When Kobe Bryant was a free agent in 2004, Isiah Thomas and the Knicks flew to Southern California armed with their mid-level exception.  Despite being nearly $100 million short of what the Lakers offered, Bryant listened to their offer.  

?The reason why I even was interested in taking that meeting was because of this city,? the 28-year-old Bryant said in an interview Tuesday morning. ?Because I always loved this city. Always. Ever since I came here, growing up in Philadelphia, there?s always so much energy and so much buzz in this city. How passionate they are about basketball, how knowledgeable they are about basketball.?

Bryant, a nine-time All-Star, excitedly ticked off the names of the Knicks legends Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Earl Monroe and Dave DeBusschere and said, ?I just wanted to play here so bad.?

?I know what it?s like to have a team here that?s successful and how the city rallies around it,? he said. ?So I was very interested. And if they had more cap flexibility, it?d definitely be a place where I would end up. I might have picked the Knicks.?

Lakers center Chris Mihm is with the team for its eight-game trip, elated that his ankle rehabilitation has gone better than expected and that he might return later this season.

"My ankle is coming along really well, ahead of the schedule I was given by the doctors," Mihm said. "I've still got quite a ways to go on it, but my sights have been set on coming back and playing this year. It's been pretty exciting to me. It keeps me motivated and working hard every day."

Mihm has undergone two operations since tearing ligaments in his right ankle last March against Seattle. He is listed on the injury report as being out for the season but is making steady progress with a routine that includes swimming and upper-body weightlifting.

"We're just watching him with some kind of amazement that he's back out and doing work," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. "He's not jumping up and down and shooting the ball and running, but he's back out doing things that make him look athletic again."

Even with Kobe Bryant banned from the arena, the Knicks knew not to expect an easy game.

The Lakers certainly didn't give them one.

The Knicks held off a late rally Tuesday night, handing the Lakers their season-high third straight loss with a 99-94 victory.

Bryant was suspended one game without pay earlier Tuesday for hitting San Antonio's Manu Ginobili in the face late in the Lakers' loss to the Spurs on Sunday.

But the Knicks, who last week lost at Miami in a game both Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal missed, knew not to take Los Angeles lightly.

"You're never going to blow them out," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said. "They're a team with a great coach who understands how to manipulate a game and keep his team close, and they've got good shooters.

Kobe Bryant requested an "immediate hearing" with the NBA office to discuss the one-game suspension he was given earlier Tuesday for striking San Antonio's Manu Ginobili in the face.

Bryant was to miss Tuesday's game against the New York Knicks, leaving the Lakers without their leading scorer when they opened an eight-game road trip.

However, since Bryant was already in New York, he was still hoping for a chance to play.

Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers has been suspended one game without pay for striking San Antonio Spurs guard Manu  Ginobili in the face, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred on Sunday, Jan. 28 with 2.7 remaining in the fourth period of the Lakers 96-94 (OT) loss to the Spurs at Staples Center.  Bryant will serve his suspension tonight when the Lakers play the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Phil Jackson told Andrew Bynum to watch tape of Tyson Chandler in order to learn the nuances of rebounding. Bynum responded by grabbing 15 boards.

"He watches the ball and never stops moving. Sometimes I'm standing there and a guy will be leaning on me and get by me. So I tried to watch the ball and keep moving and hawk the ball."

Luke Walton will be sidelined one to two weeks because of a moderately sprained right ankle sustained in the third quarter of the Lakers' 106-97 overtime loss to Charlotte.

He came down on the foot of Andrew Bynum and immediately left the court, becoming the latest Laker to spend bonus time with trainer Gary Vitti.

Matt Carroll scored 24 points, Emeka Okafor had 20 points and 18 rebounds, and the Bobcats beat the Lakers 106-97 in overtime Friday night.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 32 points, becoming at 28 years and 156 days the youngest player in NBA history to reach 18,000 points. Wilt Chamberlain did so at 28 years and 166 days, followed by Michael Jordan at 28 years and 359 days.

At $592 million, the New York Knicks are the NBA's most valuable franchise according to Forbes.  

The Knicks lead this category for the second straight year, with a valuation that increased 9 percent from the previous year despite NBA-high losses of $39 million and the league's highest player payroll.  

The Knicks also had a league-high $185 million in revenues for the 2005-06 season.

The Los Angeles Lakers are second with a $568 million valuation.

Lamar Odom flew through the air, caught Jordan Farmar's perfect lob pass and stuffed it through the basket.

The play elicited no response because it occurred during a scrimmage Tuesday. But it was a positive sign for the Lakers.

"He looked great, he looked really good. I didn't know what to expect," Kobe Bryant said following Odom's first practice with the Lakers since he sprained a ligament in his right knee Dec. 12.

Not only did Odom get through practice with no glitches, he said afterward he expects to play Friday night when the Lakers return to action against the Bobcats at Staples Center.