Michael Ventre

As soap operas in the NBA go, it was really tough to beat the Kobe-Shaq era. Most fans feel a little nostalgic for those venomous times, with their headlines and bit players and cliffhangers.

In recent months, however, Kobe Bryant has done his part to liven up an otherwise tranquil Laker habitat. He blasted the organization last spring, demanding a trade. He ripped young Andrew Bynum to a couple of parking lot knuckleheads with a video camera. He quieted down, went back to work, and realized that the on-court help he was barking for was there after all — and Bynum was the most reliable and important example of that.

So this latest melodrama has gone something like this: Kobe scores in deluges during the 2006-07 campaign because he doesn’t trust his teammates, then he sees the error of his ways and sacrifices his shots and points so the entire team can prosper, and now Bynum goes out with a knee injury and Kobe scored a season-high 48 in his first outing without the big kid.

The writers are still on strike in Hollywood, but riveting storylines continue to be concocted.

Right now, Bryant finds himself in unfamiliar territory. The Lakers’ squad he didn’t think much of is now winning games, and is right there with Phoenix in the running for the best record in the Western Conference.

These Lakers have thrived by sharing the ball and by not counting so heavily on Kobe. But for two months anyway, the new Kobe will have to revert back to being the old Kobe if these new Lakers don’t want to slip back into being the old Lakers.

On Monday night, Bryant hit the game-winning 18-footer with 4.3 seconds left in overtime against Seattle, his final shot on a night when he went 21 for 44. It was classic Bryant. He took over on the road against an inferior opponent on the second of back-to-back games. It was one of those evenings in which the NBA community would have understood if the Lakers fizzled and flopped, especially after getting the news that their young breakout star will be out at least two months with a bone bruise in his left knee and a subluxation of his left kneecap.

Instead, Bryant answered the call.

And despite the emergence of other young Lakers such as Jordan Farmar, Trevor Ariza, Javaris Crittenton and Ronny Turiaf, the call to Bryant figures to be coming fairly regularly in the weeks ahead.

Kobe’s brain is a tangled mass of disjointed connections these days. Remember that way back he wanted Shaq out so the Lakers’ offense could run through him. He got what he wanted, but it turned out to be a lonely — and mediocre — existence.

Just when he was getting used to passing the basketball to teammates and actually seeing them knock down shots, he will now be passing less often. And he’ll be driving to the hoop with more frequency for sometimes eye-popping and sometimes head-scratching drives. Where once there seemingly was clarity in Kobe’s world — “give me the ball” — now there’s a different kind of understanding, one that comes with age and wisdom and a little trust in one’s fellow man.

While Kobe’s ability to fill it up on a moment’s notice is obvious, the need to fill a defensive void is just as vital. When Bynum went out, so did the big man’s ability to block or dissuade shots. Drivers hesitated to venture into the paint if they knew Bynum was lurking.

Kobe scored 48 Monday night. But Seattle, one of only three teams with single digit victories (9), scored 121 points, 115 in regulation. The Sonics shot 48 percent. And Nick Collison, who averaged nine points a game coming in, scored a season-high 24.

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There may not be much Bryant can do directly to patch the holes in the defense. But he can lead. Kwame Brown, whose confidence is only slightly less fragile than a potato chip, will need Bryant in his ear, telling him that he can become the defensive menace that Bynum was. That’ll be a lie — Brown can body up on defenders well, but doesn’t have Bynum’s sense of anticipation or his athleticism — but as the saying goes, an improved Kwame is a less worthless Kwame.

But Bryant the MVP candidate, Bryant the Best Player in Basketball, Bryant The Man, will be the featured attraction in Laker Nation while Bynum recuperates. His forte is still putting the ball through the hoop, and he has never been shy about demonstrating it.

Until mid-March at least, Bryant will have to straddle the line between making sure his teammates are involved and productive, and jacking up the rock to keep the Lakers competitive.

He’s had some experience in this area. He just didn’t expect to be getting more of it so soon.

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