THE KOBE PARADOX

Highlights, low lights and near-orbit flights--Kobe Bryant has experienced them all this season, and they add up to almost too much raw data for anybody to properly catalog among the distractions and theatrical Laker traumas.

You remember the dunks and the torrid moments; you wince through the over-dribbling and no-look, no-catch passes.

During the losing streaks, you listen to Shaquille O’Neal say that certain Lakers are playing “stupid, idiotic” basketball, and you do not completely disagree, probably, and wonder if Bryant and O’Neal are headed for a franchise-shaking showdown.

But what do you do when you realize that Bryant’s across-the-board numbers this season put him No. 1 among top NBA shooting guards?

And that, in a league where criticism of his shot selection has become standard practice, his regular-season 46.5% field-goal percentage, easily outpaces those of such noted shooters as Reggie Miller, 43.8%; Mitch Richmond, 41.2%, and Steve Smith, 40.2%?

What do you do?

Expect more?

After two seasons of excited anticipation, Bryant turned 20, broke into the starting lineup this season and found out something:

Monster expectations can lead to endless scrutiny and, fairly assigned or not, responsibility for wins and losses. Especially among his sometimes-exasperated teammates. Especially when the losses pile up and his crazier shots lead to opponents’ fastbreak dunks.

“It did catch me off guard a little bit, people scrutinizing my game,” Bryant said Friday. “That’s good, I guess. That means they care about you.

“I’m only 20 years old, this is only my third year in the league. I’m still improving.”

The statistics are there for him. Bryant improved on last season’s totals in every major category except his turnover rate and three-point shooting, and he improved in almost all of them, which was expected, because he’s young and growing and should improve his numbers with his minutes up and his game evolving.

But, as the novelty of last season’s All-Star selection as a nonstarter fades, he no longer has to be measured against himself.

Considering seven major categories and realizing that he spent the first 21 games of the season as the starting small forward--grabbing more rebounds, getting fewer assists, a trade-off--Bryant is the overall leader among a subjective but thorough selection of the top 10 shooting guards.

Coincidentally, the player who started the season as the Lakers’ starting shooting guard, Eddie Jones, ranked second on this list overall.

Among this group, Bryant ranks no lower than fourth in any category except, once again, for turnovers, where he ranks ninth.

Bryant’s shooting ranks second in this group, behind only Jeff Hornacek’s 47.7%.

“I feel I can do much better,” Bryant said. “Even though I’m shooting 46%, I feel that I can shoot 52% or 50%. Why not? I have to keep on moving up, regardless of what everybody else is saying.”

Said Bryant’s agent, Arn Tellem, “Kobe has done this a lot by creating his own shot because he has not been the main focus of the offense, and I think it makes the field goal percentage even more amazing.

“Most of the other [shooting] guards on that list are the first option on their teams and have plays run for them, and Kobe is not even the first or second option. Kobe is generating shots on his own, creating his own shots, as the third option in the Laker offense.”

Of course, if a certain cigar-smoking former Chicago Bull hadn’t retired before this season, none of those shooting-guard stats would look as impressive.

But with the quest to find the next Michael Jordan pretty much abandoned for lack of acceptable candidates, it is interesting to note that in his first season as a starter, even as he moved from forward to guard after the Jones-Glen Rice trade, Bryant has settled, at least statistically, into a very elevated spot.

The reality of it, though, is that he has had some aimless performances to match his dominant ones, and when Bryant has off-nights, everybody takes notice.

Including his teammates.

“Some of the mistakes I made were pretty much honest mistakes,” Bryant said. “It wasn’t like mistakes only I make.

“I think more than anything, they’re more magnified because of my potential, because of my talent, people want me to learn quickly, which I’m trying to do.”

Said Coach Kurt Rambis, “Kobe’s made strides all season long in terms of being able to read the situation, being more in control most of the time.

“But all of the players make mistakes. They all revert back to a certain way of playing. As long as they do what’s best for the team, they’re usually going to end up making the right decision. But you can’t expect them all to be perfect all the time.”

It was after Bryant missed his first 10 shots--three on a single harrowing possession--in Houston during a 22-point loss April 26 that the Lakers held a players-only meeting to hash out differences and expel their tendency toward individual play.

Did Bryant feel the heat during that meeting? Did he accept some blame?

“Well, I always do that, period, regardless of meetings,” Bryant said. “In the meeting, it was a collective effort. We all got on the same page, it wasn’t like I looked in the mirror or Shaq looked in the mirror or whoever it was. . . . We all looked in the mirror together. . . .

“This meeting, it was just like, ‘OK, we’re fed up. What are we going to do about it? What are we going to do? We going to lay down or are we going to keep fighting?’ ”

Since that meeting, which triggered a four-game winning streak to close the regular season, Bryant has averaged 5.75 assists, shot 56.2%, and tried only four three-point shots.

There also appears to have been an easing of tension between him and O’Neal, after several weeks of escalation and media conjecture.

How do the two Laker superstars get along now?

“Good enough,” O’Neal said.

Bryant, for his part, has always brushed off any suggestion of a rivalry.

“I think he’s handled that well,” Tellem said. ‘He’s doing the best he can. He’s committed to making it work not only for himself but for Shaq and the whole team. Kobe wants to make it work as much as anybody.

“I know he wants to do anything he can to make sure that he and Shaq and the nucleus of the team stay together for a long time.”

NBA PLAYOFFS

LAKERS vs. HOUSTON

Best-of-five series

GAME 1

Sunday at Forum 2:30 p.m. / NBC

GAME 2

Tuesday at Forum 7:30 p.m. / FSW, TNT

GAME 3

Thursday at Houston 6:30 p.m. / Ch. 9, TNT

GAME 4*

May 15 at Houston / TBA NBC

GAME 5*

May 17 at Forum 7:30 p.m. / FSW

* if necessary

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ALSO

TODAY

New York at Miami

Phoenix at Portland

Sacramento at Utah

Detroit at Atlanta

RESTING: Fisher says sore shoulder won’t stop him from starting series. Page 4

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Progress Report

Points per game

‘96-97: 7.6

‘97-98: 15.4

‘99: 19.9

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‘96-97 ‘97-98 ’99 Minutes 15.5 26.0 37.9 FG% .417 .428 .465 3-Point .375 .341 .267 Rebounds 1.9 3.1 5.3 Assists 1.3 2.5 3.8 Turnovers 1.58 1.99 3.14

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Searching for No. 1 Among No. 2 Guards

Rating the top shooting guards in the NBA, with league rank in parentheses and average total rank:

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Player Pts FG % Reb Ast 1. Kobe Bryant 19.9 (2) .465 (2) 5.3 (2) 3.8 (4) 2. Eddie Jones 15.6 (9) .437 (5) 3.9 (6) 3.7 (5) 3. Penny Hardaway 15.8 (8) .420 (6) 5.7 (1) 5.3 (1) 4. Jeff Hornacek 12.2 (10) .477 (1) 3.3 (8) 4.0 (3) 5. Allen Iverson 26.8 (1) .412 (T8) 4.9 (3) 4.6 (2) 6. Ray Allen 17.1 (6) .450 (3) 4.2 (T4) 3.6 (6) 7. Steve Smith 18.7 (4) .402 (10) 4.2 (T4) 3.3 (T7) 8. Mitch Richmond 19.7 (3) .412 (T8) 3.4 (7) 2.4 (9) 9. Reggie Miller 18.4 (5) .438 (4) 2.7 (10) 2.2 (10) 10. Allan Houston 16.3 (7) .418 (7) 3.0 (9) 2.7 (8)

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Player Blk St TO Avg 1. Kobe Bryant 1.0 (2) 1.44 (4) 3.1 (9) 3.5 2. Eddie Jones 1.12 (1) 2.5 (1) 1.9 (3) 4.14 3. Penny Hardaway .46 (3) 2.22 (3) 3.0 (8) 4.29 4. Jeff Hornacek .29 (5) 1.08 (6) 1.7 (2) 4.57 5. Allen Iverson .15 (9) 2.29 (2) 3.5 (10) 5.0 6. Ray Allen .14 (10) 1.06 (7) 2.4 (4) 5.71 7. Steve Smith .31 (4) 1.0 (8) 2.8 (7) 6.14 8. Mitch Richmond .20 (6) 1.28 (5) 2.7 (6) 6.28 9. Reggie Miller .18 (T7) .74 (9) 1.5 (1) 6.57 10. Allan Houston .18 (T7) 0.7 (10) 2.6 (5) 7.57

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