Sunday, March 28

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – That seat Kobe Bryant had for the end of the Thunder’s demolition of the Lakers had to be painful, even for a living legend like Bryant.

Anytime you get whipped up on by some youngsters it has to hurt.

And that was indeed a whippin’ the Thunder administered at the Ford Center.

Kevin Durant and his crew showed off once again that the reigning world champions are vulnerable the moment they set foot on floor that isn’t inside Staple Center.

T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times declared (playfully, we hope) that Bryant’s out of character performance against the Thunder is directly related to a magazine story suggesting that Durant is better:

“The megalomaniac I know would have gone off for 60 when told the guy he was playing against was now deemed better.

He would have dunked off the jump ball, taking it as a personal challenge to set the record straight.

He would never let such a thought take seed, slapping the upstart aside with an ESPN highlight show, forcing the SportsCenter announcers to proclaim his greatness again.

So what happened to Kobe Bryant, and for that matter, his slapstick supporting cast Friday night?

The Lakers played like St. Mary’s, trailing by 33 after three quarters, the megalomaniac as he was called in a Rolling Stones’ story brought to his attention earlier in the day, scoring two more points than his nine turnovers.

There were ESPN highlights, all right, every one of them dominated by the Thunder and for the most part, Kevin Durant, who scored 26 and shot free throws with everyone in the place chanting, “MVP, MVP.”

The megalomaniac I know would never have allowed such a thing, a young superstar like Durant strutting his stuff at his expense and all Durant’s teammates thinking what’s so tough about playing the Lakers — if we get them in the playoffs.

So aren’t you, Kobe Bryant, the guy who usually takes on such a challenge?

“That’s a silly question,” he said with a dirty look, a silly answer as well, for that matter a non-answer and not surprising on a night when he really didn’t seem to have any.”

We are, of course, not buying into such foolishness.

But it does make for amusing fare to start the weekend.

More concerning to us is that the Lakers continue to show their championship timber away from home, something that was not an issue last season.