ShareThisLOS ANGELES - Once upon a time, Kobe Bryant wanted to prove himself without Shaquille O'Neal.
Now his Los Angeles Lakers are getting a chance to prove themselves without Kobe. So far, two-for-two.
As a long-term look, no one would recommend a Kobe-less Lakers team.
But life -- well, two games anyway -- without Bryant hasn't slowed his teammates. As a substitute for their star, the Lakers have mixed in some defense, added extra effort on the boards, and spread the ball around to find open men for easy shots.
Amazing what a team can accomplish when forced to play the right way.
The last time Bryant played, on Friday, the Lakers were beaten soundly at home by Denver.
Subtract Kobe twice, add two victories over two better-than-average Western Conference rivals. The latest was a 101-89 thumping Monday night of the once-formidable San Antonio Spurs.
If the Spurs are old and playing without "trust" in each other, according to their coach, Gregg Popovich, he also knew before the game what it would feel like to lose to the Lakers playing without two starters, including center Andrew Bynum.
"Like (heck)," said Popovich, who presumably is still sick over the missed opportunity.
That's why you almost believed him when he said he'd "rather have it the other way" -- the Lakers with Bryant and Bynum.
"If you win," he said. "You're not sure you've gotten anything out of it. I'd rather have them whole. It's a better measure."
On the whole, the Lakers would prefer to have an available Bryant, too.
"I wish he was on the floor," said Phil Jackson before the game, before his team proved the bigger point.
NBA basketball players are pretty good -- three, four, five men down the bench. The only thing more important than who is playing is how they are playing.
On Saturday, the Lakers beat Portland without Bryant because, Jackson said, they "had a lack of turnovers, a rebounding edge and we shot the ball well."
The Lakers didn't forfeit against the Spurs, either.
"We have a bench and we're all well aware that they can play," said Jackson. "We know we'll miss some size and length without Bynum.
"And Kobe gives us that 'X' factor that wins games for you."
For 235 consecutive games, the Lakers had him available, until Saturday. That's a pretty lucky streak for any NBA team.
Where the Bryant void will be most apparent is if the Lakers ever get into a close game without him.
Presumably, the end game is where the Lakers lean most disproportionately on Bryant's skills. At last call, when they need points to win or close out a game, the ball goes into his hands.
But against the Spurs, when the Lakers reached the five-minute mark with a nine-point lead, they scored on four of their next six possessions to put the game away.
Even missing their two starters, the Lakers aren't without talent.
Pau Gasol was an All-Star before he was a Laker. So was Ron Artest. Three different NBA teams, at one time or another, have treated Lamar Odom like a star, whether he fully owned it or not.
Without Bryant, those three are rising proportionately. Gasol had 21 points, 19 rebounds and eight assists. Odom had 16 points and 10 rebounds. And Artest had 18 points, five rebounds and four assists.
If the Lakers were feeling like their luck had run out along with Kobe's games-played streak, maybe it's just the opposite. The past two games should reinforce something else -- how lucky they really are.
(Reach Gregg Patton at gpatton(at)PE.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
columnMust credit The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif.
