REALLY, BRYANT'S JUST 'UNSELFISH'.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

EL SEGUNDO - A day after Kobe Bryant put on one of the NBA's greatest displays of sweet selflessness - up there with Wilt Chamberlain's, Dennis Rodman's and Scottie Pippen's - he walked briskly past reporters at Lakers practice without stopping to take the bow his achievement called for.

``Can I have room to breathe?'' Bryant said Monday on his crowded path from the court to his locker.

I believe this is what Bryant was saying in his cryptic way: Glory should not be mine alone. Please do not deprive my teammates of publicity. For the tree to bloom, each root must receive nourishment.

Bryant's non-shooting exhibition in the first half of the Lakers' game against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday earned him a spot in history alongside some of the league's all-time altruists.

In the 1966-67 season, Chamberlain abruptly cut his shots per game by one-third and became an assist man. Wilt was a humble sort, and his style change in no way indicated a boiling desire to disprove criticism that he was a one-dimensional scorer. He simply wanted his friends to have fun too. Anyway, his conversion worked: Chamberlain's '67 Philadelphia 76ers won the NBA championship.

In the '90s, Rodman began to pass up all but the easiest of shot attempts to concentrate on rebounding. Dennis was almost as unassuming as Wilt had been, so it's not as if his zeal for dirty work under the boards meant he was some kind of raving maniac. He just didn't enjoy the spotlight like a lot of players. It worked: Rodman hawked the ball for NBA champions in Detroit and Chicago.

In '94, Pippen declined to leave the bench with 1.8 seconds left in a playoff game after Chicago teammate Toni Kukoc was designated to take the final shot against New York. Jealousy? No, Pippen just did not want to take the chance he would accidentally get the ball and spoil his friend's turn at center stage. It worked: Kukoc made the game-winning shot.

Now Bryant, a 23.7-point scorer going into the game in Sacramento, has shown off an unbelievably magnanimous instinct of his own.

In the first half of the national-TV game, Bryant limited himself to one (1) shot and constantly passed the ball to the other Lakers. Shooting a little more in the second half, he finished with eight points, his career low for a 40-minute effort. Thanks largely to Kobe's refusal to hog the shots, the Lakers trailed by only 19 at halftime and were able to stay within 17 of Sacramento at the end of the game.

Bryant's motivation has been discussed ever since and likely will be debated right up until the Lakers tip off against Golden State tonight at Staples Center in their final home game of the regular season.

Some cynics - forgetting the gallant examples of Wilt, Dennis and Scottie - believe Bryant must have had some selfish reason for departing from form. They point out that teammates and coaches recently criticized Bryant for shooting too much. The thinking is that he decided to prove a point by barely shooting at all, in essence saying to the other Lakers, ``You'd prefer this?''

Bryant's own explanation after Sunday's game was that he'd been shut down by Sacramento's double- and triple-teaming defense - the vaunted Kings defense! - and forced to pass off.

He was too modest, I believe, to lap up credit for turning into the ultimate team player.

It was up to Lakers coach Phil Jackson to dole out the plaudits.

''I think Kobe's trying to do the best he can to help us win games,'' Jackson told reporters Monday.

In videotape of the Sacramento game, Jackson said, he saw Bryant pass up only three obvious shot opportunities in the first quarter. The Kings won because the other Lakers ``didn't hit enough shots, it's as simple as that.'' That and the refs called too many Shaquille O'Neal fouls on Vlade Divac flops.

Jackson spent most of the afternoon's question-and-answer session trying to dispossess reporters of misconceptions such as the one about Bryant having been making some kind of personal statement with his unusual performance Sunday.

How important is it for a team to have some ``flow'' going into the playoffs? somebody asked. ``None,'' Jackson said, saying it shouldn't matter that the Lakers have lost three of their past four games because one of his Chicago champions had lost two of its last three.

How much harder is it to win the title as a No. 4 seed than as a No. 2 seed? a man asked. ``It may be easier,'' Jackson said, and when the man expressed puzzlement, the coach explained the playoffs really are all about drawing the right opponent.

Is it natural for people to wonder what Kobe was up to? a writer said. Sure, Jackson said, but ``I haven't heard any criticism'' from teammates.

Just another Bryant oddity in an odd season. Maybe he's going to squeeze an entire NBA career worth of weirdness into one year.

Arrest, absence, illness, injuries, unlikely late-game shooting heroics.

And now a day of utterly incredible unselfishness.