Laker officials were privately encouraged to see Andrew Bynum hold his ground defensively against Shaquille O'Neal.

Also encouraging was after a Bynum bucket, he elbowed O'Neal at the other end as the Heat center moved toward the lane to get position. O'Neal answered with a forceful elbow to Bynum's upper chest and both players were assessed technical fouls.

"For [Bynum] to come down and respond the way that he did, you also have got to know who his mentor is," Bryant said. "We all know Kareem was nasty, man. He's grooming Andrew Bynum and I think you see the aggressiveness in him."

Bynum said he hadn't expected to trade elbows with O'Neal.

"When he hit me, I was a little surprised," Bynum said. "It wasn't in my face or anything like that. He just hit me back in the chest. Nothing really I can do about that. He's kind of big."

Bynum irked O'Neal on draft day by saying he was a lot like O'Neal except that he actually made free throws. Only 17 at the time, Bynum didn't know that O'Neal never likes to hear about missed free throws or added pounds.