This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The Jazz's Raja Bell spoke with the media following a Friday morning shootaround at EnergySolutions Arena.Bell on guarding Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant after nearly signing with the Lakers last summer: "Yeah [it is overblown.] I don't think it's going to be anything. There were a thousand free agents that moved last summer and I was just one of them. They're a really, really good team. I don't know that I would have made any difference for them. So, I don't think he's really thought twice about that, and I surely haven't. But any time that you play against the Lakers, no matter what team I'm on, it's always a game that you like to win, because they're always kind of the cream of the crop. You use a team like that as a measuring stick. For us, it's no different tonight than any other team I was on."— Brian T. SmithTwitter: tribjazz