Kobe Bryant is in again. Popular again. Which, frankly, didn’t seem possible.

He was hated. He was booed. He was vilified as a philanderer who had to answer charges of abusing a young woman. He was mocked by TV comedians for giving a gargantuan diamond ring to his wife as his way of saying “I’m sorry” for a bad dude’s bad deeds.

But suddenly, he’s Mr. 81.

Nobody is speaking of Bryant now as an adulterous heel, or as that prima donna Shaquille O’Neal couldn’t stand to play with anymore. Or as that selfish ball hog from L.A., who shoots the thing every time he touches it.

Kobe just changed the subject. He spun it, like a basketball on a fingertip.

Americans by the thousands – average folk, not necessarily NBA fans – called and e-mailed each other Sunday night, not to gab about the Steelers and Seahawks going to the Super Bowl but to be the first on their block to ask: “Did you hear? Kobe Bryant just scored 81 points!”

Behavior that presumably couldn’t be forgotten or forgiven is going to be. Not by everyone walking the Earth, but by millions who are not merely impressed by big numbers but dazzled by them. It’s as if Kobe just gave each of them an 81-carat rock.

“I still don’t like him,” you will hear someone say, but that’s not the point today.

The point is 81. A number that makes Bryant the talk of his sport, over LeBron James and others. A number that makes Bryant the talk of all sport, particularly with a Super Bowl looming that has a serious shortage of household names.

Bryant’s public image has changed overnight. He merely was the talk of his own town before this, a Los Angeles icon whose scoring binges entertained Staples Center crowds a lot more than they did anybody anyplace else.

Kobe was no big NBA draw by himself. Kobe didn’t have kids out buying up his brand of shoe. Kobe didn’t do TV ads for big burger chains and such, at least not nationally since his reputation was sullied.

The points piled up, but the compliments didn’t. Jay Leno still is doing gags about Bryant giving his wife that ring, even though years have gone by. No matter what Kobe did, he wasn’t able to alter the focus for some. To be restored to grace as a great athlete, not as a cad or buffoon.

This should do it.

It took a monster of a night to make people stop thinking of him primarily as a self-centered diva. That’s the twist. You would think 81 points would make a player look even more out for himself, but it doesn’t. Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point night inspired awe and myth, not contempt.

Now, NBA fans will check their local team’s schedule to see when and if Bryant – not the Lakers – will be in town. Around the globe, more people will pay attention to the 2006 World Championships in Japan because they will be curious to see if Bryant can help America regain its stature as the world’s best after the debacle of the 2004 Olympics.

All due to his 81.

“It’s like a miracle unfolding in front of your eyes,” was the way Lakers owner Jerry Buss portrayed the game Bryant played in a 122-104 victory over Toronto.

The miracle is the way a seemingly permanent stain on Bryant’s name finally might be blotted out.