More from the media sessions following Thursday's Lakers exit interviews:

Lamar Odom, who brought down the house with his joking expectation that he'd have an easy contract negotiation -- "In and out: Three years, $80 million" -- was asked if he thought the Lakers could afford to keep both him and Trevor Ariza. (Shannon Brown is the team's third unrestricted free agent, but not in the same financial stratosphere as the others.)
"I don't know how the books look, you know what I mean?" he replied. "I just come out and play.
"But I think that's important, right? You want to keep the team together. We just won a championship. You don't want to see one piece not there, if you can help it.
"But it's the business of sports. Hopefully, we can keep everybody here."
The learning curve: Center Andrew Bynum, who also had his exit interview on Thursday, has no regrets about pushing himself to play in the postseason, even if his right knee wasn't fully healed from the torn medial collaterial ligament he suffered in late January.
"I wanted to make it back," he said, "so that's why I took it to the court maybe before my trainer wanted me to, or some of the other people around me. But I just felt like I wanted to experience the playoffs.
"Even though I definitely didn't play my best ball, I still got to understand the next level, what it's like to have to play a regular season game versus a playoff game.
"Five minutes in a playoff game is like 15 to 18 minutes in a regular season game. The intensity is just that high. So it was great for me to be able to experience that."
That difference, he said, was a definite surprise.
"Especially with Utah," he said. "I came back and I did pretty well in the last game of the regular season" -- in just his fourth game back, he had 22 points, four rebounds and three blocks -- "but then they switched everything up, switched the matchups up, and everything.
"It's like playing chess in the playoffs. Both teams get to adjust to each other in the playoffs, try to find something that works. It's way different than in the regular season."
The first priority for his summer, he said, is to rest and allow the knee to heal fully. Then he'll get back to the running and weight-room work he did last summer. General manager Mitch Kupchak and coach Phil Jackson have also asked him to get in some games during the summer, which he could do in the famed summer pick-up games at UCLA, or at some venue in Atlanta, where he works out in the off-season.
The goal is to get back to the extremely high level he was playing just before his injury. Looking back, he says that run of strong games in late January was built on two things: "One, the timing's there," he said. "You take the first 15 games of the regular season and you just keep building timing and getting better and better, getting into your rhythm earlier in the game.
"And if you watch those games, I'm up and down the court. I'm first or second, always, up and down on both ends, so I'm always ahead of the ball. I'm always involved. Coming back off the injury, you just can't get it back in a week and a half. It's just not going to happen."
Bynum also believes he and Pau Gasol have only scratched the surface of what they can do on the court together.
"I've got to get a little bit better at the high-post game," he said, "so when he beats me down the court, he doesn't have to worry about always having to stay high. That's something I plan on working about this summer.
"We still haven't been able to master it yet. We've still only played about 30 solid games together still, so I can't wait to come back next season and really develop a high-low action."
The color of success: The most telling thing about Sasha Vujacic's media session after his exit interview may not have been what he said, but what he wore.
Vujacic -- who reacted to the Lakers' NBA Finals loss to Boston a year ago by removing the color green from his wardrobe, and with negative comments when anyone wore green in the Lakers locker room -- walked in wearing a polo shirt that looked to be a perfect shade of Celtics green.
"It's a good feeling," he said. "I like green. Now I like it."
Vujacic had a harder time liking his own season -- which saw his minutes, shooting and scoring drop from 2007-08 -- although that disappointment was offset by the ultimate result.
"Sometimes you've got to give up something in order for the team to succeed," he said. "... To be a part of a team's success, and you've got to put individual things aside. That's what I've learned this season. ... Being in front of you today as a world champion is important for me and my teammates."
Vujacic shot just 39 percent this season (down from 45 percent), averaged 5.8 points (down from 8.8) and did not score a point in the Lakers' five-game win over Orlando in the NBA Finals.
"It's not a secret that I shot the ball terribly this year," he said. "I was a disappointment to myself as well. There's no one to blame for that, no excuses to be found. I was trying all year long to find the game rhythm, catch the freedom that I had last year and to play with the same not confidence but just freeness, be loose. That was missing. But I know what I'm capable of, he knows what I'm capable of, and I'm looking forward to next season."
The general opinion was that, playing fewer minutes, Vujacic tried to do too much with the time he had. He agreed.
"Of course I did," he said. "... Buy trying to do too much, you think you're going to get more minutes, but in order to just try to be loose and let the game come to you, you're pushing, you're pushing, you try to do too much, and then bad things start happening."
His hope and intention is to right himself by playing for his native Slovenia in this year's European championship tournament.
"That's going to be crucial for me, actually," he said. "And talking to Mitch and Phil, both of them agree that's a good idea. I think it's going to be a very interesting summer, to get away and refocus, and (have a) rebirth. I need to completely clear my mind of everything, and that's the best way to do it with the national team, and try to win something there."
It's the first time he's played for Slovenia in seven years, he said, "because the goals are high -- winning the European championship. Before, their goals were to just make it to the semifinals and quarterfinals and just see what happened.
"But for the first time, they came to L.A. and talked to me and they explained me the plan, and I like it, and I want to win."
That will be tough, because Slovenia is in the same pool with England, Serbia and Olympic silver medalist Spain -- which may or may not have Lakers forward Pau Gasol for the tournament.
"He played a lot of minutes this year," Vujacic said, " and I would understand if he played or not. ... Whatever he decides, I think Spain and everybody will respect that, and we will respect whatever he does.
"I wish him to play, because I don't want him to say if we beat them, it's because he didn't play. I think it would be fun."
White House on Line 1: Lakers spokesman John Black said Jackson had received a congratulatory phone call Thursday from a noted basketball fan, President Barack Obama, but didn't offer many details.
"Phil can share what he wants when he talks tomorrow," Black said, referring to Jackson's press conference scheduled for Friday afternoon.
Black also said discussions have already begun on visiting the White House, a tradition for championship teams in most major sports. He expects it will happen sometime before the season begins.
"It will be a scheduling challenge," he said, "but we'll pull it off."

Four straight strong games from Lamar Odom.
Four straight Lakers wins.
No, it's probably not a coincidence.
Odom -- despite his bruised but healing back -- was second on the Lakers in minutes Sunday night (45 minutes, 53 seconds) and once again filled his line in the box score -- 19 points, eight rebounds, two assists, a steal, three blocks and two turnovers -- in the Lakers' 101-96 win over Orlando in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
In the Lakers' current four-game playoff win streak, Odom is averaging 17.3 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks -- pretty good by anyone's standards, and pretty clearly a difference-making contribution for the Lakers.
This despite a large area of swelling (gradually decreasing, but still sizeable) in his lower back, the result of a hard full in the second-round series with Houston.
"Nothing in my life has been easy, like from day one," said Odom. "I don't expect it. I've got a nice big house, I expect the door to break. I expect something to go wrong. That's life."
There's not much going wrong for Odom right now.
"I look down today and I see I played 45 minutes," he said. "Kobe played 48. He's always hurt. Pau is hurt. That's the way it is. I'm an athlete. I have to just take care of myself."
Phil Jackson knew Odom would eventually get a handle on his back. But no one knew how long it would take.
"It was about being able to play with discomfort, pain that arises from that," said Jackson. "So we thought that he would improve, and actually he has improved. He's come through in every game. ... I know he's struggling out there at the end of the game, but he still came through in a big way for us."
The most impressive thing about Odom's night may be that he needed just nine shots (hitting eight) to score his 19 points. Even when he's that efficient, he knows he's not going to demand the ball, or get it much more.
"You've got Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol," he said. "Those guys are perennial all-stars. I know the offense. I know how to find my way through the offense and get those shots and make them when they count, and all I have to do is get the defense leaning toward me and then Pau and Kobe get it going.
"There's going to be some nights I just have to be efficient. ... I've just got to take advantage when my opportunity comes."
The near miss: Orlando very nearly changed the complexion of the series in a fraction of a second.
Had Courtney Lee made a layup off an alley-oop inbounds pass with six-tenths of a second remaining, Orlando would have won 90-88 in regulation and tied the finals at 1-1 going to Florida.
Instead, the shot bounced out, and the Lakers went on to the overtime win.
"It was a good play," said Lee. "It was a good pass. Coach (Stan Van Gundy) did a good job of drawing up the right play. I caught it, got a good look at the backboard. I tried to get it up there as quick as possible, and the ball rolled off the rim."
Orlando was originally going to run a different play, but with Odom pressuring Hedo Turkoglu's inbounds pass, Turkoglu called a time-out, and Van Gundy drew up something else.
"We executed well," said Van Gundy. "Hedo made a great pass, and we missed it. ... I don't know what else to say. It was a great pass, it was right there, and he missed it."
Said Turkoglu, "I saw an opening and threw it up. It's just luck."
Lee escaped Kobe Bryant's defensive coverage for the open shot, leaving Bryant to merely watch and utter to himself a four-letter word before the shot bounced away. Pau Gasol, meanwhile, leapt toward the basket to try to pressure Lee.
"I was obviously relieved when he missed that shot," said Gasol, "because it could have been a heartbreaker, and right now we could be in a totally different situation.
"I was surprised he was kind of wide open. But I tried to contest it as good as I could, and then we gave ourselves a chance to win the ballgame."
The all-star announcement: Truthfully, beyond the news that the NBA All-Star Game is coming to L.A. in 2011, there wasn't much notable from the press conference announcing the event. The people on the podium -- commissioner Stern, Tim Leiweke (CEO of AEG), mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and councilwoman Jan Perry -- spent times saying nice things about each other and the event. Various reporters from various cities asked about the prospect their cities could land future games. And then everyone left to watch the most boring first quarter in NBA Finals history.
Probably the most interesting exchange came when Leiweke was asked if he could envision hosting the All-Star game at an AEG property outside the United States. He said yes, but both he and Stern said they could not foresee it at AEG's arena in London.
Which would seem to leave China, where AEG and the NBA are partners in operating arenas, including the one that hosted the Olympic basketball tournament this year. Not that the game is likely to leave North America any time soon.
What they said: A few Orlando postgame quotes:
Van Gundy, who played most of the fourth quarter without either of his point guards, Rafer Alston or Jameer Nelson on the court, asking J.J. Reddick to run the offense:
"I thought Rafer was playing well, but they're just leaving him open on every post-up, and we couldn't get the ball in the basket, so we were just searching for somebody to be able to make a shot. Obviously, we didn't find anybody. Our guards were 6 for 26 ... L.A.'s defense was good, but I thought our guards for the most part had very good open looks. ...
"That was the only thing, we were just trying to see if we could get somebody out there who would make shots off the double teams and off the pick-and-rolls and things like that."

Dwight Howard, again contained by the Lakers' defense:
"I think they're doing a great job, team defense. They're mixing it up on me. When Pau is on me, he's forcing me baseline, and there's a big coming to trap me. They're mixing it up. They're doing some crazy things, and its' been frustrating me a little bit.
"But I just have to be more patient and trust my teammates, kick it out and allow them to hit the open shots, and hopefully that will free me up more on the inside. ...
"I was frustrated tonight and in the first game, but being the leader on my team, my teammates cannot see me frustrated."

Turkoglu, on the inability to convert on that final play in regulation:
"It's really hard when you lose these kinds of games when they're in your control, and especially in the fourth quarter. We played better than we played in the first game, but we still have some stuff that we have to do better and we have to correct. We have a lot of turnovers (20) and missed free throws.
"All around, we played good, but it wasn't good enough to win the game."

Lamar Odom keeps saying he doesn't really want to talk about his back, that he doesn't want to make excuses for his play.
Even after a game that required no excuses -- a 19-point, 14-rebound effort as the Lakers won Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, 103-94 -- he still was reluctant to talk abut his back injury. But that doesn't mean we weren't asking.
"You know," he said, "everybody's a little banged up at this point of the year, this point of the season, and it's something you've just got to deal with. ...
"I'm trying to get better each and every day with treatment. A lot of ice."
But is it getting better?
"It's not going to get better until I stop playing, with the banging and the pounding," he said. "But like I said, everybody's either hurt, or with the change of weather, sick. It's just something I've got to get through."
Toward that end, he said he's doing more stretching when he's at home, and working out as much as possible "to keep everything else strong.
"Fortunately, I don't have any tendonitis or anything like that this year," he said. "I've been able to stay away from that. Other than my back, I feel pretty good."
Odom may not want to admit he's hurting, but Kobe Bryant knows.
"He's been playing through a lot, ever since the injury in Houston," Bryant said. "His back's messed up. He played extremely well yesterday, and hopefully this will get him in good rhythm to keep it going."
And, even with the injury, Bryant said he wasn't surprised what Odom was able to do in Game 5.
"He has the potential to do that," Bryant said. "It's just a matter of him getting used to what he's playing with, and then playing through it."
Odom was thinking in similar terms.
"I wasn't playing well," he said. "And I had to ask myself, am I pushing through it enough? Or am I holding back because I'm in pain? And before the game, I just said, no matter what, I'm going to push through it, whether the ball goes in, I miss shots, I make shots. And I was able to do that, and things are starting to fall my way."
Phil Jackson saw a difference, too, and hopes it carries into Game 6.
"He's been fighting through some things physically that I think have made him sit back, rather than be as aggressive as he can be," Jackson said. "So we hope that he stays aggressive in this game."
The Pau factor: Before Game 5, Phil Jackson discussed how big men can earn more touches by rebounding or running the floor or other forms of hard work.
Pau Gasol did all those things in Game 5, but still only had eight shots (making five). That, to Jackson, was a drawback to the Lakers' play, even though it was generally praised for the degree of teamwork and balance.
"I think that we know we're not functioning at 100 percent of what we can function at," said Jackson, " but everyone had a big impact in the game.
"For Pau Gasol to have as limited amount of shots as he had, 14 points, and play as well as he played, exceptionally well, just doesn't stand up to the standard of what we are as a team. He should have more touches, and more of this, and more of that.
"But it's however you have to win these games that counts. And everybody has to play the role and just doing the right thing. ... Guys know they have to sacrifice their roles and sacrifice part of their game at times."

Denver's Dahntay Jones picked up his second flagrant foul of the series, retroactively, when the NBA assessed a flagrant-1 for tripping Kobe Bryant in Game 4. (No foul was assessed at the time.)
This, among other incidents, had the Lakers answering questions about whether Denver had crossed a line between physical and dirty. Or not answering them, depending on the individual.
"I want to keep the topic on a positive note today," said coach Phil Jackson after Tuesday's practice. "I don't want to talk about that aspect of it. I want to talk about basketball."
Kobe Bryant had the same not-with-a-ten-foot-pool approach -- "It's just good playoff basketball," he said -- but not everyone was quite as circumspect.
"I wouldn't say the Nuggets," said Lamar Odom. "I wouldn't define a team on the actions of how one person is playing, or two people.
"But it's playoffs, so you've got to expect anything. ... But we'll take care of it on the court. There's no reason for us talk about it, or retaliate with words."
Pau Gasol went a little further.
"They get away with a few things," he said, "and at home they get away with more stuff. I think the league is pretty aware of it at this point in time, and they should be able to cut it off. So hopefully they will. ...
"Nobody got hurt, but they could've, and that's something that the referees should be able to protect us from, because we're not trying to hurt anybody. We're just trying to play hard and compete. But there's some plays out there that reflect some dirtiness."
Tired? Tonight's game will be the Lakers' 12th in 24 days. Mix in travel and practices, and you might say they have reason to feel a little fatigued.
You might. They won't.
"It's possible," said Jackson. "But we're really trying to take care of our players in the process between (games). Guys are doing anything from ice baths to massage. We're not asking players that play over 35 minutes, 30 minutes really, to do anything physical (at practice). So there's a recovery period, and they have to take care of themselves in that period, and we hope they're doing that off-site here.
"But we think they can respond to this. We're not going to use that as an excuse."
Gasol wasn't having any of it, either.
"It's all about mind strength right now," he said. "Forget about the fatigue and forget about the body. You've got to be strong enough mentally to be able to fight through everything and know what you're playing for. We're two wins away from being in the finals again. We have home-court advantage and we should take advantage of it."
Waiting for Bynum: Andrew Bynum's ongoing push for playing time -- which keeps running into Jackson's desire for his young center to play better defense -- may have taken a turn in the right direction at end of Game 4, Jackson said.
Indicating that he'd like Bynum to take some of the minutes that normally go to Lamar Odom, struggling with a back injury, Jackson said he liked what he saw in Denver on Monday.
"I thought he responded well in the fourth quarter, Drew did," said Jackson, "and helped get the game back under double-digit points. We lost it, but he stepped in there and tried to fill his job and do his job."
Jackson was asked if he had any sense why Bynum responded at that particular time.
"Well, I think he was upset about coming out of the game in the third quarter," Jackson said. "There were a couple of actions there when I didn't see him go to the ball defensively, and I thought, 'We can't wait around in this quarter after we got the lead down to three.'
"And so when he went back in, I liked his response. That's the way he has to play."

The Lakers may not be concerned about being down a game to the Houston Rockets, but that doesn't mean they're aren't making changes.
Phil Jackson indicated Lamar Odom would replace Andrew Bynum in the starting lineup for Wednesday's Game 2 at Staples Center, meaning that starting spot has gone from Bynum to Odom to Bynum and now back to Odom over the first six games of the postseason.
Jackson could not recall making similar changes in his starting lineup during the playoffs, either with the Bulls or Lakers, except because of injury. He was asked in his pregame press conference if that meant he felt the situation was serious.
"I don't think so," he said. "I think it's a little bit more about our type of execution we can do on the floor, and the number of collective games we played together as that unit in the last year and a half gives them a little more comfort on the floor.
"Our damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't aspect is we know we need rebounding and shotblocking and size with Andrew in there at some level, if we're going to be very successful this season, and that means continuing forward. We're not as forceful or as intimidating around the paint if we don't have him. But we're so much better at the offensive end because of the mobility we have (with Lamar) it's kind of like a situation where you have to live with one or the other. I think we'll give up more points in the process, but we also gather more points, gain more."
For all that, Jackson said he didn't know if the Lakers are a better team with Odom in the lineup.
"You know, we want Andrew to be that force, that player out there," said Jackson. "We think that it's an important aspect or premise for this team. But we have not functioned well in these playoffs, or as well, as we have when Lamar started."
It's a choice that means surrendering some size against Yao Ming and the other large, bulky Rockets, but Jackson said toughness is not his big concern.
"Spacing is, really," he said. "We need to have good spacing and ball movement, and we have to have a flow in our offense. We can't get static and get them into a mud-pit game where they can grind it out in those kinds of half-court situations. And that's what we'll try to establish."
Odom more or less shrugged off the change, and a question whether it was difficult to keep switching between the bench and the starting lineup.
"The game's the same," he said. "... It is what it is. It's what's needed."
Walton returns: Luke Walton returned to the active roster for Game 2, after missing two games since injuring his ankle against Utah.
"I think he's going to have an opportunity," said Jackson, "but we'll see how significant his role is."
Dee-fense: Kobe Bryant was second in the voting again, but this time it was a little closer.
A couple of days after LeBron James' landslide victory over Bryant in MVP balloting, Dwight Howard edged Bryant as the top vote-getter for the NBA's all-defensive team.
Howard finished with 55 points and 27 first-place votes, followed by Bryant (53 points, 24 first-place votes), James (47 points), Chris Paul (36) and Kevin Garnett (35) to complete the first team.
Named to the second team were Tim Duncan, Dwyane Wade, Rajon Rondo, Shane Battier and Ron Artest.
The NBA's 30 head coaches vote for the defensive team, and are not permitted to vote for players from their own team.
Fisher, Trevor Ariza and Pau Gasol were among the other players receiving votes.

LOS ANGELES -- I have long been a fan of Lamar Odom the person, one of the nicer guys you will ever meet, in professional sports or anywhere else. Odom the player can be a more frustrating proposition, because he always seems capable of more than he does.
But it would be very difficult to find fault with Odom now, either in his impact with the Lakers or how he's handling his moves from the bench to the starting lineup and (probably) back.
Odom was a huge factor in the Lakers' 107-96 win over Utah on Monday to close out the first-round series. He finished with 26 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three blocks, offset only by three turnovers. That gave him 36 points and 30 rebounds in his two starts at the end of the series, which probably won't be enough to retain a spot in the starting lineup. Coach Phil Jackson said he would "more than likely" put Andrew Bynum back in the starting lineup against either Portland or Houston.
"That gives us a big lineup," said Jackson. "I think we're pretty good with that lineup. We've done some good things over the course of the year, even after he came back (from his injury). ...
"Lamar's playing great, but his effort off the bench is going to be very important to us. It gives us a whole different arrangement to how we play."
No big deal, said Odom.
"It makes no difference," he said. "Obviously you can see that now, in my game, in my rhythm. I'm here to do whatever it takes to win, and that's to create positive energy. So it's too late in the season for me to take that personal, or pout."
And, he said, there's no difference in preparation, regardless of his role.
"I feel good," he said. "I'm in the prime of my career. I'm handsome. I'm pretty." (Yes, he did laugh as he said that.)
Odom averaged 17.8 points, 11 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.6 blocks in the Utah series, after regular-season averages of 11.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 blocks.
"He's a versatile player," said Pau Gasol. "There's no doubt about that. He's been a little bit up and down. He's not extremely comfortable coming off the bench, and probably not as productive as he is as a starter, as with probably the majority of players in this league. ...
"No matter what lineup, he's going to help, because of his skills, his knowledge of the game. He knows how to play, he attacks all the power forwards because of his ball handling and speed and skill set. So he's a guy that can contribute in different ways. He's got his confidence up now, and he's got to take advantage of it."
So do the Lakers, because Odom is so unique in his mix of size and skills.
"Lamar, you can drop him anywhere," said Kobe Bryant, "and he's going to be effective, going to be productive. And that's what makes him so valuable. He can come off the bench. He can play four positions. His rebounding's a big key for us, and his shooting. He's been shooting the ball really well. And defensively he's been guarding a multitude of players.
"He's a big key for it."
That's been true throughout the season, but it was certainly true against Utah.
What they said: A variety of other postgame reactions from Monday night:
Jackson, on the team's play in the series, and the finale:
"I think we played well. Offensively, we had some really good games. I thought we played spotty defense tonight. I liked our defense for the first three quarters: Good hands, tipping the ball, getting runouts kind of broke the game open. We didn't close the door.
"We had four guys off the bench with Kobe at the start of the fourth quarter, and they just couldn't sustain the effort. ...
"I told them in the locker room we have to improve as we go forward."
Trevor Ariza, who started despite spraining his ankle in Game 4 and had 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists, a steal, two blocks and four turnovers in 27:29:
"That's what my team needed me to do. I try to do everything I can to help my team win. ...
"We're happy that we got the win, but I don't think we're happy about how we won, so we have to pay attention and stay focused on closing games out."
Jazz center Mehmet Okur, on Utah's late comeback bid:
"It was a little bit too late 'cause they had a 20-point lead. We just wanted to come out there in the fourth, just bring our 'A' game. We should've started the game like that. It was a must-win game for us. For some reason, we just couldn't start like that."
Jazz guard Deron Williams, on the physical play at the end of the game:
"It is what it is. It happens out there. You've got to take your hat off to those guys (the Lakers) though. They came out, they had a game plan, they were a focused team and they executed their game plan."
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, unhappy with his team's early effort, calling it "fair at best":
"I was surprised it took something like Ronnie Price's effort to bring us back alive out there. I have never seen a guy play that hard in my life, in that situation. ...
"Ronnie Price gave us some tremendous play in order to help us get there (back within five after trailing by 22). Had we set screens like that all night, we would have gotten a lot easier shots. If we'd done it like that in the whole series, we'd have gotten better shots."
No Luke: Prior to the game, the Lakers announced that Luke Walton was out indefinitely after an MRI discovered a partially torn ligament in his left ankle. Walton said he'd suffered the injury in the third quarter of Game 4 and kept playing, but "it just got worse and worse. By the time we landed (on the flight home), it was killing me. So I got an MRI this morning, and they said I've got to shut it down for a while.
"It's frustrating, it sucks, but it happens. So I'll deal with it, and treat it, and hope to get back out there."
Walton said he "absolutely" expects to play in the second round.
He called the way the injury occurred "weird.
"I stopped to make a pivot, and felt my bone kind of shift. It didn't even roll over. The bone kind of shifted out and came back, and they said when that happened, it tore part of the ligament. ...
"It's a dull, throbbing pain. And obviously, when I try to push off it, it turns to sharper. But it already feels better today than yesterday. So we'll see what (trainer) Gary Vitti can do."