Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles.com filed a killer story Wednesday, detailing his time spent watching Tuesday's game in Sacramento at the home of Lakers shooting coach Craig Hodges. There's some great stuff in it, with Hodges (a very unplugged, unfiltered Hodges) providing a great window into what coaches see on the floor during a game. I've had a chance to work with Hodges a few times on the radio and also speak to him at practice, and McMenamin captures the real guy.

There are insights into how the offense works, Hodges' belief Andrew Bynum is the league's best center, Phil Jackson's respect for Tex Winter, and more, but one particularly interesting passage involves Kobe Bryant:

"..."No," Hodges says flatly when I ask him at one point in the first half if any players on the team stand up to Kobe Bryant and critique him if he does something detrimental to the team. On this occasion it was Bryant not sprinting back on defense after turning the ball over with a bad pass.

"Not one. They all kiss his a--..."


The season Derek Fisher returned to the Lakers, I asked what he could teach his teammates about playing with Kobe. He spoke at length about the need to protect your space as a player, having the confidence to make the right play for the team and work to your strengths as an individual, even if it means ticking off 24 a little in the process.

Clearly Hodges thinks there's work to do in this regard, and often he's right. On the court, particularly, the Lakers still too often reflexively look for Kobe or interrupt the flow of the offense if he demands the ball. Hodges notes little ways in which teammates let Kobe dictate their play:

"...In the fourth quarter, Hodges curses at the screen when (Sasha) Vujacic has the chance to push the ball after grabbing a defensive rebound, but slows down when he starts to race down the court and catches Bryant trailing behind him out of his peripheral vision. Vujacic almost immediately picked up his dribble and passed the ball backward to Bryant, breaking the cardinal rule of always advancing the ball, never retreating.

"Run by his a--, make his a--- run," Hodges says. "Kobe wouldn't have deferred to him [in the same situation]..."

On the floor, the Lakers have a hierarchy, obviously starting with 24. Certain guys more willingly go away from Kobe than others, but all will occasionally defer too much to him. Where Kobe will often get in a teammate's face- not always in the most flattering way- the opposite doesn't happen. (Though how cool would it be to see, say, Sasha berate Kobe after a poor shot or missed defensive assignment? I'd pay real money to see that.)

The flip side is players take stronger roles in other areas. Pau Gasol's criticisms of the offensive flow have been overblown, but he's felt free to speak his mind this year and last as well. The same sentiments have been echoed at different times by Jackson, Lamar Odom, Bynum, and Fisher. Meanwhile, Odom, not Bryant, has established himself as the emotional leader of the Lakers, and speaks consistently about the team's depth and talent, encouraging others to spread their wings (he could heed his own advice a little more often, but that's another story). And, of course, Odom has editorialized strongly on the team's attitude.

Fish has always been a player Bryant respects, one who can speak freely to him thanks to years of hard work, hard-nosed, clutch play, and title runs.

To me, all of this is healthy. It's good Pau is confident enough in his place in the world to criticize how things are working, even if only indirectly targeting Kobe and his shot selection. It's good for Fisher, after the Memphis game a few weeks back, to note shot distribution needs to be more equitable. These aren't signs of trouble or dissension, but of grown men speaking their minds. A different way of protecting space, serving the Lakers well.

Which is why Kobe doesn't react to it negatively, or slap someone like Pau down in the media. Ego aside, he understands this is all part of leading a team. Bottom line, I don't think Kobe sees it as a problem. Hierarchy and dictatorship aren't the same thing.