Wednesday, September 6 2006 11:01 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Tokyo: NBA All Star Kobe Bryant coaches Tokyo school children at a basketball clinic Monday (4 Sep, 2006) as Team USA leave for home with bronze medals from the World Basketball Championship, which they win without his help.

The 28-year-old Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard has cancelled his commitment to the two-week championship held in Japan, as he needs rest after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in July.

The US 'Dream Team' of NBA stars led by Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony lose to European champion Greece in the semi-finals on Friday (1 Sep, 2006) but whipped Argentina for third place in Tokyo's northern suburbs on Saturday (2 Sep, 2006).

Bryant, ringed by security guards, does not respond to questions from reporters massed at an outdoor basketball court in Yoyogi Park, where he attends the 90-minute clinic with some 170 local children organised by his sponsor Nike. He is on the first leg of an eight-day Asian tour, which will also take him to Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and China.