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On his level of interaction with Jackson ... "We talk all the time. It’s really blossomed into an incredible relationship outside of the game. Just talking about a myriad of things, so, we’ve been talking quite a bit." On his candid quotes to the media ... "These are answers that I have in my head most of the time throughout my career, I just don’t say them. So like I’ll be getting interviewed, and I’ll laugh or smirk to myself as I’m thinking of these responses, now I just have the cojones to say them. It’s like you get to that point where you’re close to the rocking chair and you just really don’t care anymore. I’m one of those old guys sitting on the porch just letting it rip." On his "I'd rather be perceived as a winner than a good teammate" quote he wrote on Facebook ... "Well, you share it. Because when you win, you share it. Everybody is happy. So, I’d much rather have a relationship where, cheap high heels onlineput it this way: You want to have a really close team, you guys are all friends, you guys have a good time, you guys enjoy each other’s company. You get to the Finals, you lose. This happens all the time. You never get to win the championship. Now, you fast forward 20 years from now and you guys are sitting back at whatever get-together function that you’re having and you guys finally get a chance to reconnect because when you guys retire, you all go separate ways even though you guys were all buddies when you played, and you got to sit around telling old stories about how you were this close. ‘Oh, we were this close. Oh we were this close. But, we had a great time though!’ "And when you fast forward years from now and it’s me, Lamar (Odom), (Trevor) Ariza and all these guys and we pushed each other. We had some really contentious moments, but that got us to be champions and we’re close because of everything that we went through. So, you go 20 years from now, we’re sitting back, laughing, enjoying each other’s company because we really love each other. There’s a brotherhood that’s been formed there, and we won. I would rather have that, than that other one." On how the Lakers grew from a Finals loss to Boston in 2008 ... "Jordan Heels When we lost to Boston in 2008, we had one of those happy-go-lucky teams and we got to the Finals and we ran into a buzz saw. So, the next season and every season after that, we really challenged each other. We didn’t hold anything back. If I didn’t like what you were doing, I’d tell you. And vice versa. And there would be moments where we didn’t like each other very much, but we understood that we were doing this for a common goal and when you have that, I think you have more respect and more admiration for the person sitting across from you." On how he changed after that Finals loss to Boston ... "I think it was just me figuring out how I want to lead. It was a different role for me. I had to put on a different hat after the me and Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal) era. You kind of had to figure out the balance. Me kind of being a taskmaster when Shaq was here and him being the easy-going guy, in 2008 I went too far on the opposite end of the spectrum. We wound up having a team that wasn’t emotionally tough enough or contentious enough to take down these Celtics." On how the NBA has changed since he entered it in 1996 ... "nike heels It’s a smaller game. It’s a much, much smaller game in terms of the style that everybody plays and playing with a spread floor and really minimizing spot play. When I first came into the league it was much, much different. You still had (Patrick) Ewing in there. You still had (Hakeem) Olajuwon in there. You had Shaq in there. You had Alonzo (Mourning) in there. David Robinson. Those are five 7-footers I just named you off the top of my head. I can’t name you five 7-footers off the top of my head that are playing right now. It’s just amazing." On what type of player he'll be in nihao2013618 ... "You have to be able to adapt. During this last season, I was able to find areas to adjust my game to help us win, in terms of being more of an assist guy. You got to pick up certain areas and a lot of it depends on just the team that you have and the guys that you have around you. I’m more than comfortable just sitting back and scoring 21, 22 points or whatever and getting 10, 11 assists whatever the case might be. More than comfortable with that. It’s just a matter of the pieces that you have around you and what you can do to elevate everybody else." On Jackson saying Bryant's competitive nature ends when he leaves the basketball court ... "No, it’s not accurate. This is what I’d say, I’m not going to compete at something that I’m not good at. Like, if you’re a great ping pong player, I know I’m average and I see you play and I’m like, ‘Oh, he’d kick my ass,’ I’m not going to play you. I’m not going to do it. Nor am I going to invest my time to figure out how to do it, to beat you. I’m not. I got other stuff that I can think about. I play to my strengths." On if he thinks about what the best-case scenario will be for him when he returns to the court from his Achilles injury ... "Every day. I envision it every day. You have to. You have to be able to see it first." On what Kobe Bryant we will see next season ... "Hopefully the Kobe that used to have an afro that can’t grow an afro anymore. That will be a good day."nihao2013618