Text messages from press row...

Like everything else involving Kobe Bryant, opinion seems to be divided on Spike Lee’s “Kobe Doin’ Work,” a feverishly anticipated documentary about the Lakers’ polarizing star. . . .

While Variety says the film, which premiered last weekend in New York and debuts May 16 on ESPN, “fascinatingly fuses thought and action,” Times blogger Scott Feinberg calls it a “tedious affair” offering little insight into its star, who reportedly demanded creative control before agreeing to participate. . . .

“Lee seems to be doing no more -- and probably even less -- than he usually does from his courtside seats,” Feinberg notes. “At least there, he mixes things up, gets loud and gets involved.” . . .

There’s little doubt that Andrew Bynum is going to help the Lakers, but the question is, will it be this season? . . .

TNT’s Reggie Miller, who repeatedly refers to 6-foot-10 Lamar Odom as a 7-footer, must know something we don’t. . . .

Former Lakers guard and Chick Hearn sidekick “Hot” Rod Hundley, retiring after 35 years as the voice of the Utah Jazz, was the top pick in the 1957 NBA draft -- the only West Virginia player ever taken that high. . . .

West Virginia’s Jerry West was taken second in 1960 -- after the Cincinnati Royals took Oscar Robertson. . . .

Not that fans of the NFL draft are complaining, but how is it that it takes longer to select 32 players than to play a game? . . .

Listen long enough to the seemingly endless number of NFL draft experts and you can’t help but conclude that every team in the league enjoyed a splendid draft last weekend. . . .

Except the Oakland Raiders. . . .

Congratulations to colleague Sam Farmer, who predicted nine of the top 10 picks, six in the very slot they were taken. . . .

Who would have guessed after Rey Maualuga’s spectacular interception return for a touchdown against Ohio State last fall that James Laurinaitis of the Buckeyes would be drafted ahead of him, or that neither would be taken in the first round? . . .

Or that former Trojans walk-on Clay Matthews would be selected before either of them? . . .

Headline in Sunday’s New York Post: “Sanch-Yes!” . . .

It must irk San Francisco Giants fans that the Dodgers own a winning record in AT&T; Park, which opened in 2000. . . .

The late Mark “The Bird” Fidrych was so popular in 1976 that when the Detroit Tigers visited Anaheim for a late-season series -- in which Fidrych was not scheduled to pitch -- he agreed to sit and sign autographs before all three games. . . .

Lines were so long that the start of each game was delayed. . . .

Manny Pacquiao, Rafael Nadal and Tiger Woods (of course) are the only athletes on Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential personalities of the last year. . . .

Notes Lennox Lewis of Pacquiao, preparing to meet Ricky Hatton in a junior-welterweight title fight Saturday in Las Vegas, “The grip he holds over the Philippines is similar to Nelson Mandela’s influence in South Africa. I can surely see Manny becoming the Philippine president one day.” . . .

Stranger things have happened. . . .

It seems as if every spring brings a playoff visit from Nicklas Lidstrom and the always-in-contention Detroit Red Wings, but only in 1997 did the 11-time Stanley Cup champions pass through Southern California on their way to a title. . . .

Reader Michael Shapiro of Torrance e-mails to suggest an obviously well-qualified candidate to coach a “sand” volleyball team at Long Beach State: former 49ers All-American and two-time Olympic gold medalist Misty May-Treanor. . . .

May-Treanor and on-court partner Kerri Walsh, by the way, are not playing on the AVP Tour this year because Walsh is due to deliver her first child next month and May-Treanor is still recovering from the ruptured Achilles’ tendon she suffered during her appearance last fall on “Dancing With the Stars.” . . .

Before Sunday’s frightening wreck at Talladega sent his car airborne and into a fence, Carl Edwards usually flipped only when he won and was safely out of the driver’s seat. . . .

Bob Oates, affectionately known as “The Professor,” loved explaining football and made it sound so simple. . . .

Taking issue with voters who did not make Kings defenseman Drew Doughty a finalist for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year, reader Robin Jorgensen of Torrance e-mails to suggest, “Guess I know what the O.J. jury is now doing.”

--

[email protected]