EL SEGUNDO -- At the height of his super powers, Shaquille O'Neal started record and clothing companies called "TWisM," an acronym for "The World is Mine." Such a level of self-absorption might sound ludicrous if not for some truth at the crux of it — truth that is reinforced by a quick look at a world that is now Kobe Bryant's.After being feted for his gold-medal international debut with Team USA, Bryant set off for Asia and a series of basketball clinics that were more like rock concerts. Bryant was introduced amid off-the-charts audio and visual flourishes and stirred the fan frenzy further by providing pyrotechnic dunk exhibitions he has avoided in recent years.
Eventually, the star of the show stepped off the pedestal, grabbed the microphone and made the direct connects.
"Taiwan!" Bryant said, for example, "Gwa-I-nee!"
At each stop he learned the language well enough to tell the fans, "I love you!" in a rehearsed, yet affecting, moment. Every time, it was more than enough to leave everything else — Uncoachable? Eagle County? Andrew Bynum? — totally lost in translation.
This is the world that is Bryant's — all the more so come August 2008 and the Olympics in China, where his jersey was the NBA's top seller last season. He has solidified all this the past two years by winning scoring titles and not a lot else. But an 81-point game does make for a pretty effective marketing presentation.
It all feeds into a Bryant mentality that presumes anyone in Dallas or Chicago or shivering on Pluto would welcome his trade there — and presumes Bryant would definitely win there with just a little better support.
Bryant wants to win more than fans, no one doubts that. He wants to win more than anyone since Michael Jordan, probably — a quality no one can appreciate as fully as Phil Jackson, who has coached both. And because Bryant no longer feels the support of the Lakers' organization, this season might be it for a Jackson-Bryant bond that has become a thick, straight line after being part of a lopsided triangle while O'Neal was around.
Derek Fisher, who is back with the Lakers after seeing strain first-hand in the previous installment of the Jackson-Bryant relationship, appreciates those two sharing something unique now.
"They obviously have conversations that are behind closed doors," Fisher said. "They discuss things and they come out on the court, and they kind of have an agreement or a handshake on 'This is what we like to do' or 'We'll handle it this way.' "
One such conversation came over the summer when Jackson's primary task was to find a way to keep hope alive that Bryant could rediscover joy in being a Laker. That didn't stop Jackson from launching a discussion with Bryant about moving him out of the Jordan wing position in the triangle offense, a spot Bryant lusted to assume all through the O'Neal years and an attack position that Bryant used as a springboard to reach Wilt Chamberlain heights: the 81-point game in 2006 and four consecutive 50-point games last season.
In a world with everyone catering to him and at a time when the Lakers were desperately trying placate Bryant, here was Jackson taking something precious awayfrom Bryant.
And Bryant being cool with it.
That's the level of respect Bryant has for Jackson, and why Jackson is the Lakers' only chance of writing more than an epilogue to Bryant's L.A. story. Jackson's strategy isn't so tricky that Bryant can't figure it out: The coach is moving Bryant from the wing back to the guard spot so he is charged with scoring and setting up teammates — the same job title Bryant held in the championship era.
It's a pretty transparent tactic to make Bryant more of a team guy after an offseason that had Bryant standing in isolation far more than any clear-out play on the wing. But triangle-offense innovator Tex Winter and Jackson had debates during training camp about Bryant being able to do this now.
"If he can conform to the way we want him to play the guard spot, he'd really help us," Winter said. "I don't know if he's going to play that way or not. You know Kobe."
Yet there is no simpler way for Bryant to remind everyone who has forgotten who got O'Neal the ball in his favorite spots — or sell everyone who believes O'Neal would've scored without him — that Bryant can make his teammates better. And Jackson understands what makes Bryant tick — how he is more motivated by facing a mountain than a slope, by a road game than a home game, by a skeptic than a supporter.
The daunting challenge now is to pass the ball to the teammates he trashed, even if he doesn't at all feel like being here. It's a hard situation, which is why Jackson is pushing even harder now — testing Bryant's boundaries with the real games about to start, boldly assessing that Bryant has lacked "heart and soul" so far and maximizing the distraction by confirming trade talks with Chicago.
Jackson declared that predicting the Lakers' season is impossible. Why?
"The situation with Kobe," he said.
This is Jackson enjoying a good challenge, digging into the first steps to scale his mountain this season. He's the one who dared return to coach in 2005 when Bryant hated him.
"He's not just going to throw the white flag up and say, 'Because we're having trouble or because these things are happening, we still shouldn't be a good team,' " Fisher said of Jackson. "He has coached and been through some of the weirdest personal dynamics and team dynamics of any coach probably in history. And his track record still shows his ability to manage a team to play at a high level, even in the midst of all that."
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