NBA | News & notes

Bryant not dwelling on Howard: Kobe Bryant is working hard to get back on the court and not wasting any time thinking about Dwight Howard.

Bryant says his surgically repaired Achilles’ tendon is “progressing faster than anybody expected,” though he won’t start shooting again until next month.

He is holding his annual youth basketball camp at UC Santa Barbara this week.

Last week, he joined the Lakers in their meeting with Howard, who eventually chose Houston instead of re-signing in L.A.

Bryant says Wednesday he doesn’t know why Howard left.

He says: “You think once a guy decides to go someplace else I’m going to waste my time trying to figure out why that happened?”

Jackson to step down: The NBA says executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson is leaving his position on Aug. 1, and Rod Thorn will return to the league office as president of basketball operations.

Jackson spent more than 13 years at the league. In his current position, he is in charge of all rules, conduct and discipline on the court. He informed Commissioner David Stern and other officials that he planned to step down. He has been involved in college or pro basketball for more than three decades.

Thorn previously spent 14 seasons at the NBA office and has been a successful team executive with Chicago, New Jersey and Philadelphia.

Andersen to stay with Heat: Chris Andersen has signed a $1.7 million, one-year deal to return to the NBA champion Miami Heat.

Andersen averaged 4.9 points in 42 games last season off the Heat bench, then averaged 6.4 points in 20 playoff games. He shot 81 percent from the floor during the playoffs. The Heat were 54-8 in games in which Andersen appeared after he joined the team in late January as a free agent. Andersen could have commanded $3.2 million from the Heat and possibly even a longer contract with another team.

Paul re-signs with Clippers: Chris Paul can’t recall the exact moment he knew that he wanted to stay with the Los Angeles Clippers. Once he decided, though, the free agent All-Star was quick to commit.

He signed a five-year deal worth nearly $108 million on Tuesday night, telling the Clippers he wanted to talk about it with the rest of the team’s free agent signees on Wednesday.

Paul joined Matt Barnes and Ryan Hollins, who both re-signed, along with newly acquired Darren Collison, Jared Dudley and J.J. Redick, and new coach Doc Rivers at the team’s training complex.

Associated Press