By Gil LeBreton
glebreton@star-telegram.com
LONDON -- Kobe Bryant had a smirk on his face.
He looked like a cat who had just eaten the canary and an NBA title, with the Olympic gold medal waiting as dessert.
Smugness has never been a problem for Kobe or for his team, the Los Angeles Lakers of Hollywood. But couldn't they have waited just a little longer?
Couldn't they have allowed the Olympic chariots to double-park in their VIP lot just a couple more days?
No, as Pau Gasol of Spain, himself a Laker, told reporters Friday, there was NBC's Craig Sager, the guy whose sports coats look like discount sofas, approaching him during pregame warmups.
At the Olympics. During pregame warmups at the Olympics, before a game that was to decide whether Spain plays for the gold medal.
"I had to get rid of him," Gasol said. So he gave Sager his two cents.
Kobe, when asked about the same subject later, gave more like $1.98.
And soon nobody was asking about the United States' 109-83 victory over ... wait ... I have it around here somewhere ... Argentina ... yes, Argentina.Nobody was asking about that.
Nobody was asking about Kevin Durant's 19 points or about LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony each scoring 18.
And nobody wanted to hear about the third-quarter moment when the fighting Argentines, feeling good about themselves, looked away for a minute and the sky started raining American 3s.
Instead, all the Olympic media wanted to ask about was the Dwight Howard trade.
Surely, you've heard. The Lakers get Howard, and the Orlando Magic gets the cow and the beans.
Hence, the Kobe Bryant smirk.
"History speaks for itself," Bryant told reporters after the semifinal game. "There are certain franchises that just seem to make all the right decisions and all of the smart business moves."
The Lakers even got to keep Gasol, their eternal trade bait, in the deal.
How does that happen?
Are any of his U.S. teammates mad at him, Bryant was asked?
"I heard they are," Kobe said with a mouth full of canary.
"We had a game to prepare for."
Right. Coach Mike Krzyzewski's nightly ceremonial rolling out of the basketballs.
Bryant played 18 minutes and change against Argentina. Seven U.S. players hit at least one 3-point field goal.
When Anthony hit a trio of 3s in a row midway in the fourth quarter, it catapulted the U.S. lead to 93-64 and Bryant cell-phoned Howard to tell him that, come October, he'll be glad to throw him the ball once or twice a game.
"He won't have to sacrifice much," Bryant said. "He can just go out and do what he does.
"He'll get more touches here [note: Kobe apparently momentarily confused Stratford, England, with Los Angeles]. It's going to be sensational."
Yeah. For the Lakers.
But how about for poor Andre Iguodala, who learned before this Olympic semifinal that he was one of the 12 players who changed teams in the trade? Iguodala went from Philadelphia to the Denver Nuggets.
"I'm just happy to play basketball," he said. "Happy to be in the NBA.
"I don't care if I was playing in Alaska."
Durant was also asked for a comment, because his Oklahoma City team could most significantly be affected by the Howard trade.
"I really don't care," Durant said, however.
Oh, right. There's still an Olympic basketball tournament going on.
Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert! Let me tell you what's going to happen Sunday against Spain.
But does it really matter at this point? The Lakers just hijacked the Olympics. Medal ceremony to follow.
Of course, Howard and Kobe still have to work this thing out. Bryant never came to grips with playing alongside Shaquille O'Neal, a future Hall of Famer.
Maybe Howard won't extend his contract after next season, realizing that he could make more -- a lot more -- as a free agent. Maybe some team with a lot of cap space -- some team like, say, the Dallas Mavericks -- makes a run at Howard after next season.
Now that's an Olympic story.
Cue the medals.
Gil LeBreton, 817-390-7697Twitter: @gilebreton
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