Mike Brown said Kobe Bryant will remain the focal point of the team — "This is still his team; Kobe is Kobe" — and will get the ball in his favorite spots despite the departure of Jackson's triangle offense that has served Bryant so well. Brown said the Spurs' post-oriented offense that won him his lone NBA championship ring as Gregg Popovich's assistant in 2003 will be the template for these Lakers.

Brown said his philosophy is to tailor the offensive scheme to the personnel — but "you can take your defense from team to team as long as you have effort."

Brown referred to the statistic that the winner of the Dallas-Miami NBA Finals will be the 15th champion in the past 16 years to have a defense ranked in the league's top eight.

"That's something we'll preach from Day One," he said about the Lakers needing outstanding defense.