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Payton Hints About Leaving LakersGary Payton is complaining about the playing time given to him by Lakers coach Phil Jackson. With the ability to opt out of his contract in the offseason, Payton may want to take his services elsewhere if he doesn't agree with the team's philosophy. "I don't get it, but that's the way it is," Payton said. "This is his team. He's got to coach it the way he's going to coach it. Then I have to deal with it and I'll make a decision where I'll go from there. "I've got to weigh a lot of things. Do I want to go back to being the guy I want to be, dominating on the ball, getting more looks, helping the team win? I'll weigh all that in the thing. I've got to go to a coach that's going to let me do that or whatever. I'm going to have to weigh it in at the end of the year, if I want to come back and try that. But right now, I'm not comfortable with that." Via Tim Brown of the Los Angeles Times Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets California man charged with threatening Bryant's accuser, prosecutorLONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) A man was charged with repeatedly threatening to kill Kobe Bryant's accuser and the prosecutor in the sexual assault case. Cedric Vaughn Augustine was arrested by police and federal agents Thursday, and was held without bail in the city jail, police Sgt. Paul LeBaron said. Augustine, 37, was charged Wednesday in a Denver federal grand jury indictment with 26 counts of attempted extortion, making interstate threats, making a threat using the U.S. mail and threats to use fire or explosives, FBI spokesman Matt McLaughlin said. McLaughlin said authorities hope the investigation will ``dissuade others from similar behavior.'' Two other men previously were charged with making threats against Bryant's accuser. Federal authorities contend Augustine called Eagle County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert on July 18, the day Bryant was charged with sexual assault. Augustine allegedly left a message on an answering machine saying: ``Anything happens to Kobe, something will happen to you. ... We will hunt you down.'' The next day, prosecutors said, Augustine threatened in a telephone message to shoot Bryant's accuser. More threats were made in September and October, the indictment said, including a letter sent to the prosecutor Sept. 18 that stated: ``We are coming to kill her and her family.'' It could not immediately be determined whether Augustine had a lawyer. John Roche Jr., a former student at the University of Iowa, pleaded guilty to leaving a profanity-laced death threat in July on the accuser's answering machine. Roche faces up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. In another case, Swiss national Patrick Graber is accused of offering to kill Bryant's accuser for $3 million. He remains in custody awaiting trial. Bryant, 25, is accused of raping a 19-year-old woman who worked at a hotel near Vail, Colo., where he stayed June 30. He faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation if convicted. Bryant has said he had consensual sex with the woman. No trial date has been set. Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Lakers facing commotion on and off the courtLOS ANGELES (AP) Days after insisting he wants to be a Laker for life, Kobe Bryant says he'll consider the Denver Nuggets among free-agent suitors. Shaquille O'Neal publicly chastises general manager Mitch Kupchak. Just another typical day for the NBA's glamour team. ``Some of the things you call distractions aren't really distractions to us. I've been through it for seven years,'' O'Neal said. ``We don't have a choice,'' Bryant said. ``You just deal with it. You don't complain, you don't whine about it. You come to work, work hard and try to improve.'' The Lakers (36-20) have shown improvement recently, having won seven of nine entering a four-game road trip beginning Saturday in Washington. No surprise there, considering Bryant and O'Neal have returned after injuries prompted lengthy stints on the sidelines, leaving Karl Malone as the only missing ingredient. And he's expected to return within a couple weeks. But a 112-111 victory in Denver and a 103-101 loss to visiting Sacramento again revealed a major shortcoming _ defense. Denver rookie Carmelo Anthony and Sacramento veterans Peja Stojakovic and Mike Bibby were virtually unstoppable, and both the Nuggets and Kings made countless uncontested shots. Only Bryant's brilliance kept both games close. ``We lost it on the defensive end,'' Bryant said following Thursday night's loss to the Kings. ``The offense will come and go. In this kind of game, you really need to get stops, and we didn't.'' While still the NBA's dominant inside player, O'Neal doesn't appear as mobile as he did during the championship years of 2000-2002. Gary Payton may be called ``The Glove'' for his ability to stifle an opponent on the defensive end, but at age 35 he's at least a step slower than before. Bibby exploited that shortcoming, consistently getting wide-open shots. But these aren't the playoffs, and that's where the Lakers have excelled in recent years except for last season. ``They're probably going to be the team to beat when they get all those guys together, and they proved that early in the year,'' Kings coach Rick Adelman said. ``Shaq and Kobe are the keys. If those two guys are healthy and playing well, they can beat anybody. ``Once they get everybody back and playing together, they're going to get on a roll.'' The Lakers were on a roll until Malone hurt his right knee Dec. 21 _ an injury that proved more serious than first believed. When Malone and Payton signed as free agents last summer, the Lakers were all but crowned champions despite the fact that Bryant faces sexual assault charges stemming from what he claimed to be consensual sex with a 19-year-old Colorado woman in June. The long-standing Shaq-Kobe feud resurfaced shortly before the season began, but was quickly forgotten as the Lakers started 18-3 including three victories over the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. The dynamics changed significantly shortly thereafter when Malone was injured. Within three weeks, O'Neal and Bryant were also on the sidelines, leaving the likes of Jamal Sampson, Ime Udoka and Maurice Carter playing in crunch time on occasion. The good thing about the injuries was the opportunity it gave such reserves as rookies Luke Walton and Brian Cook along with Slava Medvedenko and Kareem Rush, who have all been impressive at times. The chaos continued after Bryant and O'Neal healed. The Lakers announced before the All-Star break that negotiations to extend coach Phil Jackson's contract had broken off and wouldn't be resumed until after the season. The contract expires July 1 _ the same day Bryant will be eligible to opt out of his contract. O'Neal has been negotiating a contract extension for several months with no resolution. ``If I was general manager, with a team like this, there'd be no problems,'' O'Neal said recently. ``No problems with the Diesel, no problems with the coach, no problems with the Kobester, no problems with the owner.'' One can only wonder what's next, but veteran Rick Fox, for one, is optimistic. ``It'll all work its way out in the month of March,'' he said. Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Lakers Feb 2004 Archive
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