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After rampant local media reports that Kobe Bryant has cleaned out his locker, Bryant denies that he cleaned out his locker, but declines an opportunity to express any kind of commitment to the Lakers.

The Lakers, according to NBA front-office sources, have no looming intentions to initiate any Bryant trade discussions and would still prefer to hang onto to their most popular player since Magic Johnson. There is nonetheless a growing belief around the league that the proposals will be flooding in now and that Bryant will indeed be moved -- possibly even before the season starts -- after last week's admission from Lakers owner Jerry Buss that he "would certainly listen" to trade offers for Bryant in the wake of Kobe's loud declaration last May that he wants out ... and Kobe's subsequent refusals to recant the request.

So edgy is Lakerland that Bryant, after dodging the media for a few days, was forced to address reports Tuesday that he has already cleaned out his locker at the team's practice facility. One team source insisted to ESPN.com that Bryant indeed removed his personal belongings, but Bryant and agent Rob Pelinka told ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher that Kobe had merely cleaned up his locker after Monday's practice, leaving plenty behind.

Yet such is the tension around the team now that Bryant can't sit out a practice without sparking an immediate panic that he's leaving for Chicago or Dallas, with multiple sources insisting that Bryant -- who possesses the league's only active no-trade clause -- lists the Mavericks as his No. 1 destination.

What does all that mean? I really have no idea, at this point, what to make of it. What I do know, is that this does not seem to be a media misinterpretation of status quo. I mean, listen to this weird fire-stoking from Phil Jackson, as reported by the Associated Press:

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said Bryant sat out practice Tuesday "by mutual agreement."

"He's in the training room," Jackson said. "I think that's about all I'll say. He asked me about resting his legs, but I think he's OK."

Jackson said he didn't know whether Bryant would play Thursday night when the Lakers face the Seattle SuperSonics in Bakersfield -- the first of six exhibition games in nine days. The coach also said he didn't know if Bryant would accompany the team if he doesn't play.

Jackson said he couldn't comment when asked if Bryant had played his final game as a member of the Lakers.

"I don't know that at all. Who knows that? There's certain things that have to be discussed and I think they will be," Jackson said. "There's nothing imminent. I'm on the inside of this, so I know all the statements before you ask the questions. We can't project anything right now. I think there's a certain progression of things we have to go through."

We can all agree, right, that one does not talk that obtusely when things are about to blow over?