Hitting His Peak

Kobe Bryant’s mountaintop is in Bel Air.

And it’s more of a hill.

And the guru there is an old basketball player named Jerry West.

Six weeks ago, Bryant and West sat in the living room at the mountaintop and talked about their lives, and their game, and their places in their game, for three hours. They had dinner. Then they talked some more.

Since then, no one has seen much like Kobe Bryant, not even Shaquille O’Neal, and not even Phil Jackson.

Bryant, at 22, has averaged 32.4 points in 10 playoff games, all Laker victories. When there have not been shots, he is averaging 5.7 assists. When there have been misses, he is averaging 7.5 rebounds. In the first three games of the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs, he averaged 36.3 points.

“Kobe’s become the floor leader on a basketball team that was looking for that player who can not only be a scorer but also be a playmaker, who can consistently make big plays in critical times,� Jackson said Saturday afternoon after a light Laker practice. “So it was very important for Kobe to step into that role he was envisioned at. I’ve always held the bar up very high for Kobe and he’s not only reached that bar, but he’s jumping over the top of it right now. I think it’s the best that I’ve ever seen a player of mine play with an overall court game. I’m asking him to do so much and he’s accomplishing it.�

When Jackson says something about somebody being the best, the room goes quiet, and he knows the Michael Jordan questions are coming.

“Well,� he said, “I never asked Michael to be a playmaker. That’s the greatest player I ever had, that I could consider the greatest player in the game. Yet, I never asked him to be a playmaker in those terms. I asked him to be a playmaker when he was doubled or tripled, but Kobe [was asked] to set up the offense, to advance the ball, to read the defense, to make others happy, and he’s doing a great job of it.�

In five weeks, Bryant has been the rounded player, playmaker, defender and locker-room presence the Lakers wished he would be, and figured he would become, in time. Those hours alone with West were not Bryant’s sole inspiration, nor was it particularly unusual for them to come together. But it mattered.

The meeting came after a three-week period in which Bryant missed nine of 10 games because of his sore left foot, and at a time when Bryant knew his play would have to change if the Lakers were serious about repeating their championship.

“We talked about a lot of stuff,� Bryant said. “I can’t say that one meeting was a big turnaround for me personally. I can’t say that. But his support, all of his support, kept me from going crazy.

“It wasn’t like a defining moment. But it always helps to talk to Jerry.�

What passes between them in West’s home is bigger than any driveway lesson in fade-away jumpers and crossover dribbles, of course. Superstars separated by two generations, they share concepts the unskilled could not fathom, their relationship being rooted in friendship and basketball and the NBA, in whatever tangled order.

Asked to describe their relationship, Bryant paused, looked into the gray sky and said, “It’s a wiser man talking to a young guy who wants to be successful.�

The Lakers play today to eliminate the Spurs and for their 11th consecutive win to start the playoffs, already having swept Portland and Sacramento. They’ve run on O’Neal’s power game, and on the return of Derek Fisher, and they’ve played better together than they have all season. Bryant’s game, however, seemed to polish overnight.

“He’s a wise young man, and he’s his own best psychologist,� said Rick Fox, a purveyor of locker-room perspective and an introspective person himself. “At some point, though, when the questions you’re asking are only being answered by yourself, you’re only going to get certain answers. When you hear it from someone else, it might make more sense.�

The regular season was trying for Bryant, beginning with the public spat with O’Neal, and he suffered a handful of injuries and illnesses. He has alluded to deeper personal issues, he was married during the season, and between Games 3 and 4 of the conference semifinals in Sacramento he flew to Los Angeles to be with his ailing wife, Vanessa.

“Through the season, after he worked out a lot of things, he’s come out of that shell,� Fox said. “A lot of it was him needing to do what he had to do. It was like he had to digest all of that, and out came Kobe.�

Followed closely, as it turned out, by the playoff-tough Lakers.

“This is what Kobe talked to me about in the course of the year, and Shaq talked to me about it in the course of the year,� Jackson said. “That opportunity to dominate games and to feel that presence they can display on the court together. I think it’s really what [Bryant] envisioned, and I think he brought that vision to the game, to make it a reality for himself and the team.�

Jackson was asked if he believed Bryant took any joy from it.

“He should,� he said. “He really should. It’s terrific to watch.�