CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE? SHAQ 'N' KOBE MEND FENCES, SO WATCH OUT.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

SAN ANTONIO - It might go down as the play of the year. Rumor has it the folks at the ESPYs are busy concocting a new category just to make sure it gets the recognition it deserves. Watching the replays Saturday night must have sent chills through the other 28 teams in the league.

Shaquille O'Neal's most powerful slam dunk came while seated behind a table, and the powerful thud was delivered not from his bulging biceps but from his tongue, following the Lakers' rout of the San Antonio Spurs to open the Western Conference finals.

``I told Kobe today he was my idol,'' O'Neal said in the wake of the Lakers' Game 1 rout of the San Antonio Spurs and Kobe Bryant's 45-point performance. ``I'm serious. I think he's the best player in the league when he's playing like that.''

Those comments, delivered with a straight face and with pure intentions, reverberated with such intensity, they still were being discussed, parsed and celebrated Sunday afternoon as the Spurs and Lakers prepared for tonight's Game 2.

That, and whether the Lakers will ever lose again if O'Neal and Bryant's once-fragile partnership is now this strong.

``My,'' the Spurs' David Robinson said, breaking into a smile, ``how things change from day to day, huh?''

One profound declaration by O'Neal does not wipe out the months of acrimony and years of unease with Bryant. But his ``idol'' remark was not an endpoint in this storyline as much as another milestone in a constantly evolving relationship.

``I think this year, Shaq understands me a little bit better,'' Bryant recently told the Daily News. ``I understand Shaq, I know what Shaq wants, I know what he's about. I don't think Shaq really had a good sense of what I'm about and how much I want to win, how much I do to benefit this team. I think he understands that now.''

Communication between the two always has been strained in part because of their sometimes divergent agendas but also because of their wildly divergent personalities - O'Neal the outgoing, oversized kid, Bryant the introverted, mature-beyond-his years wunderkind.

But they have worked at it.

``I think the one ingredient in every relationship is communication,'' Bryant said. ``It's not that we didn't have it, it's just that we both weren't good at it really. It's just a growing process.''

O'Neal agreed.

``I think that he's listened,'' he said of Bryant. ``And that he sees and he understands. Last night just came so easy, rather than going out trying to do it. ... When you make your teammates play better and you still have a nice game, that's the sign of a great player.''

There isn't even a hint of tension between O'Neal and Bryant, and that's a primary reason the Lakers have won 16 games in a row, are 8-0 in the playoffs and three wins away from going back to the Finals.

``I think their friendship, their camaraderie, their teamwork is good,'' coach Phil Jackson said.

They got along famously in last year's Finals, of course, on the way to their first championship. Only by re-sparking their feud early this season did O'Neal and Bryant briefly threaten the Lakers' chances to repeat.

But after the harsh words of January and February, the pair began gradually to reconcile, to the point where now both stars are comfortable with the other taking the scoring load and the spotlight for any given game.

``Not only were we able to come out of this so much adversity that we had this season, but we've actually come out stronger,'' Bryant said.

``They've got a lot of love for each other right now,'' Rick Fox said. ``It's nice to know they can appreciate each other's efforts, too, and recognize each other's efforts, because they are the two best players in the league, they continue to get better, they continue to make each other's game easier. And it's exciting.''

General manager Mitch Kupchak spent months stressing over the state of Kobe and Shaq, just as Jerry West did for the prior three years. When the Lakers were struggling and mired in fifth place in the West, Kupchak was as worried as anyone.

Now Shaq calls Kobe his idol.

``I read it this morning over breakfast, I read the papers,'' Kupchak said. ``I chuckled and just laughed a little bit, because it has to bring a smile.

``I don't think there was any doubt that throughout the season this year, there were some issues that we just couldn't seem to get through. However, I think the feeling was, if you just remain patient, you'd get through it. And a lot of times the hardest thing to do is to be patient. And then (O'Neal) makes a comment like that, you've got to smile and feel good about where the team has come.''

Unless of course, you're the Spurs and looking for a way to take back this series.

``We've got to give them something to feud about,'' Steve Kerr said.

It won't be about who leads the offense, Fox said.

``I think they just got tired of the distractions and the pain and the stress that came along with just an individual focus,'' he said, ``and then they shifted to putting things back on the team. And once they got the joy out of winning again, they just realized that's where it all lies.''

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: LAKERS vs. SAN ANTONIO

GAME 2: Today, 5:30 p.m., Ch. 9, TNT 

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

(color) Says Shaquille O'Neal (34) of his teammate: ``I told Kobe today he was my idol.''

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

Box: 2001 PLAYOFF STATISTICS