OAKLAND – I asked Kobe Bryant what he thought about Andrew Bynum launching that 3-pointer that got him benched by Lakers coach Mike Brown on Tuesday night.

“I think he was testing the limits of his game,” Bryant said.

That spirit is one that Bryant will usually support, I said.

Bryant nodded.

He nodded because he has always hoped Bynum would become more of a go-getter like the young Kobe.

He nodded because Shaquille O’Neal never nodded in understanding and certainly not appreciation when the young Kobe was trying to turn his game up and indirectly win more championships.

He nodded because he knows far better than anyone how hard it was to be the young Kobe – pushing against authority, convention and, yes, the limits of his game.

As impenetrable as Bryant’s force field of ambition appeared back then, he did feel the lack of faith and does remember the slights.

In this very same Golden State arena on Dec. 6, 2000 – the season after his and O’Neal’s first NBA championship, when a 22-year-old Bryant came back looking to expand his game, much to O’Neal’s disbelief – Bryant pushed his individual offense to the point that he scored 51 points on 51 percent shooting.

Bryant pushed O’Neal, who scored 25 points, to the point that he screamed at Bryant that night for not passing to him: “Drop it off!”

That’s why Bryant smiled a little when I told him about Bynum’s rebellious postgame comment about getting Brown’s message not to take 3-pointers and in the next breath saying boldly: “But I’m going to take some more.”

“It’s somewhat amusing to me, because in some ways the edginess and the chippiness of him make it easy for me to relate to him – because I had some of that when I was young,” Bryant, 33, said about Bynum, 24. “So, it’s easy for me to see where he’s coming from.

“I understand where he’s coming from. And the first thing you want to do if you want to get the best out of somebody or the best out of your players is you have to understand what they’re feeling; you have to understand where they’re coming from and what they want to accomplish. That’s why it’s not that big a deal to me. You don’t see me sitting here trippin’ or sweatin’ or anything like that. I’ve been there.”

Bryant and Bynum have grown closer this season, particularly through traveling together via private jet to and from the All-Star Game in Orlando. Bryant hinted that Brown overreacted by immediately walking down the bench and pointing at Josh McRoberts to replace Bynum – then benching Bynum again early in the fourth quarter when he kept dominating the offense to little avail.

“They have a lot of youth,” Bryant said about the Lakers’ coaches, whose experience with a too-passive LeBron James apparently is easy compared to handling a headstrong Kobe and a self-absorbed Shaq.

“They’re not used to dealing with players of Drew’s ambition, I’m sure, at this stage of his career. I was in that position, and obviously I have a lot of experience in dealing with myself – and playing with Shaquille when Shaquille was young and being mentored by Phil (Jackson) and things like that. So nothing really rattles me.”

Pau Gasol, who has inherited the co-captain title from Derek Fisher, was more by the book in his reaction, siding with the coaches when it comes to playing the right way. It’s a side Gasol has taken before when it comes to accepting the not-so-young Kobe still pushing not-so-clear limits.

“We’ll address it as a team, as a unit, to make sure everybody is on the same page,” Gasol said. “And we need Andrew at his best for us to have a chance. So that’s the only way we’re going to get it done.”

Asked if Bynum shooting 3’s is him at his best, Gasol said: “That’s not his game. But hopefully just one bad game is out of the way. … We’ll be fine. Andrew understands, is a good guy and will do the right thing.”

The Lakers did win this game – barely – despite Bynum playing only five minutes of the second half. Part of it was Gasol going for 19 points and 17 rebounds. Part of it was a previously cold Bryant nailing the tying and go-ahead jumpers in the final minute, both high-risk propositions that required heightened focus and timing to be made against Golden State’s double-team plans.

“The best player in the world hits two shots on us over great defense,” Golden State’s David Lee said. “It’s unfortunate.”

And it’s imperative to note that Bryant needed to try those tough shots and miss at some time previously if he ever was to make them now.

“Those are shots that I practice,” he said. “Those are shots that I work on time and time again.”

Bryant didn’t draw any comparison between those shots and Bynum needing to try 3-pointers, but it was implied from something else Bryant said about Bynum’s game.

“To me, everybody kind of frowned when he was shooting that turnaround jumper in the post,” Bryant said. “And now people aren’t frowning anymore because he’s making it. Obviously the coaching staff is not used to seeing Drew pull up at the top of the key and take a 3-pointer. I’m sure Drew won’t take many of them. He just tried one tonight.”

Bynum stayed on the bench most of the second half instead of getting up to encourage teammates or take part in strategic huddles, showing immaturity with his disappointment. But he wasn’t angry after the game, remaining cheerful – not unlike how young Kobe often was in learning to make peace with others not understanding he simply had to push those limits to be true to himself.

“I don’t know what was bench-worthy about the shot, to be honest with you,” Bynum said. “I made one (with 1.2 seconds left in the last game, a loss to Memphis), and I wanted to make another one. I swear, that’s it. I guess he took offense to it, so he put me on the bench.”

No doubt, the impression of Bynum’s daring and entitlement worries Brown.

For sure, Bynum cannot let expansion of his game interfere with his more important defensive responsibilities in the playoffs, the same way Bryant knew to rein it in and dump it in more to Shaq in the playoffs.

Indeed, there is more than one person from the Lakers’ inner circle fearing that Bynum is selfish at the core and cares more about his scoring stats than winning another championship.

Let’s just all be aware of the flip side, though.

Yes, yes and yes: The rest of the NBA should also be scared to death that Andrew Bynum is becoming more and more like Kobe Bryant.