As you may have heard, Kobe Bryant had a fairly significant role in the Lakers' 105-103 win over the Nuggets on Tuesday.
And as you might suppose, Bryant wasn't exactly rushing to embrace the idea that he might not stand up to the workload if the Lakers need more nights like the 40-point, big-time-defense effort in Game 1.
"It's my job, man," he said.
"I don't worry about that at all. I'm prepared to do it. That's what you're supposed to do as a basketball player. You're supposed to play both ends of the floor."
Phil Jackson was not quite as dismissive.
"We're concerned about how much energy he has to expend out there," Jackson said.
"I thought he got tired in the first quarter. (We) got some rest for him inside of a minute and half or so, just so he'd have that and five-minute time outs we have at quarter ends with ESPN running the show." (These little shots at the TV networks are a Jackson staple and are always good for a laugh; this one was no exception.)
"We knew that he needed a break. He looked like he was ... fatigued at some level. So we know that's going to happen.
"But that's the mark of a true great player, that he has the ability to come back and play with energy. He has a resource, or finds, digs out somewhere."
Bryant had scored 14 points in the last game of the Houston series, so the 40 points Tuesday was quite a swing. He said there was no frustration or trust issue over inconsistent play by his teammates.
"When we have nights like that, I don't get down on them at all," he said. "We all understand that offense will help you in the game, but defense will win the game for you.
"So it's important that they understand that, so if they're having an off-night offensively they don't feel down on themselves where it impacts the other end of the floor.
"And we had enough firepower. We just kind of sustained shooting slumps here and there."
Gasol didn't see why it should make any difference if Bryant was scoring 14 or 40, as long as the result was the same.
"Not really," he said. "We like it more when everybody's more involved, because that means we're attacking them and hitting them from more directions, and it's hard for them to adjust to more than one or two things.
"But we'll take it any way we can. Kobe did great last night, especially in that fourth quarter."
Revision: The Lakers expressed a sense of good fortune immediately after Game 1, suggesting they might have stolen a win given how well the Nuggets played.
Upon further review, they weren't all that enamored of that idea.
"We were lucky to kind of stay in that game," said Lamar Odom, who then corrected himself: "I wouldn't say lucky, we fought hard to stay in that game and not give up."
Gasol was more definitive: "We earned it, and we deserved it.
"I don't think we stole anything. We worked hard, and we played hard. We didn't play our best game. They played a pretty good game. And we deserved it."
Bryant, meanwhile, moved away from the idea that the Lakers won on energy and guts.
"I think it was more execution, actually," he said. "You change series, you change opponent ... you execute different things, feature different things. It takes a little while to get used to it."