Time for Kobe to earn his MVP

BOSTON -- Kobe Bryant was all smiles the other day and talking to a tall bearded guy, who wasn't making grotesque, contorted faces at him in return, so that ruled out Pau Gasol.

Upon closer examination it was USA Today's John Saraceno, which explains why Bryant was all smiles, Saraceno working for a newspaper that wasn't going to publish the next day.

KCBS's Jim Hill and I were standing off to the side, and Hill, of course, was waiting to hug Bryant.

When they broke the clinch, I said, "I was just going to say," but found myself talking to Bryant's back as he kept on walking, and so I said, "never mind."

The more I thought about it, though, I didn't want it to become a distraction -- Bryant wondering what I was going to say the rest of his life when he should be totally dedicated to beating the Celtics.

Maybe he thought I was going to ask if his wife has cussed out any more bloggers, or, if he has a son, would he be more inclined to name him after Jim Gray, Ric Bucher or Stephen A. Smith? Tough question.

He had been so charming when they turned on the TV cameras earlier, saying something funny about Bora Bora, and maybe he thought I was going to mention what he had said earlier about Pluto.

He couldn't have been upset about anything I've written, the big baby all grown up since his summer tantrum, so no reason to spank him any longer. I hadn't even mentioned a word about his horrendous shooting performance in the opener.

The fact is, I had already put away my notebook, and I was just going to congratulate him on being the league's MVP -- and then tell him to start playing like one.

You see, this is no time for a thinking man's Kobe Bryant, noted basketball expert and Angels first baseman Casey Kotchman telling The Times after watching Kobe play, "It seemed like whenever he wanted to flip the switch, he could. Game over. Series over."

Amen, and enough with this business of feeling out a game or pacing himself as facilitator. Flip that switch from the start, play as if nobody can stop him, and they can't.

He's one of the best talents the game has ever seen, so why not just let that talent dictate the Celtics' terms of surrender?

If he's considered the game's best closer, how about throwing in a quality start? How much of a difference would that have made in this one?