Bryant, Lakers have weathered the storm for now | From Los Angeles Times - News from Los Angeles, California and the World

By Mark Heisler, December 23 2007


What nightmare season?

The Times has learned that Kobe Bryant is now happy and committed to the Lakers forever or until they lose five in a row, whichever comes first.

Of course, to the Lakers, even temporary happiness is far preferable to unhappiness, even if Kobe changes characters faster than Frank Caliendo.

With the Lakers surging as they hit Chicago, where Bryant got a firsthand look at the pit he almost cast himself into, an ebullient Kobe called his teammates "brothers" and his team "the closest I've ever been on."

It's actually true: He has been much closer to teammates since Shaquille O'Neal left but never more than in training camp when he was seen all over Honolulu with them.

It's also true that after Jerry Buss said he would entertain a trade, Kobe holed up for a week while his brothers wondered if they had seen the last of him.

Rejoining them before the opener, Bryant noted what a "close-knit group" they were -- while his agent was calling Chicago General Manager John Paxson with more trade proposals.

Giddy or not, Kobe is still ducking all questions about taking back his trade demand ("I don't get into that.") In other words, he'll always love his Lakers teammates -- no matter how many miles may separate them -- or what else is new?

In keeping with the Lakers' season, which is like a roller-coaster ride blindfolded, Bryant's visit to Chicago couldn't have been more triumphant if he had gotten himself traded there.

Confirming the possibility was real, Bryant said joining the Bulls had been "No. 1 with a bullet."

Happily for Kobe, the gun didn't go off so he could shoot himself in the career -- again.

Happily for the Lakers, some things have changed since, like their entire outlook.

Starting the season, all they could hope for was chilling out Bryant and holding him in place long enough to try to show him they had a future.

As GM Mitch Kupchak put it, "It'll be about winning and losing, which is the way it should be."

It also looked like a 100-1 shot with their tender age and all the giants in the West.

More things have gone right since then than Mychal Thompson could have imagined.

Some, such as Andrew Bynum's development, you could see coming a year ago, even if so many, starting with Bryant, didn't.

Bryant's attitude toward Bynum has changed 180 degrees -- as it had to after Kobe's recorded rant about not trading him for Jason Kidd ("Ship his . . . out! C'mon, Jason Kidd? . . . Mitch Kupchak had the nerve to ask me, 'How good do you think Andrew Bynum is going to be in 10 years?' ")

In one of those not-quite-apologies, Bryant said he regretted the way it came out but has yet to acknowledge that as an opinion, it wasn't too swift either.

In the closest Kobe can come at the moment, he actually takes credit for inspiring Bynum -- and his teammates -- with last spring's meltdown.

"It seemed to have lit a fire under his rear end," said Bryant of Bynum in Philadelphia. "It's awesome."

Talk about your team guy, willing to act like a raving madman for the club.

Of course, Bynum was coming long before it crossed Bryant's obsessive mind what Bynum's development might mean.

"He's going to be a dominant big man in the NBA, and there are very few of those," says Indiana President Donnie Walsh, who pursued Bynum last summer.

"He's getting better every day, and he has since he got in the league. I wouldn't limit him in any way. He's like a big baby. You can just see him grow.

"The great wars are going to be between Greg Oden and Bynum, between Yao Ming and Oden, between Yao and Bynum."

There have been more surprises such as Jordan Farmar and the Lakers' bench, No. 18 in scoring last season, No. 4 now.

Then there's something entirely new with the Western superpowers flattening out as they haven't in years.

Going into the weekend, these were the Western powers since Nov. 25:

Golden State...10-4

Portland...10-4

Lakers...9-4

Dallas...10-5

San Antonio...6-5

Phoenix...7-6

Denver...6-5

New Orleans...6-5

Houston...5-7

Utah...5-9

If only for the moment, the Spurs, Mavericks and Suns aren't their dominating selves, raising the possibility the Lakers may no longer be overmatched in coming years -- or months.

If the Lakers' best-case scenario continues, the credit will belong as much as anyone to Kupchak, who drafted Farmar at No. 26 in 2006 and Bynum at No. 10 in 2005.

Euphoric as Bryant is, he remains cool toward Lakers management. ("It's pretty much status quo. We have a working relationship. It's improved from where it used to be. . . . Honestly, I just roll with the punches, leave it in God's hands.")

In other words, he's clinging to his victimization fantasy. If anything goes wrong, guess whose fault it will be?

Of course, after writing off Bynum and accusing management of lying about trying to win now, you could see where he isn't ready to eat a crow the size of a pterodactyl.

That will have to wait until the season ends, when he and everyone else will have a clearer idea of who these Lakers are.

At that point, he could offer actual apologies in a long overdue show of that humility he affects in public.

Or, or he could let himself off, diva-style, as he has so far, with "We all say things we regret."

It's not only the Lakers who will show who they are. It's Bryant too.