This is the paradox of Kobe Bryant: By passing so much he might have played his most selfish game of the year.

Something strange was going on here, something not revealed in the box score and not discussed by the Lakers afterward, but something unavoidable to anyone who watched Bryant's play during the Lakers' 102-85 loss to the Sacramento Kings at Arco Arena.

Bryant didn't want to shoot in the first half. Practically refused to shoot.

Was it his way of shutting up the teammates who complained after he fired up 72 shots in the previous three games (two of which the Lakers lost)? Was it his way of demonstrating once and for all that the Lakers need him to do his thing in order to be successful? If so, wasn't this first-place divisional showdown the absolute wrong time to prove it?

"I was just laying back, waiting for the flow of the game," Bryant said. "They doubled me every time I touched the ball. And every time I got into a scoring position, they doubled quickly. So I just moved the ball on, waiting for the game to open up. It just didn't open up. I've done that before, when teams have doubled me."

"I can't tell you what he was thinking," said Gary Payton. "He played a game the way he plays all the time, he just didn't take shots.

"He was passing the ball, they were doubling him, he was giving the ball up. We weren't making shots to open it up for him. He was making the plays he had to make."