LOS ANGELES (AP) – Kobe Bryant insists he and Shaquille O’Neal will get along this season and do whatever it takes to help the Los Angeles Lakers win another NBA championship.

Coach Phil Jackson fined Bryant an undisclosed amount for publicly criticizing O’Neal, and the team met for 20 minutes Tuesday to discuss the feud that has developed between the two players.

“We don’t see this as insurmountable at all,” Jackson said before the Lakers opened the season with a 109-93 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

“It’s like a family feud,” guard Gary Payton said. “You have it for an hour and it’s over.”

Bryant was not in uniform Tuesday night after he said he didn’t think his surgically repaired knee was strong enough to withstand the rigors of a 48-minute game. The Lakers had expected him to play until hearing otherwise Monday on ESPN. Bryant said he hopes to return Saturday night in Phoenix.

Bryant castigated O’Neal during a telephone interview with ESPN, calling him “childlike,” “unprofessional,” “selfish,” “fat” and “jealous.” He also accused the 7-footer of overstating the severity of his foot injury last season when he reported to training camp overweight.

Bryant’s comments came a day after O’Neal said the Lakers were “my team,” adding that Bryant needed to be more of a team player – an observation based on two exhibition games.

“We’re cool. We talked this morning. He said what he said, I said what I said. We put it behind us,” Bryant said after the Lakers’ victory. “Shaq and I are going to move on, be teammates and help this team to a fourth title.”

Asked if he wanted to clarify his comments to ESPN, Bryant replied, “I don’t have anything to clarify. I’m past it.”

O’Neal blamed the media for starting the controversy.

“We don’t really have issues,” he told TNT after the game. “(Bryant) said something that was misconstrued and I said something that was misconstrued and we talked about it. Right now, we are going to play. We are just trying to win.”

One member of the Lakers said Tuesday morning’s meeting lasted about 20 minutes, with O’Neal and Bryant addressing the team but not each other. The only other player to speak was Karl Malone, the player said.

“What we tried to do was not to overkill the situation,” guard Derek Fisher said. “We all know it’s there, we’re aware of it, it’s not necessarily going to go away just today, so we addressed it.”

At practice Monday, Jackson ordered the team not to discuss the dustup with reporters. He fined Bryant for defying that order by talking to ESPN later that day.

“We had an agreement, the agreement was broken,” Jackson said. “We were really disappointed.”

Bryant appeared on the court with about 15 seconds left in the third quarter after icing his knee and doing weight work. He was greeted by a loud ovation from the sellout crowd at Staples Center. They chanted “Kobe! Kobe!” and he raised his right hand in acknowledgment.

One fan held up a homemade sign that read “Can’t we all just get along’ with Bryant’s and O’Neal’s jersey numbers on it.

Bryant sat next to O’Neal on the bench. O’Neal appeared to talk to Bryant while covering his mouth with his hand. Bryant responded without looking at O’Neal.

Bryant described their conversation as “just clowning around, just silly stuff. I’m kind of a comedian sometimes.”

The conflict between O’Neal and Bryant has been simmering throughout their seven seasons together, but their public potshots have never been as personal as the most recent ones.

“All that’s going on is not charted territory for us,” Jackson said. “There’s a lot involved in what’s going on here.”

Adding to the tension for the team is the publicity brought by a sexual assault charge against Bryant. Bryant lashed out publicly after Jackson declined to get in the middle of the fight.

“He said: Do I want to address it, not calm it down, and I went back to him and said it’s not significant enough to comment on,” Jackson said. “But we did have an exchange, and that’s one thing I will verify.”

Jackson has asked Bryant to do double training sessions to speed up his rehabilitation.

“The players have been encouraging Kobe to play because they don’t have a rhythm with him,” he said. “As a group, we want to be very supportive of bringing him back here.”

Bryant spent the first three quarters of Tuesday’s game out of sight, icing his knee and doing weight work until he appeared in a red T-shirt for the fourth quarter.

“I’m working like a dog to try to get the strength back in my legs so I can go out and play,” he said. “I don’t expect to be 100 percent right off the bat. At least I can get to a point where I’m not hobbling around out there.”

AP-ES-10-29-03 1241EST