Kobe: from vocal to valuable

LOS ANGELES — Just last spring, an incensed Kobe Bryant was the NBA's most vocal player, demanding to be traded by the Los Angeles Lakers.

Now, nearing the end of what he calls his most satisfying regular season, Bryant is among the leading candidates for another MVP moniker: Most Valuable Player.

"It would be special. It would be a tremendous honor," Bryant said in a recent interview.

This MVP label, obviously, is more preferable for all concerned. Outside of his dealings with NBA officials, who have slapped the All-Star guard with a league-high 15 technical fouls this season, Bryant seems awfully content these days.

"I'm very happy," he said. "It's tough to find a group like this that plays so well together. This is really a brotherhood. We're really, really close, all of us. We're brothers, man."

That would have been the last observation ever expected from Bryant after Los Angeles lost to the Phoenix Suns in last year's playoffs. In the wake of the Lakers' second straight first-round elimination, Bryant first challenged the team to upgrade its roster and later asked to be traded.

Shortly thereafter, there was an amateur videotape made public in which Bryant criticized general manager Mitch Kupchak and demeaned teammate Andrew Bynum. Bryant kept a low profile the rest of the summer. He said all the right things during training camp in October until Lakers owner Jerry Buss, in his first public comments about Bryant since the trade demand, told reporters he was doing all he could to honor the request.

That upset Bryant again, but he swore when the season began he would focus on the task at hand. That's what he's done, and the Lakers have been one of the NBA's surprise teams despite having to deal with a number of injuries, including a torn ligament in Bryant's right pinkie. Even though surgery was recommended, he hasn't missed a game.

"Best year ever as far as an overall team player," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said regarding Bryant. "I think the judgment that I kind of make is, how much better do you make your teammates? This has been one of Kobe's finest years in that regard."

That's a source of great pride to Bryant, a 12-year NBA veteran despite being only 29.

"That's always been a knock on me, that I don't make my teammates better," he said. "It used to be that the MVP award always went to the players who were considered the best. Now, it's more about elevating the players around you."