He is counterfeit Kobe now. The guy who pumped-faked us with his charisma then slam-dunked reality off our faces.

That, at least, is part of the story that is the story in sports today.

Before those sexual assault charges were filed, Kobe Bryant told The Los Angeles Times, ''You guys know me. . . . You know I would never do something like that.'' The suggestion was that nothing had happened, nothing at all. A few days later, Bryant was confessing to doing a little something called adultery.

You guys know me.

That could be the biggest lie in sports, bigger than the heights and weights on a prep school's football roster, bigger than the grand-jury testimony of Chris Webber, bigger even than it isn't about the money.

The truth is, we don't know anything about these sports celebrities beyond what we can see, in person and on television, and you know what people tend to do when the cameras come on, right? Yes, they act.

This is just one of the issues that has surfaced since Bryant has been formally charged as a felon, a development large enough from the start but certain to grow in the coming weeks.