KOBE IS CENTER IN ABSENTIA FOCUS ON EMBATTLED STAR AS LAKERS OPEN CAMP.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

HONOLULU - Kobe Bryant wasn't in the room Friday morning to hear the words or see the gestures, but had he been there, this is what he would have found:

Supportive teammates, eager to put an arm around his shoulders and welcome him back. A still-swelling pack of reporters, hanging on every breath of Kobe-related commentary and any word about his expected arrival. And, permeating every conversation, a strong sense of resignation about his absence, however long it might last.

Hours later, Bryant's agent notified the team the Lakers guard planned to arrive late Friday night and would report to practice this morning. But Bryant had not yet boarded a flight.

Bryant unexpectedly skipped a team flight Thursday because of an unspecified ailment. Officials had no new information about his condition Friday, but teammates naturally concluded the stress of coping with a rape charge was taking a toll.

And they vowed to protect him as best they can once he joins them.

``He's in a situation, but we've got to support him, and that's what I've got to do,'' new Laker Gary Payton said. ``Once he gets here, we've got to make him feel like he's at home and he's away from that stuff, let him settle himself down.

``People are human. They've got feelings,'' he added. ``If you see yourself in the paper every day and people keep talking about you, you will have a little breakdown in yourself, too. Until he get his mind right, I'm 100 percent behind him. He shouldn't come here until he gets his mind right, so he can be focused on basketball.''

As much as the Lakers want to see their embattled superstar on the court, they betrayed no anxiety over his delayed arrival at training camp. But the frenzy over it began to annoy some of them.

Shaquille O'Neal adopted a new policy - the ``C.A.T.'' method (``Can't Answer That'') - and new Laker Karl Malone at one point cut off the Kobe discussion by declaring, ``That's the end of those questions. If you've got basketball (questions), we'll answer them. If not, I'm done.''

On a practical level, they already were moving on, trying to fuse the old (O'Neal, Derek Fisher) and the new (Malone, Payton, Bryon Russell) without stopping too long to consider who was missing.

But Rick Fox admitted to being ``glued to'' media coverage of Bryant's rape case, and all the intrigue attached to it - ``simply because it's a brother. ... His presence here is welcome as soon as possible, but he knows when that is to be best.''

Admitted Fisher: ``It's hard to stay focused on just this, because he is one of our teammates. Obviously, you start getting curious where he is and when is he going to be here.''

There was laughter and giddy excitement on the six-hour plane ride that carried O'Neal, Malone and other veterans to Oahu on Thursday. And there was a bouncy optimism on the court Friday morning, when coach Phil Jackson directed the first full-team workout at the University of Hawaii.

``We've got a great team out there on the court. Whether it's four Hall of Famers or three Hall of Famers, we've got a damn near perfect team,'' O'Neal said. ``We have a great team now, and we just need to focus on that.''

O'Neal deftly avoided questions concerning Bryant, saying he he would not fall prey to media ``trickery,'' and called the season ``a great, undescribable learning experience.''

``This is all a soap opera to me. Reality TV has taken over,'' O'Neal said. ``So if you look at it and treat it like that, you'll be fine. And I think all of our comfort zone is going to be on the basketball court.''

After the morning session concluded, around midday here, Jackson said he hoped to see Bryant today, ``but we have no guarantees.''

Eighteen players went through drills. Fox, recovering from foot surgery and expected to miss the first two months of the season, watched from the sideline, pedaling on an elliptical trainer.

The only hitch in the day came when O'Neal landed awkwardly and bruised his left heel.

``I was jumping and I haven't got up that high in a while, and I came down funny,'' O'Neal said, calling the injury ``a small thing.''

The implied good news is that O'Neal appears to have regained his vertical lift after shedding 15 pounds this summer. Jackson marveled at a few powerful, rim-twisting dunks but said O'Neal didn't look dramatically different.

``He's in good shape. He's trimmed,'' Jackson said.

In a team meeting Thursday night and throughout the gym Friday, the talk was of sacrifice in pursuit of a championship, which was only natural considering what they already have done.

Malone and Payton, both locks for the Hall of Fame, gave up millions of dollars to join the Lakers. O'Neal grunted and ground through the summer to recondition his body. Fox underwent painful rehab on his foot. Fisher surrendered his starting job to Payton. Now Jackson is asking all of them to sacrifice points, minutes and ego, and to be ready to adjust to just about anything.

``This right here is not a challenge,'' Malone said. ``This right here to me is one of these things, you come in here and try to help people out. I gave up a lot, but I feel that it'd be worth it in the end. If it (a championship) don't happen, it's not meant to be.''

Howard Beck, [phone]

howard.beck(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Shaquille O'Neal, bottom center, adopted a ``Can't Answer That'' policy to deal with media questions regarding the absent Kobe Bryant.

(2) Shaquille O'Neal landed awkwardly and bruised his left heel during a Friday-morning workout in Hawaii, but the Lakers center dismissed it as a light injury.

Douglas C. Pizac/Associated Press