BAD RAP? BRYANT STUNG BY CRITICISM BUT WON'T CHANGE WAYS.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

WASHINGTON - When Kobe Bryant is suspended in midair, eyes locked on the rim, ball firmly in hand, his right arm tomahawking downward, with 20,000 voices screaming for the dunk they'll see replayed over and over and over later that night, he can't hear the sneers.

Showboat.

When Kobe Bryant is darting toward the lane, three defenders collapsing on him, the clock running down and a teammate standing, hands waving, unguarded, across the court, he can't feel the sighs of exasperation.

Selfish.

When the whistles have blown and the players are retreating to their benches and the coach is barking and demanding a response as Kobe Bryant looks the other way, he doesn't see the image they see.

Prima donna.

Even as Kobe Bryant, the Lakers' supremely gifted 22-year-old superstar expands his game, dominates the NBA and produces the kind of statistics and memorable moments that have the masses chanting ``MVP,'' there is one arena Bryant cannot master: public perception.

Despite his immense charisma and media savvy, despite nightly testimonials from opposing coaches that he has become the NBA's best player, Bryant can't make a play without someone finding fault.

Sometimes it's the media. Sometimes, his own teammates. Often, Shaquille O'Neal.

But Bryant has a message for his detractors. You won't hear it directly, because it's just a few drum beats and some background music. It's about 3 seconds long, and the Staples Center D.J. plays it - at Bryant's request - over the public-address system each time Bryant makes a huge play.

The riff, played without lyrics, is spliced from ``I Am,'' by Eminem, the rapper who has nothing in common with Bryant, save for his ability to stir emotions and debate. Bryant is too polite to lash out at his critics directly; his response is conveyed ever so subtly by his choice of a theme song.

``I am whatever you say I am / If I wasn't, then why would I say I am? / In the paper, the news, every day I am.'' - Eminem

Here's the thing. Bryant already knows he can't convince you of his good intentions. That his mistakes are born of competitiveness. That his shot selection is born of confidence. That his aggression is justified by hard work. That all he wants to do is win, not just glorify himself.

But you'll believe what you want to believe. Kobe Bryant is whatever you say he is. And he's getting used to it.

``I'm growing with it,'' Bryant says of the criticism. ``It's a learning process. You just kind of have to roll with the punches sometimes. You can't get too down, you can't get too up.''

``It upsets me,'' he says. ``But what are you going to do? We just have to try to keep winning, hopefully everything else will just kind of fall off. But it's a difficult period.''

Even now, with Bryant's play at its peak, and the Lakers showing signs of turning around?

``Yes, absolutely,'' he says. ``Every time, it is.''

The critics, of course, would simply say the truth hurts. And there is, absolutely, a grain of truth in some of the criticism.

Sometimes, as Bryant's teammates will tell you, he has been guilty of selfish play, of showboating and of forgetting the four other guys on the court. And yes, he has defiantly turned his back on coach Phil Jackson during a timeout or two.

And stubborn? Yes. But also receptive, when he chooses to be. Bryant alternately frustrates and amazes.

``I think he runs it through his computer, and he's going to try and do it his way,'' Lakers assistant coach Jim Cleamons says. ``And then if his way isn't working, I think he will change. He's going to try and do it his way, which I guess we must respect and have to respect. But in the end, if his way isn't working then he'll go ahead and acquiesce.''

Defiant? Bryant can be that, too. He's more vocal with officials this season than he ever has been and got ejected for arguing for the first time in his career.

When O'Neal complained Bryant was shooting too much, Bryant's explanation was simple: I worked hard on my game, and I'm going to use it.

More than that, though. Last season Bryant was All-NBA and all-defense. He made the game-winning shot in Game 2 of the conference semifinals. With a badly sprained ankle, he carried the Lakers to a crucial overtime win in Game 4 of the Finals.

There's almost a sense of entitlement to Bryant. That he's earned some latitude to do it his way.

``And he has earned that,'' teammate Brian Shaw says. ``It's just a matter of balancing when to do that. At the end of the game, that's who we're going to defer to, him. To make the shots and the key plays down the stretch. It's just a matter of early on in the game, making sure that he gets everybody else involved, which will make it easier for him in the end, because then they'll have to honor everybody else on the floor.''

He did exactly that in Wednesday's win over Phoenix, and teammates gushed about it. The other nights, they just sigh and try to be patient. But Michael Jordan was once this way, too.

``Michael found out that he couldn't win without the rest of his team,'' Lakers veteran and former Jordan teammate Horace Grant says. ``And I think Kobe is really starting to figure that out right now. He's starting to have confidence in his team.''

See, sometimes he gets it. And when he doesn't, it isn't necessarily selfishness that gets in the way. It's overconfidence.

``I wouldn't use the word `selfish,' he's just real competitive,'' Shaw says. ``And sometimes he believes in his ability to hit a shot with five people on him, more so than one of us hitting one with nobody on us. And that's just his will to compete. He's like that every day in practices as well.''

``And all of this controversy encircles me / And it seems like the media immediately points a finger at me.'' - Eminem

The scrutiny of Bryant's game began from the moment he strutted into the NBA as a 17-year-old in 1996. The rough reviews are nothing new to him.

``He seems always to be kind of like a duck, he lets criticism roll off his back like rain,'' Jackson says. ``He's not as concerned about anybody's opinion as with his own, or his closest allies.''

Generally, that's true. But Bryant has become more sensitive to the attacks this season. In November, Bryant led the Lakers to a dramatic overtime win in Sacramento, making all the key plays. But his wild play earlier in the game had drawn groans from teammates, and the newspaper accounts the next day were not all kind.

``Y'all are just so damn negative,'' an exasperated Bryant told a reporter the next day. He stopped doing interviews for two days, a first in his career.

Even Bryant's thick skin is prone to an occasional scrape, it seems.

``The one thing that made it so hard,'' he says, ``is this summer I worked so hard to try to help this team, come into the season, try to do the best job I can and help this team win. And then to get criticized for it, improving, or for working on my game, is real tough to swallow.''

``But I'm glad 'cause they feed me the fuel / That I need for the fire to burn. / And it's burnin' and I have returned.'' - Eminem

If he were too sensitive, Bryant might have faded long ago. Instead, he entered this All-Star weekend leading the league in scoring and leading the Lakers to a 4-2 record down the stretch in O'Neal's absence. On the court, Bryant has a way of figuring these things out, of finding the solutions. Ultimately, you see, only Lakers victories and more championships can change off-the-court perceptions.

``When I step out there on the basketball court, man, it's just so much joy,'' he says. ``You just escape from everything. . . . No matter what was said in the paper that day or the week before, all that stuff just falls off to the side, and you're just out there playing basketball.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1 -- color) ``It upsets me,'' Kobe Bryant says of his detractors. ``But what are you going to do? We just have to try to keep winning.''

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

(2) Despite his obvious charisma and skills, Lakers star Kobe Bryant has had to deal with criticism from the media and sometimes his teammates.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press