Kobe: I would play for Isiah

Could Kobe Bryant actually come to the rescue of the New York Knicks?

The Los Angeles Lakers superstar told Newsday that despite their struggles the Knicks remain on the short list of teams to which he would accept a trade.

"I would look at it as just another challenge to prove that you can win," Bryant said. "That's how I would approach it. I wouldn't be down about it. I'd just work that much harder to try to prove that if we do work hard, we can win ballgames.

If I was Isiah Thomas I would be on the phone with Lakers' General Manager Mitch Kupchak right now seeing if there is any way to make this actually happen.

The Knicks are a moribund franchise and Thomas has provided only embarrassment, not improvement, during his four years with the team.

Finding some way to put Bryant in a Knicks' uniform could be his only chance to change all that.

Don't count on it happening, though, Knicks' fans. It's impossible to tell with Bryant how much of what he says is truth and how much is posturing meant to prod the Lakers into trying to improve a team that is still not a serious contender in the Western Conference.

Oh, and then there is the small matter of whether the Knicks could actually give the Lakers anything that would entice them to consider trading Bryant. If a package of, say, David Lee, Jamal Crawford and a couple of No. 1 picks would at least get the Lakers to think about it you would have to believe there would have been discussion of it by now.

So, Kobe in a Knicks' uniform would seem to remain a far-fetched possibility.

For Knicks' fans, though, it's nice to dream.

technorati tags: Kobe Bryant, New York Knicks, Isiah Thomas, Los Angeles Lakers