An injured knee kept Kobe Bryant from hooping in one of his favorite arenas on Sunday. Bryant could only watch his Lakers go down to Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks, but he did address Melo’s future (while Mike D’Antoni did all he could to avoid the touch subject.) Per Newsday:

“Well,” Bryant said, “everybody wants to play in Los Angeles. I mean, New York is a beautiful place, don’t get me wrong. But it is colder than —- out here. You know, palm trees and beaches obviously are a little more appealing.”

Weather aside, Bryant stuck to the party line that “players, when that time comes, will have to make the best decision for them and their families. If he wants to call me for advice later, as a friend, I will be more than happy to give it to him.”

There is, of course, the matter of judging Anthony as simply being a scorer — and something less than a complete player (though on Sunday he added four rebounds, five assists and a block). It’s a perception that Anthony is trying to change. “The only way to do that is win,” Bryant said. “That’s it. Winning the championship, that’s the only way to shake it. This is a team sport. A lot of times you have to work with what you have around you. You have to be lucky in the sense you have an organization that can put a great team around you to be successful.”