GLENDALE, Ariz. >> You don’t have to look too far into the future to imagine Kobe Bryant as a motivational speaker, standing on an auditorium stage and speaking to rows of eager corporate folks wearing pressed khakis.
For now, imagine this: Wednesday night in Phoenix, Bryant was on a trainer’s table getting treatment inside Talking Stick Arena in Phoenix. The Lakers had just lost to the Suns. Bryant’s audience was a small group of baseball players.
“Me, (Mike) Trout, (Garrett) Richards, Weav (Jered Weaver), James Shields and Matt Kemp,” said Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, a Los Angeles native and a diehard Lakers fan.