LAKERS NOTEBOOK: KOBE IN MOOD TO LIFT NEW ORLEANS' SPIRITS.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

Until he was approached before Friday's game, Kobe Bryant hadn't heard the news that the Lakers would be part of the NBA's first game back in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Yet Bryant couldn't help but flash back to the scene in September at Toyota Center in Houston, where the superstar guard played in a hurricane-relief game attended by thousands who became homeless just weeks earlier.

``When we all walked in, you could feel their spirits being uplifted,'' Bryant said, ``like they felt very encouraged and happy that we were there. It was just real cool to see that.

``To be able to go back (to New Orleans), play a game there and be able to uplift them again, that's special.''

The league announced Thursday that it would move three Hornets games scheduled for Baton Rouge, La. - including the Lakers' game on March 8 - to New Orleans. The Hornets relocated to Oklahoma City for the season in the hurricane's aftermath.

``It means a lot,'' Bryant said. ``We're part of something special.''

Lakers coach Phil Jackson, however, was not as enthusiastic about playing in New Orleans. He did not exactly choose the kindest words in talking about a disaster that devastated the city.

``I'll just say that hopefully they've drained the mud out of the building,'' Jackson said, ``and the termites aren't going to eat the buildings away in between the time we get down there.''

``They made a good judgment probably to get this back in and revitalize sports in the town,'' added Jackson, who wasn't a proponent of moving the Hornets to New Orleans in the first place, ``and that's the important thing about it.''

--Hands down: Kwame Brown hasn't been the most sure-handed player, already having totaled 39 turnovers this season, and Jackson said it is a cause for mild concern.

``It's a matter of confidence, it's a matter of over-anxiety a little bit,'' Jackson said. ``We want him to settle in and be comfortable out there on the floor.''

Jackson also revealed that in his earliest meetings with Brown, the coach measured his hand against Brown's. Throughout his career, Brown has been dogged with the reputation of having small hands.

``I have a medium-sized hand,'' Jackson said. ``His hand is a little bigger than mine. So it's not that he has small hands.''

--Also: Steve Physioc will fill in for Joel Meyers as the play-by-play voice tonight on KCAL-Channel 9 with Stu Lantz. Meyers will miss a couple of Lakers games this month to call NFL playoff games nationally on the radio. ... Forward Ronny Turiaf had eight points and six rebounds in 26 minutes Thursday night in his sixth game with the CBA's Yakama (Wash.) Sun Kings.