Bryant sits out practice Friday with foot issue

Teams that refuse to divulge injury information can be more forthcoming than Lakers Coach Mike Brown was Friday about Kobe Bryant's right foot.

Bryant sat out the Lakers' morning and evening practice sessions, a team spokesman said, because his foot was bothering him. He was listed as day to day.

Asked about Bryant's injury, Brown said, "It's one of his feet."

Pressed for more details, the coach deferred to Gary Vitti, saying the longtime trainer was staying on top of the situation.

"He knows a lot more than me when it comes to that stuff," Brown said. "I'm OK not knowing what's going on, just can a guy go or not. If he can go, great. If he can't go, great."

Bryant's status for the Lakers' exhibition Sunday in Fresno against the Golden State Warriors was unclear.

Taking sides
Phil Jackson joined the war of words between Lakers center Dwight Howard and Shaquille O'Neal, though the former Lakers coach didn't deliver any of his trademark verbal jabs.

A day after O'Neal's contention that Philadelphia's Andrew Bynum and New Jersey's Brook Lopez were the NBA's best centers angered Howard, Jackson suggested that Howard featured a more well-rounded game.

"Brook and Andrew are guys that have good touches, they're good scoring players and they have good offensive games and there's a lot to what [O'Neal] says that way," Jackson told an ESPN radio station in Chicago.

"Dwight is a guy that has that amazing athletic ability, but the overall game — rebounding, defending, blocking shots, running the court — this is a guy that runs with the wolves, so to speak. He can get up and down that court as quick as any of the guards or forwards because of his athletic ability, whereas both Brook Lopez and Andrew Bynum are more plodders as players and they have trouble in their transition game both directions."

There was one development Friday as Howard continued his recovery from April back surgery: He wore white tights in team drills for the first time.

What's the next hurdle for Howard?

"Maybe taking the tights off," Brown joked.

-Ben Bolch