LARRY BROWN

	Lakers, Pistons meet media in RealOne Wrapup: Play Get NBA Inside Ticket

Q: The Lakers were in here talking, and they say that they really don't know you well enough to know if you present unique challenges. How much of an advantage is that for you if they don't really understand or can't prepare for what you guys are going to bring?
Brown: I don't know how to answer that, really. Maybe we know too much about them and that's why I'm wearing all black. (Laughter). You know, again, we are just going to worry about how we play and I don't think this is a time to change. I have a tendency to think that we should worry about the things we have control over.

KOBE BRYANT
Q: There's a general feeling that if you guard Hamilton as the game wears on, you'll get tired and it might affect your shots offensively, do you have any concern in that regard?
Bryant: A little bit. But I've played like that before, whether it's chasing Iverson around or chasing McGrady around. I'm up for the task. It is the Final pedastal, this is the final obstacle or hurdle, whatever you want to call it, and I think I'll be able to will myself through being tired.

Q: With you and Richard Hamilton playing against each other in high school, was there a sense that he was an NBA-level player when you guys met back in Philadelphia?
Bryant:Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, you could just see it. He had all the talent in the world. He had the work ethic. It's exciting for me to see him playing this well and the ultimate stage. It's rare to see somebody who was in the same district as you, you guys meet up in the NBA Finals, the biggest stage, the biggest stage in the world. It's exciting.

DEREK FISHER
Q: You had a very spirited practice yesterday and it looks like you’re getting healthy. Safe to say you guys are ready to get this thing going?
Fisher:
We hope so. It’s been a long week, took a couple of days to get ourselves ready and regenerate some energy. The last couple of days, we were really working hard and really trying to get some of our timing back -- namely, myself and Karl -- get ourselves back into a place where we can play and react and not have to think about where we are physically. So, I think the last couple of days have been good days for us. But I think it will take us a little bit if time to get back into the intensity of game situations before we are playing at a high level again; but also be able to come out and play hard right from the beginning tomorrow night.

DEVEAN GEORGE
Q: Any words for Richard Hamilton?
George: Yeah, Rip, slow down, slow down. I don’t know what to say about Rip. Rip’s is a little Energizer Bunny. He keeps going and going and going. We’re going to be right with him. We’re going to chase him.

Q: Is it fine with you that years from now – if you win the championship – you will be the one starter on this Lakers team that nobody remembers?
George: That could be a trivia question. It’s fine with me. My ring’s going to look the same as their ring. My playoff share is going to be the same as their share. It doesn’t bother me. I’m not one of the guys that really needs to be in the spotlight all the time anyway, so for me to get overlooked or for them to look past me, it’s fine.

RICHARD HAMILTON
Q: Congratulations on your first NBA Finals, taking the hometown team there. How does it feel to not only be a guy that's played for an NCAA Championship but to have an opportunity for an NBA title?
Hamilton: It's crazy. Playing the National Championship, that's one of the greatest experiences that you can ever witness as a kid. Being in the NBA Finals is just as good, but it's much harder because you're playing against the best talent in the world night in and night out. It's the opportunity of a lifetime that you never expect to get here, but you know if you work hard enough, that you get here, you've just got to go out and take full advantage of it and that's what we are prepared to do.

Q: Can you talk about facing Kobe and your old friend from high school, and what that feels like going into the Finals?
Hamilton: It's fun. You love it, because we've been going at it since the ninth, tenth grade, playing on the same AAU, playing the McDonald's game together, and before I got to the league, you know, he was a person that I talked to and asked him about, you know, what the challenges are here, what I've got to do when I get here and how do I make a mark. You know, getting the opportunity to play against him, like we played in the Palestra together against each other, a championship and now get an opportunity for the whole world to see that. It's definitely fun. That just tells you how far both of us has come as players. I think we both are going to enjoy it.

PHIL JACKSON
Q: Kobe Bryant's court proceedings, you called it a situation this year. Can you talk about how he has turned that distraction into a motivation, especially in the playoffs?
Jackson: You know, I think it says something about a person when they respond to adversity. I think Kobe has responded extremely well to the adversity around that situation. You know, we all sympathize with both sides of that. As a parent, you know, I certainly do with both families in the situation, but for Kobe's standpoint, he has a job and a profession and something that he has to attend to and we really rely on him and the responsible role that he has to perform. He's done a wonderful job holding up under that pressure.

Q: Would you mind commenting on what Karl Malone has meant -- what has Karl Malone meant to this team in terms of his leadership, his locker room demeanor.
Jackson: Well, you know, demonstrative, emotional, stand-up guy, straightforward. You know, he plays the game at full throttle almost the moment he steps on court until the time you take him off. That part of it, I think, is a driving force for our team. You know, we've played behind Kobe's intensity over the years, but Karl brings a different kind of direction and intensity to our game.

His ability to motivate our team has been noticeable for me, as a coach and I appreciate it.

KARL MALONE
Q: Do you have a different feel for the Finals than the first two you were in?
Malone: It’s the same. Like anything else, I’ve been there before. I was two games away from winning and didn’t win it … twice. I’m kind of subdued now. It’s unbelievable to have an opportunity, after 18 years, to be there, again. But as far as anything different, it’s the same feeling: I didn’t really do anything. We got halfway up the mountain and didn’t win it. That’s my attitude right now.

BEN WALLACE
Q: I see you have the cornrows on today. Now, when you got that 'fro in full bloom, it seems like you have some aerodynamic drag in transition. Are you faster when you wear the cornrows than when you are when you have that big 'fro?
Wallace: You know, I don't think so. I think when I have got the 'fro, the wind sort of flows through it a little bit through, it makes me a little lighter on my feet so maybe I'm faster with the 'fro. (Laughter).

Q: Joe Dumars said he's trying to make a point not to talk about the Bad Boys' experience and the championships, but still, is there some knowledge to be gleaned of what they have gone through to help you guys with this series?
Wallace: You know, not really. You know, I think the way they want -- the way they won it and the way they did it was the way they had to do it. We've got to find our own way. We can't look back on what they went through or how they managed to win or how they managed to pull it off. We've got to go out there and play basketball and find our own way. I think that's one of the reasons he doesn't do a whole lot of talking about how they had to do it.

It's just like, you know, raising your kids. Sometimes you've got to send them out and let them find their own way.