By contrast, Kobe has been embraced with unqualified support, even as he was commuting to Colorado for hearings that were making him pariah in 28 other NBA markets, scoundrel among various women's group.

Yes, he has belittled Mitch Kupchak along the way. Yes, he had his Shaq-like moments with Dr. Buss. Yes, the greatest affection often appeared to be for the money, or even himself, rather than the SoCal masses.

To try, at this stage, to reinvent the relationship is like Michael Jordan denying that punch thrown at Steve Kerr during practice.

The black eye remains. It's who they are.

Shaq tends to play the jilted, jealous party. It reached the point with the Heat where he was privately alluding to Dwyane Wade as "Wonder Boy." Blows nearly were traded last season between O'Neal and Pat Riley, until Alonzo Mourning interceded.

But the moment also always passes with Shaq. If there are any doubts, merely consider his separation and reconciliation with wife Shaunie.

As for Kobe, YouTube tells no lies when it comes to his dissatisfaction with anything but ultimate team and personal success. The Andrew Bynum he embraces today is the same awkwardly youthful teammate he couldn't have his team dump soon enough, based on that now-famous parking-lot video.

And yet, he, too, has become a master of allowing the moment to pass.

So he embraced O'Neal during that memorable moment on Martin Luther King Day in 2005. And now, as O'Neal offers his latest me-as-the-good-guy spin, Bryant jokes about going "Tiger Woods," simply saying nothing, rather than re-stoking.

Through it all, Kobe stayed.

Even as it meant missing the playoffs and then enduring heartbreak at the hands of the pre-Shaq Suns.

Even as it meant watching Shaq win another championship while embracing Wade as his "best sidekick ever."

And now? And now Kobe well could bring his Lakers' success full cycle, with another championship, one earned in the absence of Shaq, one that would prove that he, too, is capable of getting it done on his own.

The difference being? He never left.

That, as much as anything, should count for plenty when it comes to defining the superior legacy.

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