While Bryant had long let it be known that he was happier when West was in charge, Kupchak never returned fire, and so there was no scorched earth to irrigate when his star finally got happy. "I understand where Kobe is coming from and always have," says Kupchak. "He tasted winning early in his career, then began to think he wouldn't taste it again. He didn't want to get to that stage when the window was starting to shut and he was in another rebuilding situation."

Kupchak points to the big board in his El Segundo office listing the personnel of every NBA team, a G.M.'s standard wall accoutrement. "Kobe's not the first player to voice frustration with his team," he says. He stops there, but he could have thrown out names such as Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, Jason Kidd and Paul Pierce. Though none did it as loudly as Bryant.

THE SUPERSTAR Gasol and Bryant "hit the ground running," in Bryant's words, partly because both have high basketball IQs, partly because the center position, which the 7-foot Gasol will occupy until Bynum returns (possibly in early April), is the easiest one to learn in Jackson's triangle offense. Bryant feels that he now has his ideal supporting cast: two established vets who don't want the responsibility of leading (Gasol and forward Lamar Odom); a bunch of young "gym rats," as he calls forwards Luke Walton and Ronny Turiaf and guards Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic; and an old pro in Fisher, whose steady professionalism leavens Bryant's grinding, get-after-it-every-minute M.O. "I don't have to be as in-your-face as I used to," says Bryant. "I had to do it in the past because guys weren't working as hard as I was. Now everybody's on the same page."

THE COACH "Leadership is something I've always talked about with Kobe," says Jackson, "sometimes in conversations, sometimes through books I've given him. [One was John Heider's The Tao of Leadership.] Kobe's not big on subtlety, but his style of leadership has matured, gotten less confrontational. Of his [league-leading 12] technicals this season, half have come from fighting for his teammates, not from calls that even involved him."

THE SUPERSTAR Asked what his MVP ballot would look like, Bryant says, "I'm not even thinking about that." But when somebody mentions that the Cleveland Cavaliers' James is a favorite because he's a near one-man team, Bryant, who was averaging 28.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists through Sunday, snaps, "Put me in the East and see what happens."

Bryant has taken steps to repair his image, mostly by communicating "with [his] fans around the world" on his website (KB24.com). He gets gentle grief from teammates for the Nike "Pure Genius" spots that appear on there, featuring Bryant dressed as different historical characters -- George Washington Carver, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein and his favorite, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Why the composer?

"He was the most talented among them, right?" says Bryant. (That could be debated, of course.) Then Bryant adds this: "And I've known more than my share of Salieris."

He does not elaborate. Chances are, though, that he sees Mozart in himself, the controversial wunderkind (Bryant had just turned 18 when his NBA career began in '96) trying to play through the jealousy and rage of those less talented, which is pretty much everyone.

Bryant's redemption is a good L.A. story, but it's not the main one playing out at Staples Center right now. That one's about a team which discovers that, as Jackson says, "adversity made us a little more resilient and appreciative of the things we have." It is also an unfinished tale, as the G.M. begs everyone to remember, but one that will be compelling to the end.