Kobe Bryant refused to touch a reporter’s question late Sunday night about Shaquille O’Neal’s critical comments about new Lakers center Dwight Howard, but at least he was pleasant about it. A smiling Bryant said simply: “My primary concern is the big fella here (Howard). I think he’s going to do just fine for his legacy with the Lakers.”

Of O’Neal, his former teammate and occasional nemesis, Bryant added, “He gets paid to make opinions. I can’t tell him to shut up. That’s his job. That’s what he does.”

Tomorrow’s notebook today …

Some, but not all of the Lakers’ offseason changes will be on display Sunday night in Fresno when they play the first of eight exhibition games. After five days of training camp, the Lakers will reveal something of themselves against the Golden State Warriors.

The results won’t matter all that much while the Lakers make their annual October barnstorming tour of California and Nevada. Coach Mike Brown said the other day he didn’t really care if the Lakers win or lose their exhibitions.

It’s all just a warmup for the regular-season opener Oct. 30 against Dallas.

“It’s always a work in progress,” Brown said of training camp.

Perhaps the biggest work in progress is new center Dwight Howard, who was ruled out of tonight’s game after undergoing back surgery in April. Howard has participated in most of the Lakers’ drills and scrimmages, but he’s not ready to play.

“I couldn’t tell you what he hasn’t done,” Brown said. “Every time I look up he’s in the drills, whether it’s contact or not. … I don’t have a rule where a guy has to play X amount of games before he can play in the opener.

“He can play in one (exhibition) game and still play (in the opener). He may not play at all (in the exhibitions) and still play in the opener. … The biggest thing for me is as long as he’s had a practice beforehand, then he can play.”

–Bryant update

Kobe Bryant’s status for tonight’s game was somewhat in doubt after he skipped two practices Friday after suffering from mild soreness in his right foot, but he joined his teammates for Saturday’s workout. Officially, his status was listed as day to day.

Bryant sat out seven games because of a shin injury and didn’t play in the regular-season finale in order to rest last season. He also didn’t play in nine games in 2009-10 because of various ankle, knee and index finger injuries.

Otherwise, he has had perfect participation over the last five seasons.

–New-look Lakers

Even without Howard and with Brown monitoring Bryant’s right foot, the Lakers will have a new look tonight. Steve Nash will make his debut in purple and gold, as will Chris Duhon, Antawn Jamison and Jodie Meeks.

The Lakers will show off their version of the Princeton offense, a free-flowing scheme that keeps everyone on floor on the move and doesn’t require Bryant or Nash to have the ball in his hands the majority of the time.

“I felt we needed more movement, more options,” Brown said of selecting the Princeton offense. “It’s just hard to guard. Unless you have a good understanding of what you’re trying to do defensively, it can be impossible to guard.

“With this team’s intelligence, with the way this team is capable of passing the ball, I just felt it would fit with the group of guys we have. At times we were stagnant (last season). This should help out a lot, but the bodies still have to move.”

–Sharpshooter sets standard

Steve Blake made 22 consecutive shots from beyond the 3-point arc during an informal workout several days before training camp, a feat noted on a white board in the gym. It’s going to stay up there until someone breaks it, according to the coaching staff.

Nash nodded approvingly when asked about the note on the board. It seemed only a matter of time before one Steve threatened the mark of another. In fact, Brown initially believed it was Nash who made 22 in a row, rather than Blake.

So, let the long-distance competition begin.

With two practices scheduled for Friday, Bryant opted to skip the morning session because of a sore right foot. He was expected to join his teammates for the evening workout, but missed that one, too, according to a Lakers spokesman.

It’s not considered a serious injury, but given the extended mileage on Bryant’s 34-year-old legs, every bump and bruise could be cause for concern down the road. After all, Bryant has played all but 17 games over the last five seasons.

The Lakers will practice once today and then travel to Fresno for Sunday’s exhibition opener against the Golden State Warriors. Bryant is expected to play, although the Lakers listed him as day to day when they updated his condition Friday evening.

Phil Jackson offered a few sound bites to a Chicago radio station Friday, speaking at length about the 2012-13 Lakers and the challenges coach Mike Brown faces in blending talents like Steve Nash and Dwight Howard with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.

“You want Steve to have the ability to have the ball with confidence that he is doing the right thing and feeling like he can run the team, and getting the ball to Kobe in critical situations is important because that’s what his best role is standing out in the moments of crisis or the moments that are critical. And the inclusion that you have to have to make (Dwight) Howard feel a part of it. So all those guys have to find a little role. …”

Jackson also talked about meshing the skills of big men Howard and Gasol.

“(Nash) is a guy who can kind of make it easier for Howard to be a player inside,” Jackson said. “Pau can move around in the post and move up to the high post and he can be an outside defender and that can help out in a variety of screen-and-roll activities that maybe Howard might get himself in foul trouble having to defend all the time. So, they’ll be able to do a lot of things with a more mobile and quicker Pau Gasol.

“This is a team that you have to find an offense that is going to work and include everybody because Kobe dominates the ball and Steve Nash dominates the ball. Then you’ve got a player who needs to get the ball in good spots to work for his offense. That’s Gasol, obviously, in a couple of spots — low and high post.

“Howard really is a low post player. He needs that ball in the post.”

Kobe Bryant didn’t join his teammates for their morning workout Friday because of a sore left foot. The Lakers said Bryant was expected to practice in the evening session. It wasn’t considered a serious issue, but because Bryant has logged a lot of miles on his 34-year-old legs, it raised a few eyebrows when reporters were told the news.

Bryant has played 1,161 regular-season games plus 220 more in the playoffs. He sat out eight games last season, including seven because of an injured left shin. He decided against having a procedure on his wonky right knee in Germany last summer because of his commitment to the U.S. Olympic team.

The foot injury isn’t expected to sideline him for the Lakers’ exhibition opener Sunday.

Shaquille O’Neal isn’t a fan of Dwight Howard, and apparently the feeling is mutual.

O’Neal, now serving as a TNT commentator, said recently he believed former Lakers center Andrew Bynum, now with the Philadelphia 76ers, and Brook Lopez of the Brooklyn Nets were the best true centers in the game today.

Howard, the current Lakers center, fired back Thursday.

“I don’t care what Shaq says,” Howard said of the former Lakers center, who also moved from Orlando to Los Angeles amid much teeth gnashing in central Florida. “Shaq played the game. He’s done. He’s gone. It’s time to move on.”

It’s not the first time O’Neal has made disparaging comments about Howard, and it’s not the first time one former Lakers center has attacked another one. Wilt Chamberlain used to jab Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on occasion back in the 1980s.

“He hated the fact when he played that the older guys were talking about him and how he played and now he’s doing the exact same thing,” Howard said of O’Neal. “Just let it go. There’s no sense for him to be talking trash to me.

“He did his thing in the league. He’s one of the most dominant players to ever play the game. Just sit back and relax. You did your thing. Your time is up. So, I don’t really care. … He can say whatever he wants to say.”

Lakers center Dwight Howard still hasn’t been cleared to play in a five-on-five scrimmage, but he did participate in their practice-ending five-on-five-on-five drill Thursday. What’s a five-on-five-on-five drill? Well, it’s two five-on-five halfcourt games at once. The team with the ball keeps possession if it scores, if not the defensive team gets it and heads to the other end of the court to face a third team. The scoring team returns to the other end of the floor and faces the team that’s standing there.

No fastbreaks. No hard running. But plenty of contact.

Howard looked great on a couple of plays around the basket, including one in particular when he grabbed a touch pass from power forward Pau Gasol, went up in traffic and dunked with authority. So far, Howard has had no setbacks as he continues to make progress after undergoing season-ending back surgery last April.

He’s been ruled out of Sunday’s exhibition opener, but vowed to play in some exhibitions before the regular season begins Oct. 30.

Kobe Bryant agreed with the NBA’s decision to impose fines on repeat flopping offenders, saying flopping was a “chump move.” Bryant said it was good for the league to eradicate the practice of embellishing the contact when drawing to draw an offensive foul. He was joined by others, including Metta World Peace and Pau Gasol.

World Peace showed a reporter what it’s like to take a real charge, crashing into the poor fellow not once but twice as a pack of fellow media type stood back and laughed. But the point was clear, you don’t have to fake contact to attract the attention of a referee.

Gasol said the league might have been wise to whistle players for a technical foul after issuing a warning for flopping, as they do in international games. He said it’s a tougher punishment to award two free throws plus possession of the ball.

Meanwhile, Lakers coach Mike Brown said the team would conduct its first five-on-five scrimmage in the second of two practices Wednesday. Dwight Howard would not be permitted to join the fray since he hasn’t been cleared for full-contact activity. He participated in all of Tuesday’s practice and Wednesday’s first workout.

A crew from a Canadian sports network has been at Lakers camp for the first three days, scoring interviews with Steve Nash, of course, but also with fellow British Columbia native Robert Sacre, a rookie center from Gonzaga.

Nash attended high school in Victoria; Sacre went to school in North Vancouver.

After he joined his teammates for all of their drills on the opening day of the Lakers’ training camp, center Dwight Howard said he was hopeful of playing in at least one exhibition game before the regular season begins Oct. 30. Howard hasn’t been cleared to participate in a full-contact scrimmage after undergoing back surgery in April. The Lakers did not scrimmage during a nearly four-hour workout. Howard declined to place a percentage on his back for the second consecutive day.

The Lakers’ first exhibition is Sunday against the Warriors in Fresno, but the team has already ruled him out of that game.

“I don’t know the date when I’m going to return, but I’m looking forward to (today’s) practice to see how my body feels when I wake up,” Howard said. “We can only go by time right now and how I feel after practice. We’re not in a rush. These guys need me for the whole season and not a couple of preseason games.”

Dwight Howard couldn’t say with any degree of certainty Monday afternoon when his surgically repaired back would be sound enough to allow him to make his Lakers debut. He also couldn’t offer a “percentage meter” for his back.

“I think that’s the new technology on the iPhone 6,” Howard said.

What’s more, he refuted a report last week on the Yahoo! Sports website that indicated he was aiming for a return for the Lakers’ season opener Oct. 30 against the Dallas Mavericks at Staples Center.

“What?” the 6-foot-11 center said when asked about the story. “Who wrote that?”

Given the reporter’s name, Howard said, “Never talked to him.”

Howard, 26, underwent season-ending surgery to repair a herniated disc in April. There was no timetable for his return to fitness then, while he was still a member of the Orlando Magic, and there isn’t one now that he’s a member of the Lakers.

His debut in purple and gold has inspired much discussion and speculation.

Howard hasn’t been cleared for full-contact activities by a doctor and won’t scrimmage with Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and the rest of his new teammates when they open training camp Tuesday morning in El Segundo.

Last week, the Lakers ruled him out of their exhibition opener Saturday.

“I just want to be 100 percent for the season,” said Howard, who has been undergoing rehabilitation exercises with the Lakers’ athletic training staff and participating in light one-on-one workouts with the assistant coaches.

“I don’t want to have any setbacks. I don’t want to play a couple of games and then have to sit down. I want to be able to play the whole season. I owe that to myself. I owe that to the fans and to my team. We all have one mission, one goal.

“And I want to be 100 percent for that.”

Howard said his back has improved markedly since his introductory press conference after the Lakers acquired him from the Magic in a blockbuster four-team trade that sent 7-foot center Andrew Bynum to the Philadelphia 76ers on Aug. 10.

“I’m getting better every day,” Howard said during the Lakers’ annual media day Monday. “I’m getting stronger every day and I’m just looking forward to that day when I’m 100 percent. Until then, I’m going to keep training.

“I think from the last time you guys saw me (during his Aug. 10 press conference) to now, I look a lot different. I’ve been working extremely hard to get back on the court and I think we’re going to have an awesome year.”