NEW YORK — Before I go away for the summer (to camp . . . at least that's what my family is telling me), there are certain things I want to get off my chest.

No, I don't foresee the Lakers caving to Kobe's egomaniacal demands for a trade; for no other reason than each time he runs his mouth, or delegates an ESPN correspondent to mime his dirty work, his value increasingly diminishes.

Only losers like the Knicks, who cannot possibly give L.A. anything equitable in return, are psyched to headline Kobe's act.

I've lost count; with the arrival of Zach Randolph, how many desperados has Isiah Thomas invited down from their fences since James Dolan banned Latrell Sprewell and character issue players like him from the Garden premises?

Meanwhile, playoff teams like the Bulls have backed off Kobe, knowing it would take too many of their assets to secure him and mindful he would be unhappy with the sharp dip in talent.

At the same time, Kevin Garnett and Jermaine O'Neal are looking at Kobe funny.

Initially, they were pumped at the prospects of playing alongside such majesty. Now, I'm told, their deepest sympathy is with Shaq; how insufferable life must have been winning three straight titles.

Still, if nothing else, the Buss family is financially far better off holding on to its ace attraction/money maker at least for one more season, a year before Kobe is eligible to become a free agent.

The insurgent compulsive repulsive may be a basket case, but he's a living lock to show up in serrated shape and compete as if on a religious crusade . . . well, at one end, anyway.

Bottom line: Kobe has evolved into a fake franchise player . . . same as Chris Webber and Tracy McGrady and now Garnett and Jermaine O'Neal. They're not conceited; they're convinced they're bad to the bone, all commanding max money.

Yet all of them repeatedly failed to carry their respective teams to the NBA Finals sans another superstar; McGrady can't even get out of the first round with Yao Ming, as opposed to Allen Iverson and LeBron James who reached the Supreme Court surrounded by role players.

Kobe blamed ownership for not providing enough help. I can't recall if he has offered to cut his salary appreciably to provide management with salary cap relief.

I assume when he re-signed in 2004 he understood the roughly $18 million he pockets annually would somewhat reduce management's personnel options/maneuverability.

It's not as if the Lakers haven't tried to get bigger and better in the wake of Shaq's trade — Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant, a first- and second-rounder.

The problem is the team's minimal margin of error. Minus Shaq to fall back on, every roster mistake is monumental; exchanging Butler for Kwame Brown, signing Vladimir Radmanovic to a mid-level exception deal, thinking Robert Horry was obsolete, not retaining Derek Fisher.

Clearly, the decision makers — the Buss family, Phil Jackson and Mitch Kupchak — folded under the pressure of time running out (the Zen Hen's three-year contract) and Kobe's volcano of aggravation and admonishment that erupted publicly a month after L.A. was swept by the Suns in the first round.

In all fairness to K.G. and J.O. at least they've maintained a covert campaign to seek higher ground.

I'm positive O'Neal will be traded; had Marcus Williams been added to the Richard Jefferson-Nenad Krstic pot O'Neal would already be a Net. The tri-pod of Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and O'Neal would have made Jersey the team to beat in the East.

Garnett, on the other hand, was very close to becoming Steve Nash's sidekick a day or two before the draft.

Hawks GM Billy Knight (not one of the owners) nixed a three-way operation that would have harvested Amare Stoudemire.

Marvin Williams, Tyrone Lue, Zaza Pachulia and the third and 11th pick in last week's draft would have wound up in Minnesota.

How could Knight reject the chance to obtain a first team All-League 25-year-old (Nov. 16) 208-cm forward?

The Hawks' home audience is apathetic. They're a recurring lottery team that didn't need to get any younger but just did by adding Al Horford and Acie Law.

Atlanta craves an established inside presence. Rebuffing that opportunity is unfathomable.

Peter Vecsey covers the NBA for the New York Post.