LOS ANGLES - Perspective is required in judging sports in Southern California, a place where the Angels play in Anaheim but call it Los Angeles, the Dodgers have gone from greatness to embarrassment and for nearly two decades the NFL has been an absentee.

The chaos, organized as it may have been, leaves the Los Angeles Lakers as the only pro team north of San Diego which really matters and its main man, one Kobe Bryant, as keeper of the kingdom, not to mention current leading scorer in the NBA.

Phil Mickelson and Bill Haas stopped by last week at Riviera Country Club, Chris Paul has made an impact, and Albert Pujols will appear shortly.

But always and forever, it’s Kobe, the star in a town – Hollywood, of course – obsessed with stars, lord, master and idol.

The people in charge of the Lakers, who as we’re aware did not win the NBA championship last season, did not even reach the Finals the first time in four seasons, hinted they wanted to make changes.

Not changing Kobe. Heaven, no, you want anarchy? Changing others who work with Kobe.

Originally they attempted to trade Pau Gasol, supposedly the other half of the team’s 1-2 punch, for Chris Paul, a move thwarted by the league which, heh, heh, allowed Paul to be sent the other team in L.A., the Clippers.

Now, acknowledging the Lakers need to get younger – don’t we all? – and acquire a point guard, the front office continues to put forward the 7-foot Gasol as the available bargaining chip. Nobody has proclaimed as much, but nobody has denied as much either.

Most professional athletes live and play under that sort of duress, even someone as Gasol who’s earning millions.

Those with leverage sign no-trade contracts. The rest go about their jobs, always fearing the call to visit the coach or general manager who will thank them for their contribution and tell them they have been traded to – well, anywhere, which can be nowhere.

Things these days are not going well for the people in the $1,200 front-row seats at Staples Center, or really any Laker fan in any economic category.

There is tension in SoCal from the top of the Hollywood sign to the sands of Manhattan Beach. The Clippers, formerly the awful, nobody-cares-about-them Clippers are playing better than the Lakers. What next?

A deal, that’s what, probably involving Gasol, and peripherally involving Bryant, because everything with the Lakers involves Bryant one way or the other. As Kobe made clear a couple of days ago.

“If they want to do something, I wished they just (expletive) do it, and if they’re not going to do it, come out and say they’re not going to do it,’’ was Bryant’s dictum about Gasol’s future.

At 34, after 15 years in the league, Kobe knows management isn’t going to say what it will do or won’t do, but when you get the stage, and he always has the stage, you don’t slink off to the wings silently.

Bryant apparently was of the idea the rumors, not being denied, were messing with Gasol’s head and his play, which in turn messed with Kobe’s play, as if anything (divorce, scandal) or anyone (Shaq O’Neal) seems to mess with Kobe’s play.

The front office is so aware of Bryant’s status and statements, almost immediately Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak came out with his own statement.

“To say publicly that we would not do this,’’ said Kupchak in response to Bryant’s advice, “would serve no purpose and put us at a competitive disadvantage. Taking such a course of action at this time would be a disservice to ownership, the team and our many fans.’’

In other words, Kobe, sit down and shut up. Well, keep running up and down the court and scoring, but shut up.

Bryant has never been quiet. He is a sporting journalist’s dream, intelligent, talkative, extroverted. In L.A. and environs he is unequaled in glamour, which only embellishes his opinions.

This wasn’t just anyone giving orders, this was the only one. This was Kobe Bean Bryant, the man.

Gasol, more sensitive than Bryant, at least outwardly, admitted discussions about him being traded have affected him personally, if not his play. He had a lively game in a Monday night win against Portland, and Bryant had 28 points.

After that game, TNT’s Cheryl Miller interviewed – who else? – Bryant who explained of his message about Gasol, “I said what he wanted to say but couldn’t say.’’ 

Kobe can say anything, and people pay attention. And why not?

He’s won championships, sold tickets and helped push the Lakers to or near the the summit on which they have resided. Rank has its privileges. Success has its reasons.

Bryant is aggressive on the floor. That’s his style, and it shows as much when he pushes home an argument as much as when he drives for a game-winning basket.

There’s nothing subtle about Bryant. In L.A., there’s no equal either.