking the spotlight off Kobe's title run. (Andrew D. Berstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
Warning: Don’t ask The Black Mamba about The King.
While talking to the New York Post’s Marc Berman on Friday, Bryant said his sole focus is winning another NBA championship — not where The King plays next season.
“You’re asking me if LeBron is going to New York?” Bryant told The Post. “I’m trying to tell you in a polite way, I don’t give a [bleep].
“As a fan, it’s a big deal,” he added. “You’re talking about LeBron and Dwyane Wade, it’s two huge names changing cities. It alters things drastically in the NBA. But I really don’t care about it.”
Former Hornets coach and current ESPN broadcaster, Byron Scott, who was standing nearby when Bryant uttered these words at the Staples Center, started cracking up.
“Why are people talking about LeBron anyway?” Scott said. “Let me tell you something. From me just knowing Kobe, he doesn’t give a [bleep] what everyone is talking about anyway.”
No, you don’t say?!
“I couldn’t have said it better,” Bryant piped in.
While Kobe is approaching his fifth NBA championship — one less than Michael Jordan — LeBron is being wooed by the president and Jordan’s former team.
The King’s hour-long interview with CNN’s Larry King aired on Friday night, and during ABC’s telecast of Game 1 of the Finals, the network promoted a “Nightline” interview with James to be shown after the game — even though the segment had already aired in May.
During his formal interview session yesterday, Bryant had this to say about The Chosen One’s cloud over the Finals: “I don’t care about attention. It doesn’t mean anything to me.”
