But about the middle of March or so, both players seemed to catch on. The result for Bryant was that now he had two reliable teammates he could pass the ball to with a reasonable assumption that they would know what to do with it. For much of the year, that was not the case.

Now that those two are on the same page with Bryant, it bodes well for 2006-07, both for Bryant personally and for the Lakers as a team.

This will be the Year of Kobe because he has always had the knock of being a me-first guy. That charge has its merits. Without rehashing his entire history, especially his feud with Shaquille O’Neal over which star would be The Man, suffice to say that he was young, somewhat immature and obsessed with the notion that the best chance for the Lakers to win is to get him the ball as much as possible. And the historic 81-point effort against the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 22 did little to dispel the suggestion that, if given the opportunity to take all the shots, he would not decline the offer.

Late last season, he seemed to come off that stance. As Odom and Brown became more comfortable and productive, Bryant seemed more willing to give up the rock. He also seemed happier. The Lakers were winning, he was still the star, yet he wasn’t getting the grief that he used to get.

There was a temporary recurrence of Kobe bashing after he disappeared in Game 7 of the opening-round playoff series with the Suns, but that was overblown. The Lakers weren’t going to win that game even if the entire Suns roster came down with E. coli.

This season should be a carry-over. In 2006-07, Bryant will have a team around him with which he feels secure. Again, they’re hardly the Showtime Lakers, and they’re about two or three years of lucky draft picks and key free-agent acquisitions away from true title contention.

But the Year of Kobe is here because the rest of the players around him finally understand what it takes. As a result, so does he.

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