Malone voices his support for Bryant

LOS ANGELES — Karl Malone has not played an NBA game yet with Kobe Bryant.

The former Jazz star has been a member of the Los Angeles Lakers for only a few days now, in fact.

Still, Malone is backing Bryant as if the two have been teammates for decades.

"I support him like I would my brother — and that's the way it should be," Malone said Thursday, one day before Bryant was charged with a single felony count for allegedly sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in Colorado.

Malone suggested his support was unwavering, regardless of whether Bryant was going to be charged or not.

"When you're a team, you have your ups and downs," said Malone, who signed with the Lakers as a free agent earlier this week and was introduced Thursday along with fellow signee Gary Payton at a news conference in L.A.

"But," he added, "I will say this right now, and I'm sure Gary will say the same thing: No matter what happens, it's not going to be a distraction, because we are teammates of his, and when you're teammates with somebody . . . you go through the thick and thin, the good and the bad."

Bryant admits to having committed adultery, but denies the charge against him.

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