Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant said in a televised interview Thursday night that he sometimes becomes distracted or scared as he fights a felony sexual assault charge.

``You're just ... living in a nightmare and just can't really wake up out of it,'' Bryant said in the interview broadcast on ABC at halftime of the Lakers' 99-87 loss to Houston.

Bryant is charged with attacking a 19-year-old employee at a Colorado resort in June. He has said the two had consensual sex.

Asked if he has trouble keeping his mind on basketball during games, Bryant said: ``Sometimes it wanders and I have to try to bring myself back to center. It's human nature, I guess.''

He said he is sometimes ``a little bit'' scared.

``If you can't control, you just kind of have to let it go. And at times that can be extremely difficult but, you know, you do it,'' he said.

Bryant is scheduled to return to Eagle, Colo., for another hearing Jan. 23. He faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation if convicted.