Pivot Points: Kobe Bryant's Teammates Not Bearing Fair Share of Lakers' Burdens

For the duration of this NBA season, Kobe Bryant has carried his Los Angeles Laker teammates to the top of the NBA standings on the weight of some Herculean efforts and timely clutch shooting.

Through the pain of a broken finger, constant double teams, injuries to other players, and subpar performances from his bench, Kobe has persevered, and at a time when he needs his teammates the most, they have been unable to answer the bell.

Bryant has visibly suffered from his finger injury recently and was forced to sit out the fourth quarter against the San Antonio Spurs due to back spasms, and his team responded by being outscored 18-5 to close the game.

Kobe is criticized for taking too many shots, but who in his stead has been assertive enough to be considered a legitimate alternative to Bryant? Pau Gasol for sure, but the Lakers don't expect him to return until this weekend against the Los Angeles Clippers.

In truth, it could be longer, because hamstring injuries are tedious and the time frame for recovery drifts more to the speculative side rather than the specific, and is based more on the general feel of the player.

So who steps up to share the load with Bryant? Ron Artest suffered a finger sprain of his own and is now listed as day to day, and the other members of the team have proven ill equipped for the job.

Center Andrew Bynum had a strong showing against a team with superior inside strength with 23 points and 12 rebounds against the Spurs, but his performances have lacked consistency and aggressiveness, and trade rumors have began to swirl.

I'm not sure if the Lakers would move Bynum, but to even consider it is a shift in previous Laker strategy, which envisioned Bynum as a cornerstone of the team far into the future.

The other obvious suspect would be Lamar Odom, but after displaying an unusually aggressive manner in offseason contract negotiations, Odom has reverted to his talented, meek, and inconsistent self.

Sure, he shows up all over the stat sheet, but never in the dominant way his skills suggest he could, and his demeanor has never included traces of the alpha-male trait which would be very useful in the time of Kobe's pain.

And pain it has been, as Bryant has endured through a shooting slump caused by a hard hit on the finger against the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Lakers are mired in a slump which has seen them drop three of four games.

Bryant shot nowhere near as bad against the Spurs as he did in a 95-77 win against the hapless Milwaukee Bucks, where he went 4-for-21 from the field, or in the game against Portland where he scored 32 points on 37 shots.

But the effects of the injury have began to show, and the Lakers can't afford to shut Bryant down for any significant portion of the season if they are to maintain their now vulnerable lead in the Western Conference.

Bryant will always account for the majority of the Lakers' success simply because of the wide range of skills he possesses and the hunger and passion in which he approaches the game.

But the Lakers' ailing captain is in need of a little reciprocation of the love and the ability for his teammates to step up and help will aid Los Angeles now and further down the road.

Kobe has been an iron man throughout his career, and this recent slide is sure to subside eventually, but the Lakers need to establish another player who can carry the team in his absence.

The health of Gasol is paramount as he has really been the only Laker who has seemed to consistently produce outside of Bryant's umbrella, as his peers may have fallen victim to an over-reliance on Bryant.

The time has not come to hit the panic button, but a little Laker self-reflection may be in order as Los Angeles finds itself faced with its first real adversity of the season.

In order for the Lakers to keep their heads above the waters of the Western Conference, someone will have to step up and play alongside Bryant rather than in his shadow. Who might that Laker be?