Kobe would like Sasha back

It's one of the oddest, least expected pairings you could think of, but Kobe Bryant is actually pretty tight with young shooting guard Sasha Vujacic. In years past, he's invited him to train with him during the summers, and seems to respect Vujacic's passion for the game. Now that Vujacic is a restricted free agent, here's the advice Bryant said he'd give his young disciple.

``With Shi-shi (Sasha). He should do what's obviously best for himself and his family. Obviously as a big brother, that's the best advice I could give him,'' Bryant said. ``I would love to keep him around for selfish reasons, because of his defense, his passion, and his shooting was obviously something that was invaluable to us this year. So for my own selfish reasons, I would love to keep him here, but as a big brother, he has to do what's best for him and his family.''

Then a reporter asked Bryant: ``If it got down to couple hundred thousand, would you kick in for it?''

Bryant, similar to the look he got used to giving when we'd ask whether he'd be picking up the tab for the Lakers team meals throughout the playoffs again, quipped, ``I'm not the richest one in this building homey, I don't know what you're looking at me for.''