Enter Phil. He was gone gallivanting for a year while Kobe endured life without him. The coach who took over for Jackson, Rudy Tomjanovich, decided he had had enough halfway through the season. Assistant coach Frank Hamblen finished out, but by the end he was looking for a life preserver as well.

What that season did is remind Kobe how great he had it with Phil, while at the same time reminding Phil how great he had it making millions and dating the boss’ daughter.

Kobe will be much more inclined to do what Phil says now, primarily because what Phil is likely to tell Kobe is that he is the focal point of the team, a sweet nothing that Kobe longed to have whispered in his ear while Shaq was still there.[

That doesn’t mean that Kobe will have complete freedom. But it’s unlikely Kobe wants that anymore after he discovered it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Jackson will endeavor to make Lamar Odom a vitally important second option, while also trying to squeeze some life out of role players like Slava Medvedenko, Devean George, Luke Walton and Mihm. Jackson was also given the project of performing a career makeover on Kwame Brown, who was reviled in Washington but who has come to L.A. with a new attitude and a keen desire to be tutored by a Zen Master.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that this chapter two pairing of Kobe and Phil won’t amount to much in the standings. And the sooner Phil realizes this, the less stressful and difficult his relationship with Kobe will be.

These Lakers just aren’t very good. You don’t trade Shaq away, then rebuild the club into a championship contender in just more than a year. It only happens that way in fantasy leagues, and even then only if some real imbeciles are participating.

The Lakers just aren’t very deep. Their starting lineup looks to be Kobe and Smush Parker in the backcourt, Odom and Brown at the forwards, Mihm in the middle. Their bench is thin and largely untested.

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Also, the Lakers’ major problem last season was defense and they did little personnel-wise to address it. Jackson will coax a more cohesive and determined effort out of the players he has, but a coach can only do so much, even one with nine championships on his resume.

If you peruse the Western Conference standings, you’ll probably determine that these teams likely will finish as the eight playoff participants: San Antonio, Houston, Denver, Dallas, Sacramento, Seattle, Phoenix and Memphis. If any of those clubs slides out, there are others like Golden State, the Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota and maybe even Utah who could leap in.

The Lakers will be better. But they won’t be nearly good enough.

Some couples just stay together even though the passion and excitement are long gone. They do so because they’ve developed an understanding, even though it wasn’t what they planned.

That will be Kobe and Phil. They won’t squabble. They won’t give each other the cold shoulder. But they won’t get everything they want. On the second time around, couples rarely do.

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