Kobe Bryant labeled his comments about possibly playing in Europe as a joke.

?Somebody throws us this question about playing overseas,? Bryant said. ?I don?t want (LeBron James) to answer it. He?s a young kid; I don?t want him to take the controversial stuff. I said, ?Well, if a team throws us $50 million, then we?ll all go.?" ?

?It?s just something that was a joke for us, and people took it and ran with it or whatever. That?s fine. Everybody needs to banter about something.?

Baron Davis believes that the Clippers have the talent to do damage in the Western Conference but believes that the beginning could be rough for the team.

"Our possibilities are endless," Davis said. "We have great fans. We're the underdog in the city, so a lot of people are going to be rooting for us. It's just a matter of us coming together at the right time."

"It's going to be bumpy in the beginning."

The Magic will practice with both forward Hedo Turkoglu and rookie Courtney Lee at point guard in training camp.

Coach Stan Van Gundy said both will get into the rotation for a few minutes each practice in a point role during the first week of workouts.

"He and Turkoglu together with a 2 or 3 man, sharing the ball handling duties together," Van Gundy said, "which is something I do think we can go to because I do think Courtney is capable of guarding point guards."

Nuggets' Coach George Karl has hinted that he would like Allen Iverson to pass more this season.

"I think you can put A.I. and (Carmelo Anthony) both in that category," Karl said. "It's about our efficiency and effectiveness on the offensive end, and their effectiveness isn't determined by how many points they score, but by how many good plays they put into the game."

Since he joined the team, Denver is 23-4 when Iverson has more than ten assists.

Lakers' center Andrew Bynum claims that he isn't concerned about a possible contract extension with the team.

"It's not a concern of mine at all," Bynum said. "That's business. My agent takes care of it. What I've got to do is play well and make people believe that I'm the great player I'm supposed to be."

Bynum and the Lakers have until Oct. 31 to come to an agreement.

He averaged 13.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 2.1 blocked shots last season before he suffered a season-ending knee injury in January.

The Celtics are keeping center Kendrick Perkins out of scrimmages during training camp because of offseason surgery on his left shoulder.

Coach Doc Rivers said that Perkins is allowed to run the floor "as long as no one else is running up and down the floor with him."

Martell Webster's hard work this summer could pay off with a starting role in Portland this season.

"I'll be a lot more consistent this year - mentally consistent, consistent from a basketball standpoint. I'm just going to go out there and do what I've been doing," Webster told HoopsWorld.

"I can come off the bench and be totally fine with that. I want to help the team," Webster added. "But I feel good coming off the bench or starting, but you go out there and prepare yourself to become a starter. If it happens it happens. I won't be mad with the result."

If Webster starts, Travis Outlaw would come off the bench as the sixth man much like the setup the Blazers used last season with Greg Oden injured.

The Raptors signed free-agent forward Jamal Sampson, who is expected to give Toronto frontcourt depth after the loss of Nathan Jawai.

Jawai will be held out of practice because of concerns from a routine cardiac screening.

Multiple league sources have confirmed to Tim Kawakami that leading up to the Baron Davis opt-out deadline, Davis and Warriors' chief Chris Mullin reached a tentative agreement, in which Davis would ?opt-in? on his $17.8M for this season, then land a three-year, $39M extension ($13M per).

All money included would have paid Davis $56.8M over four seasons through the 2011-12 season.

But for the offer to become official, it had to be approved by Team President Robert Rowell, and he reportedly vetoed it.

Philadelphia center Samuel Dalembert wants to make his first-ever All-Star team this season after averaging a double-double last year.

"Ben Wallace has been an All-Star before by just playing defense," Dalembert said. "You don't have to score 20 points a game. My goal has never been scoring. I want guys like Elton Brand to have the ball. I want guys like [Andre] Iguodala to have the ball. I can score off them without having any plays run for me. My main goal is to be a force, a presence inside."