FEUD FOR THOUGHT: KOBE IS WINNER.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

If the hugs, handshakes and lofty talk Monday night really marked the end of the Shaquille O'Neal-Kobe Bryant feud, then there's only one thing left to say about the battle of egos that dominated the L.A. sports scene since before the Lakers' breakup:

Kobe won.

It might not have been that simple a week ago. It might not be that simple in another week. But if a last word on this whole affair is called for, then it's that simple right now.

This is not just because Bryant's Lakers beat O'Neal's Miami Heat in the game at Staples Center this week, though the feeling sure would be different if Bryant had fallen to 0-4 against O'Neal.

A lot of factors add up to the conclusion that Kobe won the feud.

It had always been a campaign for the hearts and minds of Lakers fans, and by the end of the night at 11th and Figueroa on Monday, most of the crowd was chanting ``MVP'' for Kobe and hurling boos at Shaq.

Maybe that summed it up.

Kobe (34.2 points a game, threatening his career high) is playing like the NBA's Most Valuable Player, or at least its Player of the Year, assuming there's a difference. Shaq (18.2 points a game, on his way to career lows in every major stat) is playing like a star in decline.

Kobe's Lakers (21-17, seventh in the Western Conference) are improved from a year ago, in position to go to the playoffs after a season's absence, not in a death spiral after all. Shaq's Heat (23-16, second in the Eastern Conference) is worse than a year ago, unlikely to defend last season's top playoff seeding, not a threat to the Detroit Pistons.

Kobe is smiling and seemingly unburdened again, as if the 27-year-old has many happy years ahead, enough to be here the next time the Lakersare championship contenders. Shaq is looking frustrated, a 33-year-old with a couple of years left as his franchise's nominal leader, time running out if he wants to win a title without Kobe before Kobe wins one without Shaq.

A little history.

Kobe jumped into the lead in this feud when he got his way with owner Jerry Buss two summers ago, Kobe re-signing with the Lakers right before Shaq was traded away.

That lead lasted a split-second before everybody realized Shaq had taken title contention from Los Angeles to Miami and Kobe was going to get blamed here for whatever happened.

Then Shaq began this season by getting hurt and missing 18 games, and has yet to recover completely from that ankle sprain or even last spring's thigh bruise, the injuries and his apparent weight gain vindicating Lakers management's reasons denying him a contract extension.

It's too soon to write off O'Neal based on how he played on the final night of a seven-game road trip. His year will be judged on how he and the Heat do in the playoffs, just as it used to be for him and the Lakers.

But if we are seeing the beginning of the end for O'Neal, get ready for endless replays of the video clip of Shaq getting beaten on a dunk by Andrew Bynum and then throwing a forearm at the 18-year-old late in the first half Monday.

After the Lakers won 100-92, having held onto most of a 19-point lead, Bryant (37 points) was clearly relieved. He showed up in the interview room looking all Potsie Webber in a sweater and collared shirt. He hadmore than an on-court victory to celebrate.

There was the reaction of the Staples fans, who showed little of theambivalence that had marked the Christmas Day 2004 Lakers-Heat game - let alone the full-throated approval for Shaq that greeted his unexpected appearance in the courtside seats at a Lakers-Charlotte Bobcats game last month.

``I think the city is finally starting to get comfortable with what this (Lakers) organization is doing,'' Bryant said, and although it might be premature, it's nice that he feels that way.

More important, there were the pregame encounters with Shaq, in which Kobe got a surprise handshake during warm-ups and they hugged at the captains' meeting and before the tip-off. It was the friendliest they've been since, well, my memory doesn't go back that far.

Shaq had kept the feud alive with a variety of putdowns. Now Shaq backed down, saying he was heeding Bill Russell's advice to ``shake Kobe Bryant's hand and let bygones be bygones.''

Kobe laid it on a bit thick in describing the importance of the reconciliation, saying it sends a positive message to African-American kids on Martin Luther King Day. But pardon him for getting carried away.

O'Neal's constant criticism had been the wedge between Bryant and Lakers fans. Now that wedge had been removed and everything is light again.

The feud worked better for Shaq. The end of it works better for Kobe.

So Kobe won.

And that's the last thing I'll ever write on Shaq-Kobe. Until the next thing.

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Photo:

The Lakers' Kobe Bryant and Miami's Shaquille O'Neal shake hands before Monday's game.

Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images