Kobe Bryant makes little of Carmelo Anthony-Kevin Garnett scuffle

Forget about the Kobe Bryant-Dwight Howard locker room altercation that may or may not have happened.

The scuffle between the New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony and Boston Celtics’ Kevin Garnett was real. Their chippy play and words in the Celtics’ 102-96 win Monday over New York spilled over off the court. Published reports indicate Anthony headed toward the Celtics’ locker room and even waited outside of the team bus for Garnett, an incident that prompted arena and police officials to intervene.

Bryant, a friend of Anthony and an admirer of Garnett, laughed about the news.

“That stuff has been in the NBA for years,” Bryant said. “That’s not really a news story to me.”

Even so, what does Garnett do to get opponents’ skin like that?

“He plays hard,” Bryant said. “He tiptoes the line between what’s physical and dirty or whatever. I never had an issue with him.”

Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter. E-mail him at mark.medina@dailynews.com