Kobe Mentors Rookie Crittenton

He has also taken on one more role: teacher and mentor to guard Javaris Crittenton.

To Crittenton, who called the media frenzy surrounding Bryant “a fun experience,” Kobe has been “a cool teammate,” willing to tutor him during practice.

“Kobe’s been helpful at teaching me the different options in the offense,” Crittenton said.

“I mean, I ran through the triangle in high school and it was helpful and I’m benefiting from that now, but it’s different options and different sequences that you have to go through and he tries to break down the offense for me.

“He tells me, ‘You call this play if the team is in a blitz defense,’ and, ‘If they’re in this defense, then you call this play and you try to look at that option and this option.’ Reading the defense is what he’s really been helping.”

For Bryant, working with Crittenton pays forward the good deeds Ron Harper did for him early in his Lakers career. “That was my guy,” Bryant said.

“I enjoy doing it for players who I can see have a will. He’s extremely talented and he has a great work ethic. . . . It’s very easy to pull him aside and help him out.

“In that role, in this system you have to see all your options. Not only see all your options but when to use them, when to use them as counters against the defense. It’s like a quarterback almost. He has a big challenge ahead. I’m just going to try to help him out as much as I can.”

When Bryant himself needs counsel, he turns to Phil Jackson, whose future with the Lakers might be tied to Bryant’s.

“Phil’s my guy. I confide in him,” Bryant said. “Phil is just a great person to be able to bounce things off of. A lot of times I like hearing his stories from the old Knick days. We talk about things like that. He loves the game and I do, too. It’s easy to sit around and talk about that.”

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