More than powering Lakers, Kobe Bryant empowers them - Los Angeles Times

He didn't hit the last shot. He didn't make the big steal. He summoned only a handful of oohs, a couple of aahs and a smattering of M-V-Ps.

Cued to enter his favorite stage Sunday, Kobe Bryant instead spent most of the first postseason game of his 16th season hovering in the wings.

He's never been quieter. He's rarely been better.

Just when we thought we'd seen every possible evolution of this town's most complicated athlete, a howling Staples Center sellout crowd was introduced to the Invisible Mamba.

He wasn't really seen until the fourth quarter. He was barely heard until after the game. But with an influence that flowed as brilliantly as his aching body once did, Bryant was felt through every inch of the Lakers' 103-88 victory over the Denver Nuggets in the playoff opener.

After spending much of the season openly pushing his teammates to be more assertive, Bryant contentedly stood aside for three quarters while watching them assertively smack the Nuggets upside the head.

Steve Blake's trio of three-point swishes that started it?

"Kobe is always saying things like, 'If something is there, you've got to take it,'" said Blake.

Jordan Hill's 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench?

"Kobe is always saying we have to rely on everyone on the floor," said Hill.

Ramon Sessions' calmly scoring 14 points with only two turnovers in nearly 30 minutes in his career postseason debut?

"Kobe told me, 'If you're going to go down, go down shooting," said Sessions, grinning. "Hey, if Kobe says it, I'm good to go."

If the Lakers spend the next few weeks elaborating on this impressive opening statement, they are good to go, like, really far.

"It's a championship-caliber team," Bryant said afterward with a sense of pride in his voice that one doesn't often hear even after he has just hit a buzzer-beater.

This being a game in which nearly half of his 31 points were scored in a garbage-time fourth quarter, could Bryant actually be as happy as if he had just hit a fade-away to win it?

"Even more so," he said with a smile, 33 years old and all grown up.

Andrew Bynum was the statistical star by recording the Lakers' first postseason triple-double in 21 years â€" including a Lakers postseason-record 10 blocks. But Bryant ended up with an impressive triple-double of his own, scoring big in unselfishness, perspective and leadership.

"Kobe has empowered his teammates, and it's fun to watch," said Coach Mike Brown.

Earlier this year, in what could be the most important realization of his waning career, Bryant finally understood that age and pains will prohibit him from winning a sixth championship on his own. For the first time, he actively pushed his teammates to win games themselves.