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LOS ANGELES -- Kobe Bryant isnt sure hell be ready to play when the Los Angeles Lakers open the season on Oct. Air Force One Shoes 2018 . 29, although he remains ahead of schedule in rehabbing his surgically repaired Achilles tendon. Bryant turns 35 next week and he vowed that his 17-year career is "definitely not over." "I just want that jewelry," he said, referring to the possibility of claiming his sixth NBA championship. "People just dont understand how obsessed I am with winning." Bryant made his comments to late night host Jimmy Kimmel during "Kobe Up Close," a one-on-one conversation with the NBA superstar on Thursday night at Nokia Theatre across from Staples Center. He had a one-word answer when Kimmel asked whether he would finish his career with the only team hes ever played for: "Yeah," Bryant replied. The 7,100-seat venue was full of Bryants fans that cheered, jeered and interrupted freely during the one-hour program. Ticket proceeds benefited the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation, which works to help end homelessness. In keeping with the reason for the event, Kimmel asked, "If there was only one homeless person in the world, would you be happy if it was Dwight Howard?" The audience roared, mere weeks removed from Howards decision to leave the Lakers for Houston after one season. "Dwight is a great kid," Bryant said, nearly drowned out by boos. "We have different perspectives on what it takes to win." Kimmel kept the questions light while touching on a variety of topics well known to Bryants most ardent fans. Bryant recalled that before he was drafted in 1996 by Charlotte and then traded to the Lakers, he worked out for Boston and the Clippers. "I had a really fun and good workout with the Clippers," he said. "They told me, This is the best workout weve ever seen." But he said the team told him it wouldnt be drafting him out of high school. "We want to turn things around with our organization and we felt like if we drafted a 17-year-old kid, the city of L.A. wouldnt take us seriously," Bryant said the Clippers told him. Kimmel retorted, "They always make the best decisions." Bryant said Chris Paul should have ended up with the Lakers instead of the Clippers. The NBA office, which owned New Orleans at the time, decided against a deal team officials had agreed to with the Lakers. "Chris called me and told me it was a done deal," Bryant said. "Then he calls me back 30 minutes later and says, You wont believe it. David Stern killed the deal." Before Bryant jumped directly from high school to the pros, he said he was recruited by Duke, North Carolina, Kansas and West Point. The military academy sent him his first college letter. If he had gone to college, Bryant said he likely wouldve chosen North Carolina because Vince Carter had gone to Chapel Hill the previous year, and Bryant would have wanted to compete with him at practice every day. As a teenager with a lucrative NBA contract, Bryant said he wasnt interested in big expenditures. "The game consumed me," he said. Bryant recalled his first meeting with Shaquille ONeal over dinner at a Beverly Hills restaurant. "I thought it was the coolest thing in the world that he had a cellphone that was the biggest in the world," he said. Together, they won three consecutive NBA titles from 2000-02. But they eventually fell out and ONeal was traded after the Lakers lost in the 2004 finals. "It was a tough period. He and I just werent going to play together anymore," Bryant said. "I had to prove I could win without him." It would take a while, though. Bryant and the Lakers didnt capture another NBA title until they won two straight in 2009 and 2010. Bryant credited Michael Jordan for giving him "phenomenal advice" on how to elevate his teammates. "My demeanour and my temper probably calmed down a little bit," he said. "I go into games today looking at what are my guys going through, who is struggling, what can I do to help." Among the famous faces in the audience were Lakers owners Jeanie and Jim Buss, general manager Mitch Kupchak, Hall of Fame baseball player Dave Winfield and former NFL receiver Terrell Owens. Jeanie Buss was visibly touched when Bryant spoke about why so many Lakers players loved her late father, Jerry. "He knew exactly what his vision was," Bryant said. "He was very patient, he was very understanding. He allowed me room to grow as a person." Bryant said his daughters, ages 10 and 7, are playing sports, although he didnt specify which ones. He described them as "insanely, insanely competitive." Nike Air Max 97 . Louis Blues teammates who would also be participating in the Olympics, Alex Pietrangelo felt right at home, no different in some ways to the travel experience of any old road trip – save for the length of the journey, that is. Nike Air Max 97 Mens Trainers .C. -- Charlotte Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said after all of these years in the NBA hes still amazed at some of the things LeBron James does. http://www.fundfdr.org/air-max-360-2017.html . -- Josh Sterk scored once and set up two more as the Oshawa Generals edged the visiting Belleville Bulls 3-2 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action.SURREY, B.C. -- The BC Lions expect to regain key linebacker Solomon Elimimian and veteran kicker Paul McCallum for Thursday nights home opener against the defending Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts. The Lions (0-1) started poorly against the Stampeders in their opening round clash in Calgary on Friday, and although they managed to outscore the hosts in the second half, they still lost 44-32. It was a frustrating game for Elimimian (ankle) to watch, and he admitted after Mondays practice that one point he "was about to throw a couple of chairs." "It was definitely tough," he said, before adding he was "expecting" to play in that game. "But that was last week and we have 17 more regular-season games to go." And that starts with a home date with the Argonauts (1-0), who fought back to overcome Hamilton 39-34 last week on the back of solid contributions from running back Chad Kackert (10 rushes for 112 yards and a touchdown) and wide receiver/kick returner Chad Owens. Elimimian is looking forward to the challenge of stopping that pair, along with QB Ricky Ray, who went 24-34 for 368 yards and four touchdowns against the Ti-Cats. "They have a great offence and a great offensive game," the 26-year-old said. "I just think the big thing for us is just doing what we do, and thats run to the ball and be physical and if we do that well be fine." Lions head coach Mike Benevides was looking forward to having Elimimian back at his disposal on defence as his team looks to avoid falling into a 0-2 hole. "The biggest thing that Solly brings to us is obviously that downhill mentality to defend the run," he said. "It gives us a little bit of synergy that we had in training camp and it just gives us another run stopper thats comfortable with `Biggie (LB Adam Bighill)." Besides Elimimian, the Lions should also be boosted by the return of 43-year-old McCallum, after Benevides watched his punter go through the motions Monday. "Paul did all the place kicking, he felt good, he did some punting and really showed some power," Benevides said. "So its gonna be on him because hes a pro and hes been around a long time. But I really liked what I saw from his place kicking. "He tells me he feels good, so Im gonna make sure that he is entirely confident that hes not feeling (the groin injury) anymore and well take a hard look at him." The news wasnt as promising for Lions star centre Angus Reid (lower back), with Benevides saying he will still be evaluated on a weekly basis. Air Max 97 Silver Bullet Restock. . "Obviously, hes getting better all the time," the coach said of the 36-year-old. "The thing with him is its gonna be a week-to-week thing and for him its about loading it, meaning hes in the weight room doing squats, hes practising and then the true tell-tale will be how sore he is the next day or two days after." With the 13-year pro still sidelined, snapping duties will once again fall to second-year player Matt Norman, who is being groomed as Reids eventual replacement on the offensive line. The 25-year-old former guard struggled with the count in the loss to Calgary but said he had already put it behind him. "Ive looked at film, made some corrections and now Im focusing on Toronto," he said. Norman doesnt see Torontos visit as a tool for motivation, adding he maintains "the same level of intensity each week". "I dont go up or down depending on who were playing," he said. "I keep the same level of motivation and confidence for each game, to me its just another game." Despite his issues at centre, Norman had the full support of Lions QB Travis Lulay and Benevides as he makes the difficult transition. "Those types of things happen, they do happen, and Matt doesnt like it when they happen and its tough," said Lulay, who completed 21 of 36 passes for 283 yards and a touchdown against the Stampeders. "But its part of the process, you have to make mistakes to find out what you need to be better at so thats something hes obviously very conscious of. But Matts a pro, hell get those things ironed out and well get better there." Benevides said Normans errors were more glaring than others because of his job hiking the ball to Lulay on each possession. "You just have to grow with that a little bit, (but) when you look at the totality of the game, he played fine," he said. "Week to week hes gonna get better and you have to also give him a chance to go through some of these learning curves." NOTES: DE Julius Williams could make his first appearance in a Lions jersey on Thursday. Said Benevides: "He got some work on the weekend and were gonna take a hard look at that because if Julius can get in hell help us and that will give us a different type of rotation and a different type of player on the edge."aThe Lions added import LB Yaser Elqutub to their practice roster Monday. ' ' '