ESPN reporter Shelley Smith talks about her recovery from breast cancer and her rocky relationship with Kobe Bryant with The Post’s Justin Terranova.

Q: How does the disease still affect you?

A: You just never know. That’s why after the surgery in January of last year, I had to go ahead with the chemotherapy and the radiation, because you don’t know what has already escaped into your system. But I refuse to live in fear. So, the new buzzwords are: no evidence of disease. Every four or five months I go for tests and hopefully I get a letter in the mail with those words.

Q: Do you ever think you’d become a public voice for cancer care?

A: I had just gotten my contract renewed, so that was scary enough, not knowing what was going on with that. Then two months later, I found out I had breast cancer, and I was just terrified. Once I had a plan and it seemed like a very winnable fight, then it got easier. Work knew, but they didn’t really know what to do. So, I just put it out on Twitter and was stunned that it blew up. Now people at ESPN know what to do. Now that Holly Rowe is fighting melanoma, she was able to call me and ask, “What should I do with work?”

Q: Did anyone’s reaction to it surprise you?

A: Kobe and I started speaking after 10 years. I am not sure if it’s because I had cancer or if it’s because he is in a weird place right now — he’s being nice to everybody right now because he wants to go out being beloved. I covered his rape trial in Colorado and there were things I reported that he disagreed with. He told me he’d never speak to me again, and this was 10 years ago. It was real nasty and awkward. At media day this year, Lakers PR came over and said he’d do an interview and he came up to me and gave me a big hug. My jaw hit the floor.

Q: Is Bryant’s new niceness working?

A: I don’t quite buy it. Everyone I talk to, no one believes it, because he wants to go out beloved like [Michael] Jordan did. He wants to go off into the sunset as a superhero, but we all remember how badly he treated a lot of us.

Q: Where do you think Bryant goes after the NBA?

A: I would be surprised if he stayed in basketball because he burned bridges coming up with players, coaches and front-office personnel. I think he’ll go into some sort of business. He’s very smart business-wise and he has a great brand.