Kobe Bryant

A former housekeeper for Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant is suing him and his wife, Vanessa, contending that she was verbally abused and humiliated while she worked at the couple's Newport Coast home. Maria Jimenez, a 48-year-old immigrant originally from Peru, alleges Vanessa Bryant badgered and harassed her, and forced her to perform demeaning tasks. Jimenez filed the wrongful-termination lawsuit March 20 in Orange County Superior Court.

Not content with simply leaving first impressions, newest Laker Ron Artest showed up Wednesday pounding some serious first dents. He talked about showering with Kobe, messing with ESPN, honoring Michael Jackson, and strutting for Hollywood. "Sometimes I speak my mind and people aren't ready for what I say," he said. This would be, um, one of those times. The initial question at his introductory news conference was asked by him. "Where's TMZ?" he asked. "They're not here?"

There have been knee injuries that required surgery, severely sprained ankles that took weeks to recover, and a bout with plantar fasciitis, a foot condition as ugly and painful as its name implies. But nothing bothered Kobe Bryant as much as the dislocated finger he suffered in the Lakers' victory Monday over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

If one side of the Lakers' locker room is inhabited by a grimace, the other side is occupied by grace. If Kobe Bryant is the Lakers' heat, then Lamar Odom is their humanity, a simple guy fighting through life's complexities with sad smiles and soft wisdom. "We had a saying in my old neighborhood," he says Friday in the gentlest of New York accents. "Either you ride, or you get rolled over."

Hello, doldrums, their old friend. Once again, the Lakers found themselves in another close encounter with another team far below them in the standings and once again they escaped. Sunday's 108-105 victory over Miami makes 36 encounters and 30 escapes, so the Lakers' official position is still, "What's the problem?" First of all, it looks so casual. Second, Lakers fans are going into Taco Deficit.

Kobe Bryant has long drawn comparisons to Michael Jordan, but Wednesday night he seemed to channel Bill Russell. . . . Maybe it had something to do with his being in Oakland, where Russell got his start at McClymonds High, but those blocks on Anthony Randolph and Corey Maggette were spectacular. . . . Russell, by the way, is 75. . . .

The Memphis Grizzlies have been an elixir throughout the season, arriving in arenas throughout the NBA and providing instant relief for whatever ails the home team. For the Lakers, the Grizzlies' appearance at Staples Center meant the return of Kobe Bryant's shooting touch and the end of a modest two-game losing streak. Bryant had 31 points on 12-for-23 shooting and the Lakers defeated the Grizzlies, 99-89, on Tuesday.

With one month left in the regular season, the debate is in full swing: Kobe Bryant or LeBron James for MVP? The Lakers' 11-time All-Star won the award for the first time last season, but the Cleveland Cavaliers forward has been racking up superb stats while his team runs stride for stride with the Lakers for the league's best record. James, in his sixth season, has never won the award.

Of all people to take a shot at Kobe Bryant. Ryan Hollins is the backup to the backup center with the Dallas Mavericks, and yet he was trash-talking about Bryant. Hollins, who attended UCLA and Pasadena Muir High, appeared on Michael Irvin's ESPN radio show in Dallas and talked about how he could help the Mavericks win now and in the playoffs. If the playoffs started today, the top-seeded Lakers would face the eighth-seeded Mavericks. Hollins gave his analysis on how the Mavericks can win.

On a loud night in a hostile land, basketball's most obstinate, headstrong, willful player did something amazing. He listened. He listened to the headaches of a team. He listened to the heartbeat of a series. I would say he listened to me in Saturday's column, but Kobe Bryant would rather hug Shaquille O'Neal than listen to me, so, no, but still . . .