Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum Play Word Association, Talk Coaches, Teammates

While the Lakers looked dominant against the Nuggets in an easy Game 1 victory, Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum spoke with Melissa Rohlin of the Los Angeles Times about some lighter topics.

During a practice session before the postseason kicked off, Rohlin played word association with Bryant and Bynum and also spoke with reserve Jordan Hill.

The results were enlightening.

We now know that Bryant listens to Beethoven, likens his game to "one of the songs that's in a lot of cartoons," that Bynum calls himself a beast and Bryant "amazing." When Rohlin says "LeBron James" Bynum stares into the camera while remaining silent, before breaking into a laugh.

When Rohlin names current Lakers head coach Mike Brown, Bryant says "great coach." When she says Phil Jackson, he says "the best coach." Hopefully someone will shoot a link of the video to Phil so he can enjoy it as well.

While Brown has taken a lot of criticism this season, we often dismiss how tough it must be to step into the shoes of a man that many feel is the greatest coach in NBA history. It's no secret that most of Jackson's former players consider him the best, but Brown has done a commendable job of navigating the waters in his first season on the sideline in Los Angeles.

Coaching a team with such great expectations is never easy. Coaching superstars like Bryant and Bynum make things exponentially easier when they're going right, but also tougher when they're not. Brown survived his first regular season as Jackson's successor and his team looked fantastic in their first postseason game. 

While there were up and downs this year, things are looking pretty okay in Los Angeles right now.