All Players are Important!! But some are more impacting than others.

This article is from ESPN. Coach James, Brownsburg High School Varsity Assistant Coach, highlighted some key remarks but all of the article can be read at
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/columns/story?id=5121114

The guy is Josh Powell.
"He has so much talent," Bryant said. "He can help us out so much. It's just that this team has so much depth. Every time he's had an opportunity to step in and perform, he's performed extremely well. Last year when Lamar [Odom] was out for a stretch, he stepped in in Houston and had a huge game, stepped in in San Antonio and had a huge game. He's extremely professional. Doesn't complain. Doesn't whine. He just comes out and works hard every day."

When the two meet up before Bryant takes the court, the Lakers reserve forward doesn't just embrace Bryant, he gets in his ear, imparting a final thought for Bryant to consider before tip-off, as if Powell was basketball's Dr. Phil.
"I tell him," Powell explained, "I say, 'We're going to go out to eat at McDonald's after the game and he's like, 'Yeah!' He gets fired up."
Really, Josh?

"Sometimes I'll be sarcastic. Sometimes I'll say something to really fire him up. Sometimes I'll give a quote from one of the coaches of them being sarcastic, it just all depends. We have fun with it.
"I just try to motivate. I know people wonder, 'How can you motivate guys like Kobe or Pau [Gasol]?' But you know, we're all human."
Now in his second season with the Lakers after spending the first three years of his career with four different teams, Powell has carved out a niche in Los Angeles as a vocal leader even though he is the ninth or 10th man in coach Phil Jackson's regular eight-man rotation.
In his short time with the Lakers, he's become fast friends with Bryant, who can just about count on one hand the amount of teammates he considers personal friends in his 14 seasons in the league.
"We both have a passion to work hard and to practice hard," Bryant said. "I think it started there and it grew from there."
Said Powell: "It's great. I think the biggest thing why we are close is because the hunger and the passion for the game that me and him both have. Granted, the skill level might be different, but you can't -- as far as heart and desire and things like that -- like, I'm up there. And everybody knows that. People can look at that and be like, 'That's my guy.'"

"Josh is a teammate of Kobe and he's a fan of Kobe because he sees how hard Kobe works," said Knox, who is the godfather to one of Powell's daughters. "Josh is a hard worker as well, so he appreciates that."
Bryant isn't just about practice, however. He's about performance. And he knows that Powell is capable of helping the team win ballgames.