No rest for the weary, it seems.

On the heels of their weeklong roadie, a trip that included two back-to-backs, Phil Jackson surprised some folks (or at least me) by putting the Lakers back on the practice court in El Segundo Monday morning. PJ, because he's a coach and that's what they do, wants to see more execution on both sides of the ball, but may have been trying to knock out any cobwebs that come after some time on the road. Both Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol talked about how the first game back can be tough- better to try and eliminate any sluggishness in practice rather than Tuesday night against the Thunder at Staples. (7:30 pm PT, FSN). (OKC, by the way, is curious to know what classic LA scene awaits tonight, given the ultra-Hollywood atmosphere in their last visit to Staples.)

As for Kobe's finger, he says it's about as good as can be hoped- which means it still hurts, and that he'll have to rely on the left hand a little more to handle the ball and try to create turnovers defensively.

More Lakers links:

• A great feature on the community work of Josh Powell during the holidays, via the Daily News, definitely worth a click.
• We've said it before, we'll say it again- In many ways, Lamar Odom is the soul of the Lakers' locker room. Mike Trudell of Lakers.com provides on example of why.
• During Monday's ESPN Los Angeles Chatapallooza, Derek Fisher said he has no plans to retire after this season (nor to start adding Keeping Up with the Kardashians to his DVR rotation), and Jordan Farmar is trying to avoid worrying about next year's contract for the time being. Among other things. By the way, PJ is slated to chat today at noon on the ESPN Los Angeles main page.
  
• Silver Screen and Roll has some numbers from the roadie.
• The LA Times.com wants to know which Lakers team is the franchise's G.O.A.T.
• He's talked about it throughout the season, but for the fluent in Spanish, here are more details on Pau's status for the 2010 World Championships. Currently, it seems unlikely he'll play.
• If you missed it... Land O' Lakers on LA's 50 greatest players, Kobe's evolution as a scorer, and the ultimate tale of the tape between Kobe and LeBron.

Around the NBA:

• JA Adande notes that Shaq's return to Phoenix was unusually un-Shaqlike. Meanwhile, Cleveland pulled away late to hand the Suns their first home loss of the season.
• The Kings, who the Lakers will play Saturday night at Arco, pulled off a 35 point comeback against the Bulls Monday night. Sacramento might get Kevin Martin back soon, but not in time for LA's visit. As for Vinny Del Negro, this sort of thing will make it tough to hold on to his gig on Chicago's sideline.
• AI may have rushed the comeback in Philly.