Sweet 16 Gives Bryant the Key to Buss’ Heart, Lakers’ House

Sixteen points in barely six minutes.

This will be a line item on the deed offered Kobe Bryant this summer.

This will be the explanation for why the Lakers will become his team, if he wants them.

Sixteen points in barely six minutes.

To Jerry Buss, it means money. To Laker fans, it means entertainment.

To the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night, it meant summer, Bryant’s 16 points in the final 6:12 of the third quarter essentially ending this charade of a Western Conference finals.

Bryant’s outburst led to a 92-85 victory, an all-but-insurmountable three-games-to-one lead, and a blueprint for the Laker future.

You want to know why, this summer, in hopes of retaining his most popular player, Jerry Buss will offer Bryant everything but Jack Nicholson’s seat?

You are wondering why Bryant, if he accepts the offer, will probably be allowed to approve the coach and maybe the big man?

Look, and listen, to the highlight of his third-quarter sprint.

There were 5 minutes 19 seconds left in the quarter, the Lakers leading by seven, when Bryant scampered past Latrell Sprewell near the foul line, leaped toward Michael Olowokandi under the basket, and threw in an over-the-shoulder layup while being fouled.

Staples Center seemed to shake with the roar. The players seemed to freeze in amazement.

Devean George held out his hands and laughed. Olowokandi crunched his gum between his teeth and stared at the ceiling. Bryant stalked to the foul line shaking his head.

It was worth only two points, not nearly as valuable as many of Shaquille O’Neal’s 19 rebounds.

It was only one basket, not as effective as Karl Malone’s eight assists.

But it was action hero. It was passion play. It had a smart beginning, a grinding middle and a brilliant climax. It was Hollywood.

It was the only part of the game that many fans here will remember.

It was pure Lakers.

“He’s the most dynamic player that’s playing the game,” Minnesota Coach Flip Saunders said of Bryant.

The Lakers have made millions selling dynamic. Laker fans have lined Figueroa Street three of the last four springs to cheer dynamic.

Leave the grit to the Angels. Keep those low-scoring games at Dodger Stadium.

Laker fans demand exactly what Bryant brings

This is why O’Neal, even though his presence is unmatched and often unstoppable, has never been embraced like his rival.

Goliath is many things, but dynamic is not one of them.

And this is why, despite the ball-hogging issues with teammates, and giant pout in Sacramento, and the absence of an apology for all the distractions he has created this season, Bryant will soon be offered the ultimate Laker hug.

Whether he takes it, or decides to play somewhere else, is open to wild and silly speculation.

Whether his upcoming rape trial will affect his basketball future is also obviously unknown.

But Thursday showed again that, without question, he is their most beloved, game-changing, Buss-style player.

That reverse layup? It was his sixth consecutive point, after two free throws and an open three pointer, personally blowing open a two-point game, and he was just getting started.

Later in the run, he would hit a fall-away jumper, throw a perfect fastbreak pass to Malone for a dunk, spin around two more ‘Wolves for a layup and foul.

Just when it looked like he was tiring, he grabbed a ball from Kevin Garnett, forcing a jump ball that he won with a trampoline leap.

Then, just when the quarter was ending, well, of course, he hit a runner over two defenders to give the Lakers a 15-point lead and essentially the game.

Oh yeah. He did all of this after spending much of the day in a Colorado courtroom. He has come back from pretrial hearings three times in this postseason. The Lakers are 3-0 in these games. He is averaging 35 points in these games.

Buss’ buddies couldn’t have written a more compelling script.

In the strange Laker universe, even the legacy of Phil Jackson and largess of O’Neal pale in comparison.

“I just go day by day, whatever I have to do, I will do, and that’s pretty much the bottom line,” Bryant said late Thursday, adding, “Whatever it takes.”

He was asked whether he sensed when it was time for his dramatics.

What do you think?

“When I sense some momentum and I feel like its time to go in for the kill, that’s when I do it,” he said. “If it seems like some baskets have more importance in a game, I can sense it, and I go for it.”

He energizes the fans like no other Laker. He awes his opponent like no other Laker, witness this pregame quote from Olowokandi about Bryant’s Colorado travel. “It’s hard not to have empathy for him,” Olowokandi said. “I find myself rooting for him.”

As a Clipper, Olowokandi faced cohabitant abuse accusations that a former girlfriend later recanted, so he has a unique viewpoint.

But an opponent rooting for Bryant? That’s how popular he has become through this yearlong ordeal.

Heck, even his occasionally annoyed teammates were showering him Thursday with high fives and chest bumps and hugs, all in advance of this summer, when perhaps they will be required to give him something else: Job applications.

*

Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.

*

Busy Days

A look at how Kobe Bryant has fared in games played the same day he has had a court hearing in Eagle, Colo.

*--* DATE RESULT MIN FG-FGA FT-FTA REB AST PTS Dec. 19 at Lakers 101, Denver 99 31 5-14 3-4 3 5 13 March 24 at Lakers 115, 37 11-23 12-12 6 6 36 Sacramento 91 April 28* at Lakers 97, Houston 78 41 12-21 6-6 6 10 31 May 11* at Lakers 98, San 45 15-27 10-13 6 5 42 Antonio 90 May 27* at Lakers 92, Minnesota 41 10-24 9-10 8 4 31 85 Averages 39.0 48.6% 88.9% 5.8 6.0 30.6

*--*

* playoff game