"Kobe Bryant is bigger in China than the Great Wall. How could a billion Chinese be so wrong? Not to question the taste of a country that loves everything American, from quarter-pound cheeseburgers to classic punk rock, but this 24/7, camera-clicking, name-chanting worship of Bryant by the local masses at the Olympics might be the strangest foreign love affair with a U.S. pop icon since the French decided Jerry Lewis was a comic genius. Sure, the man can hoop. But he's not exactly the finest example of American virtue. So why does China go absolutely gaga for Kobe? "I can't explain it," Bryant told me Wednesday. That makes two of us. The Chinese don't want to be like Michael Jordan or Brad Pitt. A nation with an insatiable appetite for U.S. culture adores the Los Angeles Lakers superstar to such an extent it would surprise nobody in Beijing if we woke up tomorrow and the giant portrait of Chairman Mao in Tiananmen Square was painted over, replaced with a mural of Kobe taking a great leap forward from the Nike swoosh. "Kobe might want to think about moving to China to live," said Olympic teammate Carmelo Anthony, who was kidding. We think. Back home, there are U.S. corporations who washed their hands of Bryant and walked away after he was accused of sexual misconduct in Colorado. Kobe can kiss his big Aristotle, insists Shaquille O'Neal. With baseball slugger Barry Bonds in exile, No. 24 for the Lakers just might now be No. 1 on America's list of love-him-or-hate-him athletes. "He's a polarizing figure in the United States," said New York Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni, working as an assistant for Team USA. "But, in China, he's off the charts. Everybody loves him." Like the smog, Bryant has been all over the Summer Games. At the opening ceremony, when hundreds of U.S. athletes marched into the Bird's Nest stadium, Chinese spectators had eyes only for Bryant.

"The crowd was chanting 'Ko-be, Ko-be' and I wanted to get next to him, so I would be on TV," American 100-meter dash king Tyson Gay said. Gawkers wearing replica jerseys have stood in a downpour as heavy as a waterfall hoping to catch a glimpse of Bryant stepping off the team bus. While President Bush drew respectful applause at a U.S. women's hoops game, the arrival of Bryant to the arena incited such a surge of fans that Olympic volunteers had to lock arms in the aisle to prevent a riot. The historic occasion of Bryant munching fries in the Olympic Village was recorded for posterity by an intrepid YouTube videographer and has already received more than 6,000 hits. Please, somebody tell us: What drives this incredible Chinese obsession with Bryant? "It's the power of Nike. And it helps Kobe is a good-looking guy. He scored 81 points in a game. This is easy to understand. He has that American flair the kids in China want to copy," said Ma Jian, a 38-y"