When It Gets Hot, Kobe Plays It Cool

His coach spread a rumor that he once sabotaged a game.

His own coach.

His local newspaper called him selfish. His teammate called him strange.

He was accused of causing defeats, creating distractions, trying too hard to be too much like Mike.

And how does the fifth year of Kobe Bryant’s NBA education end?

With an assignment to write the master’s thesis from hell; leading a team to an NBA championship in a town where he attended high school and is hated.

Moments after Bryant took the First Union Center court Sunday in Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers, 20,000 locals opened their arms.

“Ko-be . . . ! Ko-be . . . !”

The next day, local pundits ripped him for not leaving tickets for his hometown, um, friends.

Then Tuesday morning, he awoke to a local newspaper cover story written by a high school acquaintance scolding him for not staying in touch.

The kid bragged that he once cozied up to Bryant’s prom date and that Bryant had once signed his yearbook.

The kid then acknowledged at the end of the story that he had auctioned off the yearbook on the Internet.

Nice.

“I know he likes being a star and all,” Robert Horry said, “but sometimes, there is no way I would want to be Kobe Bryant.”

Yet, the most dizzying part of his spinning season is that Bryant doesn’t seem to mind.

None of his moves are as incredible as the ones he doesn’t make.

He doesn’t publicly get mad. He is never publicly petulant.

He quietly endures Coach Phil Jackson. He has made peace with Shaquille O’Neal. He still talks cordially with the media.

And even with everyone screaming at him about how he can’t play, he still remembers why he does.

The other night, walking to the interview room after scoring a team-high 32 points, he was accosted one more time by a Philadelphia fan.

He responded not with a curse or a gesture, but a perfectly calm Kobe Bryant prediction.

“We’re going to cut your hearts out on Wednesday.”

Wearing that same goofy Gilligan cap and same goofy grin, Bryant sat in front of a roomful of national media Tuesday facing a relatively serious question.

A guy wanted to know, essentially, how can he still stand to play for Jackson?

Some think that Bryant may never feel totally close to Jackson again because of the time the coach relayed a rumor--since disputed by all parties--that Bryant sabotaged his high school games so he could save the team in the end.

The incident capped several months of open, if deserved, criticism. Bryant could have used that question to cause a stir. Instead, he told a story.

“Well, we just put it behind us . . . to the point where we actually joke about it,” he said, adding, “We had a scrimmage before the Finals started . . . it was my team against, I think, Horace Grant’s team. We were kicking their butt, up by 24 points, right? Phil sat me down. Horace starts talking trash. I said, ‘OK . . . Put me back in the game so I could sabotage the team, make it close and beat them at the end.’ ”

Everyone laughed. Issue defused.

Then somebody asked Bryant about O’Neal, another opportunity for meltdown.

Many think that Bryant and O’Neal--despite Shaq’s claims that Bryant is his idol--will also never be close because they are too different. One is an adult who likes being a kid. The other is a kid who is more mature than most adults.

Yet, instead of scorching, Bryant soothed.

“Shaq’s unbelievable,” he said, later adding, “What Shaq does is unbelievable.”

Finally, someone brought up the issue of the L.A. media, and the five years of criticism that have been heaped upon Bryant.

There is no question that from the time he threw up those airballs in the playoffs against Utah at the end of his rookie season, Bryant earned those reprimands for selfishness and reminders about teamwork.

His age didn’t matter to the Lakers, so why should it have mattered to the public? He was fair game for the criticism, which was never personal, and clearly supported.

“Still, if I was him, I would have come out and cussed out the media a long time ago,” Horry said.

So Bryant was asked Tuesday, why not?

“There were difficult moments for me going through what I went through, people calling me selfish,” he said. “You know, there were difficult times, hearing the criticisms. What are you going to do about it? You just have to continue to work, continue to improve and better your team in any way you can.”

He smiled. “I have no bitterness whatsoever, no. It comes with the territory.”

Imagine that. A pro athlete acknowledging that being booed on the job is part of the job.

Some say Bryant, 22, acts so mature because he grew up around the NBA. Others say it is simply another way of imitating Jordan.

Whatever, the Lakers should be thankful for it, because there have been times during the last two Finals when Shaq’s impulsiveness and Horry’s sleepiness and Rick Fox’s thoughtfulness just didn’t cut it.

Sometimes, they have needed Bryant’s coolness.

This week is again one of those times.

Remember the second quarter Sunday, when Bryant made jump shots on five consecutive possessions to give the Lakers a 10-point lead, making the 76ers scramble for the rest of the game?

And while Horry threw in the now-famous three-point shot down the stretch, Bryant gave them important breathing room a few seconds earlier with a running shot between two 76er defenders.

Despite his second-half struggles, he again showed up to embrace a big moment.

When the season started, the rap was that Bryant was hogging the ball because he wanted to be the league most valuable player.

With O’Neal continuing to be distracted by Mutombo, Bryant may still get that MVP, Finals-style.

And if his prediction to the fan was correct, it may happen Friday in Philadelphia.

Home, of course, being where the heart gets cut out.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com.