Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant revealed that he’s been doing some additional under-the-radar training during his rehab and commented about the negative reaction to his contract extension with Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles. Earlier this evening, McMenamin relayed some of his noteworthy comments, and you can find some of the highlights below:
On his additional secretive training:
“My training has no time restrictions in terms of when I do them,” Bryant said. “I can do them at 2 o’clock in the morning, 3 o’clock, it doesn’t matter. You just got to do them. The blackout is very intense. It’s a huge commitment. It’s 6-in-the-morning stuff and then take the kids to school and then go do another session with weights and shooting and practice, and then after that do some more practice. It’s an ongoing thing, and throughout all of that you have to take care of your body and take care of the knickknack injuries that may arise. It’s intense, but it’s fun.”
On those who questioned his two-year, $48.5MM extension:
“Fans have the right to have those concerns. I urge caution in thinking that they know more about cap than the Lakers’ management does in terms of what they can and can’t do. But we sat down and discussed this. This is something that was important to me, being able to find the balance between something that’s fair from a business perspective as well as winning. Because as athletes, we have to wear both hats. You have to. You can’t trade one for the other. But we sat down and they went through Option A, Option B, Option C, and I wanted to know all of them and feel very comfortable with that.”
On if the Lakers currently have a championship plan in place:
“For sure. Oh, for sure. We’re not just making decisions blindly. I don’t, and they don’t either, for sure.”