Eagles and Falcons were working out the deal

"Juan is my guy," Samuelsaid. "He had the 12th (ranked) defense in the league. He was doing a good job as (best) I could see. It's just unfortunate that he had to resign from his job or whatever."

When the Eagles and Falcons were working out the deal — it was complicated because Samuel had to agree to a renegotiated contract — Reid stayed in touch with Samuel during the process.

"It was a joint thing," Samuel said. "Atlanta was the place where I wanted to come. They tried to not let me come to Atlanta of course, but we got it done."

Now, he has a new home and checks on his mother in a timely manner.

Bryant also couldn't resist taking another shot or two at former teammate

Bryant talked about learning to surf with his daughters. He said he enjoyed the Lakers' annual October barnstorming tour of Californiaand southern Nevada. He spoke about jelling with new Lakers point guard Steve Nash.

Bryant also couldn't resist taking another shot or two at former teammate and frequent punching bag Smush Parker, saying, "I told Steve, 'You were winning the MVP and playing with (Leandro) Barbosa (in 2005-06) and I was playing with Smush Parker.'"

"Smush Parker was the worst," Bryant continued without pausing as a pack of reporters howled along with him. "He shouldn't have even been in the NBA. We were too cheap to afford a real point guard. So, we let him walk on."