Everybody was expecting a showdown. What they got wasn't worth the five minutes it took to watch. Barkley explained (again) why he called Kobe selfish, and then apologized (?!) for making Kobe's text messages public knowledge. Kobe then responded with his lame "I was just sticking to the game plan" excuse, and that was it. No rebuttle, no point/counterpoint, no closing statements by both sides. Charles threw in a quick question about Kobe's upcoming number change right before they went to commercial, and then -- just like that -- it was over.

I still can't believe it. The "game plan" excuse doesn't hold any weight with me, and it shouldn't hold weight with anybody else, either. Kobe quit that night, plain and simple. Phil Jackson wanted to pound the ball inside, get other guys going, fine. That's one thing. But Kobe stood at the top of the key, passing off to teammates and emphatically pointing at them as if to say, "No, you do it. I'm done." He didn't drive to the hoop to create shots for his teammates. He didn't crash the boards. He didn't lock anyone down on defense. I have the game saved on TiVo, and I will sit down with anyone who disagrees and ask them to explain why Kobe spends the second half standing outside the three-point line just watching. Watching. Not participating in the triangle. Not setting up his teammates. Just...watching.

Charles should have asked the same thing. Great players don't have to score to be effective. There were times Larry Bird had to pull back and let McHale, Parish, and Cedric Maxwell carry the scoring load. But he didn't just stand there twiddling his thumbs. He got involved. He hit the boards with a vengence. He created. Kobe has as much natural talent as anyone who has ever played, and he's honed his skills to a level that amazes even me, his harshest critic. But there is no way to defend his inactivity in the second half of that game. He didn't need to take 20 shots that half. He could have contributed in countless other ways. That, more than anything else, is why what he did was selfish and self-serving.

I don't know what kind of voodoo mind control they used to shut Charles up. When the segment began, you could practically see Barkley quivering with anticipation. So what happened? Was he given orders not to aggressively question Kobe? Was he intimidated by Bryant? It doesn't make any sense. Being so passive, even apologizing, that isn't Barkley's style. Never has been. But it was last night. And as a result, he left a lot of people shocked and let down. I wish I knew why. I doubt we'll get any better of an answer to that question than we got about Kobe's disappearing act against the Suns.