But after a couple weeks of tinkering, Lakers coach Phil Jackson has gone back to dancing with the small forward who brung him, starting Radmanovic in Sunday's exhibition victory over Sacramento and playing him with the first unit for extended stretches during practice.

``He's the starter,'' Jackson said. ``Right now.''

However, when asked whether that meant anything had been decided, or even whether Radmanovic would start in Saturday's exhibition game against FC Barcelona, Jackson was noncommittal.

"Weekend is a long ways away," he said. "We just go one day at a time, see how that works."

But this was no crazy high-flying act or off-balance fall-away jumper as the clock ran down.

No, only a guy like Bryant, with MVP cache could get away with this one.

At the end of the Lakers marathon, three-and-a-half hour practice Monday afternoon, and the Lakers going through what seemed like the 50th conditioning drill of the day, Bryant intervened on his teammates behalf.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson had sent the team on what's called an ``indian run,'' where the team runs in a single line around the court and the last person in line has to sprint to the front of the line. When that person gets there, the next person at the end of the line has to sprint to the front of the line until the coach stops the drill.

About four laps in, Bryant took matters into his own hands, sprinting on the inside of the line -- by far a shorter distance than outside the line -- came to an almost complete stop in front of Derek Fisher at the front of the line and bought his teammates an extra five or ten seconds of rest.

``The veterans taught me that, I'm just passing it on,'' Bryant joked afterwards. ``Thats just how you do it. Phil (Jackson) teaches us to run together so you have to have a collective effort and one mind so our one mind was to slow the hell down.''

A couple minutes later, Bryant really put the team on his back, sinking a free throw to end the days' practice.

After playing in Las Vegas Sunday night, one might have assumed Jackson would just run an easy practice Monday. If anything, the opposite was true.

``We're going to work hard. Thats what training camp is about, getting in shape, getting in condition, it's not so much about the games,'' Bryant said. ``I don't think anybody out here is exhausted or anything.''

Also: Luke Walton (ankle) will likely play in Saturday's exhibition against the Spanish club FC Barcelona. Walton said that his surgically repaired ankle feels strong and hasn't bothered him when he makes cuts, but still gets a little sore. He probably could've played in Sunday's game in Las Vegas, but the training staff wanted him to go through a full week of practice first. ... Sasha Vujacic (ankle) was limited to light activity and shooting Monday and wasn't able to practice with the team in full-court activities. ... Jackson said that the next roster cuts will likely take place later this week. The Lakers currently have 18 players in camp.

"I'm loyal, really loyal. People that show me love, I can't help but show them love back,'' Odom said. ``I love doing things here. When I go out in L.A., I get receptions just from being here so long, going through trials and tribulations, good times and bad times, and I think people respect that, especially people that have been through tough times."

Odom will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. He'll turn 29 on November 6, meaning that his next contract will likely be his last, big payday.

``My family has sacrificed. Especially my kids, as far as living in New York, living without me, so this will probably be my last go-round,'' Odom said, when asked how much longer he'd like to play. ``Maybe 34, 35 years old, I'd still be young, I'd love to go home and be able to take my daughter to volleyball games, go to parent teacher night, take my son to his basketball games, football games.''

Does this loyalty mean Odom would give the Lakers a so-called hometown discount?

``Possibly,'' he said. ``But I also have to make a wise business decision according to my family and what needs to be done to keep or to start an Odom tradition.''

Here are a few postgame thoughts from Derek Fisher, who had eight points:
"I think we did some things better on the defensive end. Sacramento is a good passing team. They move the ball well. We had to key in on the defensive end. I think we did a better job. We still gave up a lot of penetration on screen-and-rolls. With so many different lineups and personnel changes going on, you can expect some mix-ups at times."

Coach Phil Jackson used Lamar Odom in a new role as the Lakers' sixth man. Odom had four points, nine rebounds and three assists in 21:40. Jackson seemed pleased, telling reporters after the game:
"He had initiative. He came off the bench, and I liked that. He came off the bench with six minutes to go in the first quarter and didn't get stiff sitting on the bench. He came out and played hard, and I liked that."

Odom had this to say about playing a reserve role:
"It's been such a long time, but it was cool. This just happens to be the third game. Whether I'm a starter or not, I'm going to feel a lot more comfortable every game we play, whether it be starting or coming off the bench."
FYI: Odom said the last time he played regularly as a backup was when he was in the ninth grade, playing on an AAU team in New York City. He and Ron Artest, now with the Houston Rockets, were reserves. Odom also said he was a substitute for a time while at Christ the King High School in Queens, N.Y.

The Big Saguaro, or whatever he's going by these days, said that he's been reflecting on his time with the Lakers recently and come to some interesting new conclusions.

``I was fun the whole time. All that hoopla, being part of that little sitcom,'' O'Neal said. ``One day I just sat there and thought about it. You know how Phil does the psychological thing, and he never jumped in? Why Magic (Johnson) never jumped in? I think it was all done by design, and it actually worked.

``If I had to do it all over again, I would probably bring it up more, I would probably start more fights with him (Kobe Bryant). I was putting up great numbers, he was putting up great numbers, it made him all pissed off and he's one of those (guys) where when he gets pissed off, he can go on and score 80 points.

``I think we were the greatest one-two punch in the game, greatest little man, big man punch in the game. Period.''

Why then, did Shaq rip Kobe in that infamous freestyle rap over the summer?

``That was my bad, a bad thing to do,'' O'Neal said. ``I just threw his name in at the end, it was a bad move on my part.''

O'Neal said he called Kobe shortly after the video hit TMZ.com and apologized, Bryant accepted the apology and the two have put it behind them.

No, this post isn't going to be all about Andrew Bynum's shoes. But it was kind of funny when he came out after practice wearing size 18 Uggs slippers.

Bynum left the Honda Center Tuesday night without speaking to reporters. No big deal. He's only 20 years old, after all. But still, inquiring minds wanted to know how his first game since mid-January felt.

``It felt great. It was definitely fun just to get back out there and play,'' Bynum said. ``I still haven't gotten to play with Pau (who only played a few minutes Tuesday). I'm looking forward to that. But all I can say is that in practice, when we're together, we haven't lost a game. ''

Then he offered his thoughts on why Lakers coach Phil Jackson was calling his interactions on the court with Gasol ``clumsy.''

``It is a little confusing sometimes. You have a guy who played 5 all last season and I've been playing the 5 here the last three years, so we run to same block sometimes,'' Bynum said. ``We just need to talk about how we're going to do things, as far as giving each other space, not crowding each other, not posting up on top of each other.''

Mitchell, a 6'5" 220-pound guard out of Louisiana Lafayette, was a member of the Lakers 2008 Summer-Pro League team in Las Vegas, where he averaged 6.7 points and 1.5 rebounds in 15.0 minutes over six games.

Mitchell practiced with the team on Wednesday morning and said that he was feeling good again after being limited for a few days with some soreness in his knee.

The Lakers roster now stands at 18.

Jackson appeared to be in good spirits Wednesday. He sat on a large, foam pad for most of practice --which isn't uncommon -- but walked over to the team afterwards and addressed them on the court.

``He was messing with me, poking fun at me, like he always does,'' Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic said. ``I thought that was a good sign.''

``Fair to middlin, maybe even poor,'' assistant coach Kurt Rambis said after Tuesday's exhibition loss to the Utah Jazz. ``He didn't seem focused out there.''

When told of Rambis' assessment, Odom tried to laugh it off and seemed to take it in stride.

``It's the first game of the year, ain't nobody want to score a career high the first game of the year,'' he said. ``There's no need to be frustrated. He's my coach. Coach is always right.''

Teammate Kobe Bryant got a good chuckle too.

``Sheesh, it's one preseason game,'' Bryant said. ``(Lamar's) fine.''

Assistant Kurt Rambis is coaching in his stead.

``We do not anticipate it's anything serious at all," team spokesman John Black said. "We felt, and he felt, it would be better for him to stay at home and watch the game on TV."

While Jackson isn't in the building, he did make one very important decision for Tuesday's game: Andrew Bynum is not in the starting lineup.

"The starting lineup was Phil's decision," Rambis said. "Andrew's had some good moments, but one of the things we've been trying to impress on him is that he has to extend those good moments. He has to be ready to play at both ends of the court at all times."

Coach Mike Dunleavy said he hadn't decided yet whether Camby, who missed most of last week with the flu, will play. But said it's possible Camby will sit out, or play very few minutes.

Also, the Clippers first-round draft choice Eric Gordon is unlikely to play. Gordon sprained his ankle last week and is expected to be limited the rest of this week.