Somehow, 133 days later, the flames still flicker inside Kobe Bryant.

His first Olympic gold medal created an immeasurable degree of serenity for one of the NBA's top competitors, but it was only diversionary, the type of thing to be reflected upon throughout a lifetime but not enough to break away completely from what happened last June.

Boston Celtics 131, Los Angeles Lakers 92. Hello, motivation.

Bryant and the Lakers return to action in a season opener tonight against the Portland Trail Blazers at Staples Center. If the Lakers arrive with chips on their shoulders, it's because of four months of heavy mental lifting after a Game 6 Finals flop and an embarrassing end to the pursuit of the franchise's 15th NBA title.

The Lakers can already find themselves anointed the 2009 champions on magazine covers, sports Web sites and Las Vegas tote boards, but Bryant does not seem impressed by a paper champion.

He spoke frankly when asked if the potential and depth of the present-day Lakers could be compared to the three championship teams earlier this decade.

"No it's not a fair comparison at all," he said. "Talent-wise, we probably have more talent on this team, but what we had on that team was inner toughness. That's something that we have to prove still."

"Boston obviously was a big challenge, a test for us that we failed. But we're going to be getting better at it. The team that we had in the past, that was just a tough, tough team. That came through experience. That came through trial and error. Hopefully we can get there soon."

The Lakers certainly have the ability to do it.

Bryant is back after winning his first MVP award, Pau Gasol looks efficient and comfortable in his new power forward position, and Andrew Bynum is quickly rounding into basketball form after offseason knee surgery.

And yet, the expectations are being beaten out of the team by coach Phil Jackson, who returns for a fourth season in his second tour with the Lakers.

Days of rest were few and far between this month. Tired legs and weary mindsets were all but shrugged off, if not ignored, by Jackson.

"I think this is the hardest I've worked guys in preseason in the re-emergence of my tenure here," Jackson said.

"There's a sense of, 'Wow, we had a great year last year' or that type of thing. My estimation is we had a great finish to the season, but we didn't end the season on a high note. We ended it on a low note and that's something you have to get out of your system in training camp."

The Western Conference looks as formidable as last season, when the Lakers' 57-25 record was enough to win the tightest conference race since the league moved to a 16-team playoff format in 1984.

Yesterday, the Lakers waived guard Coby Karl, who played in 17 games for Los Angeles Lakers last season.

Karl, the son of Denver Nuggets coach George Karl, averaged 1.8 points, 0.8 rebounds and 4.2 minutes as an undrafted rookie free agent with the Lakers.

The Lakers also announced they had picked up the fourth-year option on guard Jordan Farmar's contract.

NOTES

Raptors: Toronto exercised the fourth-year option on forward Andrea Bargnani, the first overall pick in the 2006 draft. Financial terms were not disclosed. Bargnani averaged 10.2 points and 3.7 rebounds last season.

Wizards: Washington exercised its third-year options on forward Oleksiy Pecherov and guard Nick Young. Young was the No. 16 overall pick in the 2007 draft, and Pecherov was chosen 18th overall in 2006.

Rockets: Houston backup point guard Aaron Brooks will miss 1 to 3 weeks because of a bone bruise in his right ankle. Brooks averaged 14.4 points and 4.1 assists in seven preseason games.

Knicks: Patrick Ewing Jr. was waived by New York, which got down to the 15-player limit by cutting the son of its career scoring leader.