The Los Angeles Lakers open camp for the 2013-14 season on Saturday, with a media day.

If Kobe Bryant is there at all … he will be the bleary-eyed guy suffering from jet lag.

Why?

Because the night before, Kobe will have coached a celebrity team.

In Dubai.

On the other side of the world, from Los Angeles.

What is Kobe doing in the UAE?

Specifically, serving as the focal point of the Kobe Bryant Health & Fitness Weekend. Featuring a clinic at a school in Abu Dhabi on Thursday and the celebrity basketball game in Dubai on Friday, and an appearance at a Nike store in Dubai earlier that day.

Generally, let’s assume he is fulfilling the terms of contractual obligations. Particularly to Nike, which gives him a lot of money to promote their stuff.

Basketball is not big in the UAE. Though it might be a distant second to soccer as a participant sport, among Emiratis. Most of the country’s leading sports clubs have basketball teams.

Cricket is huge among expats from the subcontinent, and rugby has followers from Britain and some of its former colonies.

Still, Kobe’s name is big enough (and distinctive enough) that people here are a little exited. Not like if, say, Lionel Messi were dropping by, but interested, certainly.

People who turn out for his appearances here perhaps will be disappointed that Kobe will not play, but he is still recovering from surgery to repair the Achilles tendon that ruptured on April 12.

It was reported last week that his recovery has reached “75 percent of his body weight while running”, but that is far short of being NBA ready.

He is not expected to play in the preseason, and his availability for opening night, on October 28, is in doubt.

It is not unreasonable to wonder if such a punishing trip will aid in his recovery. He is going to the UAE and then back to Los Angeles in a span of about four days — if we assume he aims to be at the media day event.

The flight back, even a nonstop, is about 18 hours, and the time-zone difference is 11 hours — meaning his body clock will be almost upside down.

We are interested to see what he has to say. His first trip to the Gulf, and probably the most significant visit to the UAE by an NBA star. (Robert Horry was here during the summer, but Big Shot Bob retired in 2008.)

The NBA may rarely be watched, here, but it has some cachet as a hip urban sport, which resonates in Dubai, especially. The names “Michael Jordan” and “LeBron” and “Kobe” are familiar.

We will let you know how it goes.