LOS ANGELES — Look at Kobe.
Listen to Kobe.

Learn from Kobe.
Now that the Magic are down 2-0 after Sunday’s devastating 101-96 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, this is what Dwight Howard should take from his participation in these NBA Finals:
Approach the game like Kobe does.
Attack the game like Kobe does.
Love the game like Kobe does.
And remember this: the game is not Kobe’s job; it is his joy.
Of course, there is no joy in Magic-ville after this defeat. How can there be? The Magic were one missed alley-oop from winning this game in regulation and stealing homecourt advantage. They got 34 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists from Rashard Lewis — and still lost. They lost even though they threw every different lineup (Look, Ma, J.J.’s back in the rotation — and guarding Kobe, too) you can possibly imagine at the Lakers.
“I’m extremely frustrated,” Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy said. “We had chances to win but didn’t get it done.”
They lost because Kobe would not let them win. And I’m not just talking about Kobe’s 29 points. You expect him to get those points. I’m talking about what he does on the defensive end, where he limited the Magic’s shooting guards — Courtney Lee and Mickael Pietrus — to a combined four points. I’m talking about the defense collapsing on him in overtime and how he deftly dished to Pau Gasol for a three-point play and 96-91 lead with 1:14 left.
Ask anybody who’s ever played with him or against him. They will tell you that nobody works harder than Kobe does. They will tell you he never takes a day off; never even takes a play off.
Dwight himself saw it when he was a member of the Olympic “Redeem Team” that won the gold medal last summer in Beijing.
“The biggest thing I would say that I learned from watching him is that he doesn’t take any possessions off, especially on the defensive end,” Dwight says.
Our Olympic team was an aggregation of 12 of the best players in the world. They were already rich and successful multi-millionaires. They were already supremely talented.
But while they were preparing to win the gold medal, guess who was the first one in the workout room lifting weights in the morning? And the only one who was back in the gym at night completing his workout regimen?
Kobe.
This is what the greatest champions do. It’s what Bill Russell did. It’s what Michael Jordan did. It’s what Kobe does.
And it’s what Dwight is just beginning to do.
Van Gundy has seen the genesis of it during these playoffs where Dwight has worked religiously to improve his free-throw percentage. Even more dedication and work must start as soon as these playoffs end.
This is an ultra-important offseason for the Magic. Dwight has spent the last three summers traveling and training with Team USA. He must spend this summer in Orlando, developing an offensive repertoire around the basket.
The fact is, Dwight is too predictable in the paint. Because his moves are so basic, Lakers defenders seem to know what he’s going to do when he catches the ball. He had seven turnovers Sunday in Game 2. He had only one field goal in Game 1.
Dwight must be more like Kobe this summer. He must work harder than anybody, with the intention of becoming better than everybody.
Kobe puts in marathon six-hour, six-days-a-week workouts during the offseason. Which is why when somebody asked him before this series began if he has prepared extra hard for these Finals, it was insulting to him.
“I can’t step up my preparation,” he said, “because I prepare as much as I can all the time.”
There’s a reason Kobe has played in more games (219 if you count the NBA regular season, playoffs and Olympics) than anybody over the last 18 months and, yet, he is still able to tirelessly score 40 points in Game 1 and 29 in Game 2.
If the Magic have any hope of rebounding from this 2-0 deficit, they must outwork, outwit and, most importantly, outwill Kobe.
“I just want it so bad,” Kobe says.
What about you, Dwight?
Do you want it as badly as Kobe does?