LOS ANGELES — It was only a couple of hours before they handed out the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award on Tuesday, but there he was, all by his lonesome at the Lakers' practice gym.

Not another reporter even close.

So naturally I seized the opportunity.

I had Coby all to myself.

That would be Coby Karl, last man in the Los Angeles Lakers' roster, not MVP Kobe Bryant.

Hey, you take your Kobes, er, Cobys where you can get 'em.

When the Jazz and Lakers meet tonight in Game 2 of the playoffs, you probably won't notice Coby Karl. He'll be the guy who doesn't dress. The guy who is is behind Jordan Farmar, behind Didier Ilunga-Mbenga, behind Ira Newbie and behind Chris Mihm.

Behind everyone who is anyone with the Lakers except maybe the guy selling peanuts.

He's not the person Tobey Maguire, Jack Nicholson or Denzel Washington will be talking up before the game.

Rather, he's the quintessential happy-to-be-here role player.

"I'm fine with that," said Karl, after Tuesday's practice.

"I'm fine with who I am."

For those not entirely up to speed on Karl, he's the son of Denver Nuggets' coach George Karl. He grew up in various cities, thanks to his father's career. Born in Great Falls, Mont., where his dad directed the local CBA team, he attended high school in Milwaukee and played college basketball at Boise State. Although he was never a Kobe-type superstar, he was the son of an NBA coach, which brought its own challenges.

"Being the coach's kid was always a stigma for me," he said.

He always had to prove he had earned his own spot in the lineup.

Teammates don't tease him about being the "other Kobe," he said, but rather "they give me a bad time about my father. But that's died down pretty much."

Particularly since the Lakers ousted the senior Karl's Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.

Coby Karl is no stranger to NBA locker rooms. His father has been head coach at Cleveland, Golden State, Seattle, Milwaukee and Denver.

"I think I'm more in awe because I've been around it and it's weird to me to actually be part of it," said the younger Karl.

During a college career that included second-team all-WAC honors, he suffered thyroid cancer and had two surgeries for the condition. He still takes a daily pill to compensate for the loss of his thyroid, and he gets checked regularly.