You can say whatever you want to about Kobe Bryant. You can kill him for shooting too much, you can kill him for not shooting enough. You can call him selfish or arrogant or blame him for running Shaq out of town or whatever else you can think of, but give the man this: when it comes to getting what he wants, 24 is brilliant.

And here is what Kobe wants right now: he wants to win a championship and he wants to do it in LA. He’s toiled for years now with a Lakers supporting cast that can be described as mediocre at best. On their very best day. Trade deadlines have come and gone without any serious moves to make his team better, to give them a real shot at surpassing the Suns, the Mavs or the Spurs in the Western Conference playoffs. This season featured arguably the worst supporting cast Kobe has had since Shaq left town and as the trade deadline approached, rumors flew about deals for KG, Jason Kidd and Jermaine O’Neal. Scottie Pippen’s name was even hot for a minute. Then … nothing. True, logic says that Mitch Kupchak held off on a deal because Lamar Odom was so banged up and because the Lakers didn’t want to part ways with Andrew Bynum. Fine. But at the same time, when you have the best basketball player in the world on your team, you have to A) take full advantage of his prime and B) at the very least try to keep him happy, and show him you’re working to put him in a spot to win.

Don’t for a second think that yesterday’s drama wasn’t well thought out by Bryant. He knew exactly what he was saying to Stephen A. Smith and to all of the other radio hosts he spoke to yesterday before he ever hopped on the phone. Knowing what I know of Kobe Bryant, from my interactions with him playing high school ball to two Dime cover shoots and working with him on a daily basis for the cover story he wrote for Dime #22, he’s always one to speak his mind. I would be shocked if he hasn’t gone to the Lakers front office a million and one times begging for more help over the last few years. He obviously felt like his pleas were falling on deaf ears. He’s watched Kevin Garnett anguish for years with a front office that hasn’t done anything to get him the talent he needs. And while Garnett has spoken many times about his frustration and possibly moving on to another team, he’s never really come as strong as Kobe Bryant did yesterday.

And it worked like a charm. Within hours there were statements from Jerry Buss, there was a phone call from Phil Jackson where he supposedly pledged to make things happen for Kobe. Newspapers from every NBA city today speculate on what their team could do to get Kobe Bryant to their city, no matter how far-fetched. Orlando, Memphis, Dallas, New York, New Jersey, you name it. And to top it all off, the Seattle Times has a column outlining a deal that would send Rashard Lewis or Ray Allen and the No. 2 pick in the draft to LA for Kobe. Bryant created an instant market for himself to get Lakers management to snap-to.

I’d be absolutely shocked now if the team doesn’t do something to shake up their roster to make the Lakers more competitive. They’re not going to trade Kobe (although that Seattle rumor is pretty crazy), but they’re damn sure going to do their best to keep him happy.

Kobe Bryant is tired of watching his prime years go by without playing on a championship-caliber team. Can you blame him? He knew that his words yesterday would start ruckus and he knew that that ruckus will most likely lead to a better Lakers team in 2008. Call him what you will. I call him brilliant.