The line showed 17 points, on 7-for-27 shooting, along with an 85-81 loss Friday night for the Los Angeles Lakers.

On most nights, this would qualify as a lousy, forgettable evening in a lengthy season, chalked up as Tutorial 101: how to overcome getting schooled by Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers.

I could possibly be reading this wrong, but shouldn't it be "how not to overcome"? The Lakers blew a seven-point lead entering the fourth only to tie it with a minute left, leading to Iverson's game-winner. How is this "how to overcome" again?

Okay, let's say it's a typo. Or I'm reading it wrong. (I have been known to be an idiot.) Either way, I tend to think ledes should be clear. But, eh, what do I know? Let's just move on.

But that dubious distinction didn't belong to Kobe Bryant. And perhaps it never will again. Just six games into this 2005-06 season - following an excruciating season most mortals would not have been able to stomach - No. 8 has established himself as a winner in more ways than three NBA championships ever could.

A winner at sexual assault, that's what!

Also, now I'm more confused. Is this part of the lede? So actually his "how to overcome" sentence was meant to be refuted in his next paragraph? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah my head is going to explode!

Also, oh no he made millions of dollars and had his first bad season ever, yes he is some sort of super-human, let us all build a statue in his honor.

Purely because he's still around. Still smiling. Still respected by his peers. And always moving forward, leaving naysayers in the dust.

Take a moment to contemplate where you would be if you were Kobe Bryant. Accused of sexual assault - and of facilitating the departure of Shaquille O'Neal. Branded and scarred despite repeatedly claiming your innocence.

Continuously heckled and harassed. Reduced to a pariah. And perceived as so much worse, even after the facts have set him free.

Hmm, okay. Yes, the charges were dropped against Kobe Bryant. But he did settle a civil suit. But even besides that -- and, well, I think I'd rather ignore all of that anyway -- he didn't hasten the departure of Shaquille O'Neal? Yes, calling him "fat" really helped team chemistry. And Phil Jackson's book -- you know, the current Lakers' coach -- pretty much detailed how bad of a teammate he was. (Off-court, obviously.)

But, hey, getting booed at the Wachovia Center (somewhat playfully, I might add) does make him a pariah, you're right.

Most people would fold like cheap tents in blustering winds. Bryant simply went out and finished second in the league last season, averaging 27.6 points per game.

And now, just a season later, he's back at it again. Soaking in all the boos, all the hostility - while playing for a coach who, regardless of his intent, certainly did not help ease Bryant's stress.

Before too many mistakes and even more crucial missed shots tarnished the Lakers' visit to Philadelphia, these were Bryant's numbers:

A league-leading 34.8 points per game. Shooting 50.4 percent from the field, even after tossing up 10 more shots per game than last season. With 137 shot attempts, only three were from three-point range.

Oh, I see. Kobe plays an absolutely awful, awful game Friday night, costing his team the victory -- despite some fancy plays at the end, which were very nice -- but Stephen A. won't let facts in the way of his already-planned column!

(Okay, that's a little harsh. He had an idea and wanted to do it, and it was bad for his column that Kobe had one bad game -- and obviously that doesn't mean he's having a bad season. But, you know, still.)

"That shows he's playing within himself, under control," Lakers coach Phil Jackson explained. "That's the Kobe Bryant we want out on that floor."

"I'm just happy right now," Bryant said minutes after his Lakers were reduced to a .500 team by the Sixers. "This team is working hard. We're all trying to get on the same page. Everybody's willing to do what it takes to get this thing going, and that's all you can ask.

"Guys definitely need to learn the plays and master the offense. But that'll come, hopefully sooner than later. I'm confident we'll be fine. We'll win our share of games. Right now, that's all I can ask for."

Actually, it isn't. But I hear him.

Stephen A. and Kobe, them against the world!

Every arena is filled with punks spewing venom at every turn, some stupidly looking to gain some kind of advantage for their team, others just being mean. So it was nice to see Bryant back in Philadelphia, getting hugged by Iverson, treated as an enemy only in basketball terms and nothing else.

Thoughts of what he's endured over the past 17 months have been supplanted by admiration over how he's overcome his ordeal. Even O'Neal, his supposed arch-enemy, said months ago, "I've got big-time respect for that kid, considering what he's dealt with and overcome."

Proof doesn't come from the questions themselves as much as it comes from how Bryant has elected to answer them: on the basketball court.

As usual.

Oh, Jesus. (Or, in Stephen A. terms, "Oh, Kobe.") Yes, it's okay to yell at players on the other team. It's okay to boo. Sure, there are fans that make inappropriate jokes, are mean, blah blah blah. But they make inappropriate jokes to everyone, not just St. Kobe. Okay, he's having a good year so far. But the Lakers are only a few games into the season. We don't need to canonize him yet.

In fact, you know, I can think of at least one player-fan incident on the basketball court, say, last season that was an actual altercation as opposed to people yelling at Kobe about rape.

And, oh, he hugged Iverson after the game. Whoo! Since when does Allen Iverson spew hate at his opponents and not slap five after the game?

All this... after he put himself through workouts that began at 5 a.m. and ended at 11 a.m. and a conditioning regimen rivaling any other athlete's. The pump fakes are still there, along with the jump shots, the high-flying dunks, the ballhandling, the defense and anything else that true, bona-fide stars are made of.

"The boy is special," Hall of Famer and Lakers part owner Magic Johnson told me recently. "Every year, he's got something new in his arsenal, something to remind you just how great he is. He wants it all... that bad."

And this has redeemed himself from last season's bad year and his off-court turmoil how? At this point I think Stephen A. is just padding word count.

Oh, and I like how Stephen A. adds in the "told me recently," a la a football announcer on Sunday. Oh, really, it's quoted in your column? And he told it to you? No way!

It remains to be seen whether he'll get it anytime soon. Nobody's a fool here. Phil Jackson's superb coaching skills and Bryant's greatness still need an assist from Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak if this team is going to go anywhere.

Perhaps another big body or more production from Devean George and Kwame Brown, or a little more aggression from Lamar Odom.

Then maybe there will be even more talk of the Lakers, of what damage they'll inflict against anyone in their path. Perhaps, then we'll see Kobe back in the limelight the way he once was, doing McDonald's commercials, rivaling LeBron James and Dwyane Wade beyond the basketball court.

Yes, because you've really hit sainthood when you shill for McDonald's. And now, suddenly, after praising Kobe and the Lakers for an entire column, Kobe needs help? I thought he was Superman and could do it all himself! What is going on?

Just like he once did with everyone else.

Just like he aspires to do now.

I can see it all now: St. Kobe, sitting in his room, thinking, "Man, I'm glad all that cheating on my wife and sexual assault case is over so I can now drink a Sprite on TV again! For money!"

This is an incomprehensible Stephen A. Special here, folks. (Well, not totally.) I suppose he's trying to write about the redemption of Kobe, which is fine and a decent topic. But to make all his troubles seem like none of his fault at all is a bit of a stretch. (Like, say, stretching from the U.S. to Japan.) It's also not like Kobe is the first person to have off-field/court troubles and come back and do well at sports. Or the first player to be taunted by opposing fans.

If you want to talk about actual redemption, talk about how Kobe's a better teammate now, how him and Phil Jackson get along now, how he's been faithful to his wife. I don't know if Stephen A. could get all the info, but, I mean, he clearly was at the game and interviewed people.

I would, however, like to congratulate Stephen A. for using exactly zero rhetorical questions in yesterday's column. Quite frankly, I am impressed.