Bryant, O'Neal continue off-court battle in media

Koby said Shaq's selfishness and jealousy may cause him to leave Lakers.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) -- The tension engulfing Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers is growing, and the season hasn't even begun.
As the Lakers prepared for tonight's opener against Dallas, Bryant indicated he might not play, and again lashed out at Shaquille O'Neal, calling the center childish and accusing him of coming to training camp "fat and out of shape" in previous years.
"My knee is not strong enough to play yet. I know it. When it is, I will play," Bryant told ESPN by phone Monday. "I probably won't play [tonight] or until I'm ready."
Battle through media
Bryant, coming back from off-season knee surgery, traded barbs with O'Neal through the media over the weekend. Neither spoke with reporters after practice Monday, although Bryant did the telephone interview with ESPN.
The Lakers weren't so sure Bryant will miss the game.
"Our understanding is that Kobe might not play because of the knee injury," Lakers director of public relations John Black said Monday night. "We think he probably will. That decision will be made [tonight] based on how Kobe is feeling and how his knee feels prior to the game."
Karl Malone and Gary Payton each had said Bryant and O'Neal were getting along fine during practice Monday. They also said that, during a team meeting, they stressed working out problems in the locker room rather than airing them in the media.
Tighten up control
Coach Phil Jackson said after practice that the Lakers needed to tighten up control over what players say to reporters, adding, "We're going to make sure that guys understand that this is something we don't want to have happen."
Bryant still spoke out in the phone interview, saying he didn't need any advice from O'Neal on how to play hurt.
"I've played with IVs before, during and after games. I've played with a broken hand, a sprained ankle, a torn shoulder, a fractured tooth, a severed lip and a knee the size of a softball," he said.
"I don't miss 15 games because of a toe injury that everybody knows wasn't that serious in the first place."
O'Neal was hampered by an arthritic right big toe throughout the 2001-02 season and had surgery on Sept. 11, 2002. He missed the first 12 games of last season -- nine of them losses.
Bryant had knee surgery July 1 in Colorado.
The latest in a series of feuds between the two flared over the weekend when O'Neal said Bryant needs to be more of a team player.
"That's ridiculous. I have been successfully sacrificing my game for years for Shaq," Bryant said Monday. "That's what Phil wanted me to do, so I did it. Last year, Phil told me Shaq was not in physical condition to carry the thrust of our offense, so he asked me to do it.
"But then he saw Shaq was getting upset that the team wasn't running through him, so Phil asked me to pull back and I did. This year is no different. My role is whatever Phil wants it to be, period."
To decide future
Bryant intends to opt out of his contract after the end of this season, but said he won't decide until then whether he will remain with the Lakers.
"If leaving the Lakers at the end of the season is what I decide, a major reason for that will be Shaq's childlike selfishness and jealousy," he said.