Much to the delight of some high-powered onlookers, Lakers great Kobe Bryant confronted Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at the start of last week’s jam-packed Lakers victory parade and added a whole new dimension to the day’s festivities. According to mesmerized eyewitness accounts, this is what happened: The City Council members were told to arrive at the parade staging area at 10 a.m. last Wednesday so they could get on the bus and ride in the parade. They boarded the bus at 10:30 a.m. and were still waiting to roll at 11 a.m. The council members, as well as the general public, became antsy and demanded to know what was the hold up and why was it taking so long to get the parade under way. (Some of the more fair-skinned council members were particularly annoyed, sitting in the sun, as they were.)

The cause of the hold-up was occurring adjacent to the locker room, where Kobe was refusing to ride on the City Council bus because the mayor was to ride on it. At the same time, the mayor, the consummate spotlight thief, was refusing to get on the City Council bus unless he got on with Kobe. Kobe loudly denounced the mayor in phrases that started with “I don’t like the …” and ended with “I’m not going to let him pimp my popularity!”

The impasse ended and the parade started after Kobe got on the team bus and the mayor was sneaked onto the same bus behind Kobe’s back by a couple of his teammates. As the team bus approached Georgia Street, it was greeted by about 100 city workers who had labored throughout the previous day and night preparing the Coliseum for the rally. The bus stopped in front of them and the hard-working crew went ballistic for the team and shouted and cheered like they’d lost their minds. Then the mayor popped up from among the players and waved to the group, which suddenly turned silent, as if a spigot had been turned off. They say the effect was quite chilling. And these were all city employees, who probably know the mayor better than we do.

Then, people in the Coliseum who knew nothing about the outside bus dust-up and the Georgia Street snub, had their own tale to tell: They say the mayor introduced the members of the team and after he introduced Kobe, he extended his hand for the customary shake and Kobe strode right past him ignoring the outstretched hand. One elected official said the snub was clearly visible to everybody. “I didn’t understand it when I saw it, but after hearing about what happened with the bus, I understand it now,” the official said. So, is it sports or is it politics? In this city, it’s obviously one and the same.

HE-E-E’S BACK! — The Rev. Lewis Logan, the popular former pastor of Bethel AME who was summarily sent to a church in Maryland earlier this year, is back. Logan, with whom I spoke Monday, said that despite his controversial and unexplained removal from his local ministry, he retains his AME status because “I love my church and its leader, but we just have different opinions.” He was up to his old tricks — community activism — when he was a featured speaker at Monday’s downtown rally urging the governor and the legislators to pass a fair budget that protected families, seniors and the disabled. “I must always do that,” Logan said. “Community activism, which probably got me in trouble, is part of my spirit.” For now, Logan preaches Christ crucified and risen from the dead on Sundays at 7:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. at the Henry Clay Middle School on 122nd Street and Western Avenue. Welcome back.

PERIPETIC COUNCILORS — City Councilwoman and controller-elect Wendy Greuel will be featured at a community meeting, billed “Have Your Say About L.A.,” in Councilman Herb Wesson’s office Thursday evening, at which residents will have the opportunity to tell their newly elected city controller what they’d like to see changed at City Hall. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in Wesson’s 1819 S. Western Ave. field office. … State Sen. Rod Wright will host a “Coffee and Conversation” event Saturday with Councilman Bill Rosendahl so residents can discuss their ideas, questions and concerns about community and legislative issues with both men over a complimentary cup of coffee. The conversation will be held at the Coffee Company, 8751 La Tijera Blvd. in Westchester from 8 to 9:30 a.m.

PROPS FOR AN EDUCATOR — The hundreds of students whose lives were influenced by Marian Wagstaff will gather in the Music Hall at Cal State L.A. at 11 a.m. Saturday for a testimonial in honor of the late Wagstaff, who had been a heroic and groundbreaking teacher and principal at Willowbrook Junior High School during its tumultuous period from 1942 to 1952, when racism was rife and violent in South L.A.’s neighborhoods and schools. Wagstaff died last month at age 97 and her students from that era will pay tribute to her for her aggressive efforts to maintain civility and equality among her school’s African-American, Hispanic, Japanese-American and White students and their parents while the region was erupting around them. CORE’S Adrian Dove was one of those students and he said a painting of Wagstaff, commissioned by renowned artist Eddie Martinez, will be unveiled at the event, which will be hosted by Cal State L.A. President James Roesser and Mary Falevy, dean of the School of Education.

THIS AND THAT — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has set Sept. 1 as the date for a special election to fill the 51st Assembly District seat, which was vacated by Curren Price when he was elected to the state Senate last month. … Speaking of that seat, Gardena City Councilman Steve Bradford and Gloria Gray, a director of a couple of water boards, were very chummy at Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas’ Juneteenth celebration last week. Both of them are expected to vie for the Assembly seat and I couldn’t help but comment about the great bonhomie between them that night. They simply smiled and said, almost in unison, “Oh we’re friends. We’ve always been friends.” I wonder how long that’s going to last.

The Court of Appeals last week stayed Inglewood Mayor Roosevelt Dorn’s scheduled trial on felony charges of conflict of interest and misappropriation of public funds, stating that the trial can not proceed until the California Supreme Court rules on several cases before that court, as some elements of the prosecution’s case against Dorn could be determined as not illegal.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass has been pounding the pavement throughout the Southland discussing the latest and ever-changing state budget developments in Sacramento and what they mean for Los Angeles families. Her zeal in fashioning and promoting a recession-era budget that protects the most vulnerable among us has certainly added to her already strong appeal as an 8th District City Council member. There are people out here vying to be the first to make maximum contributions to her campaign when she announces her City Council candidacy.

Community Coalition, the house that Bass built, has organized a workforce of more than 100 African-American, Latino and Korean residents to participate in a neighborhood clean-up and beautification project in the area around 39th Street and Western Avenue as part of the mayor’s citywide Day of Volunteerism. Residents will gather for the South LA Day of Service Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon at the MLK Park on the corner of 39th and Western.

AND FINALLY — To those 15 students who were denied their graduation certificates from the downtown John Liechty Middle School last week because they protested their keynote speaker, LAUSD President Monica Garcia, over teacher layoffs and increased class sizes: You don’t need no stinkin’ middle school certificates! Tell your parents to tell your principal what she can do with them. You just need to stand up or sit down for your rights — whichever makes the point. Congratulations on your graduation and your grit.