Kobe's Hurt Finger Is Hurting the Lakers

Is Kobe selfish or what?

I feel bad. And it pains me to do this. But for the second time in a row, I'm criticizing my ultimate basketball idol, Kobe Bryant.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. My first two articles here at Bleacher Report have been critical of the guy who's supposed to be my favorite player. Let me just say that sports writing should be with, if not above, fanaticism. That means your favorites should not be given a pass. So hear me out.

Kobe Bryant's terrible slump continues, but it's not because of any unidentified or abstract concept opposing momentum, it's something very apparent. Yet he doesn't seem to recognize of it. Or worse, he's aware of it but he ignores it for some reason.

I'm not going to jump on the gun and say it's "selfishness." He's my idol, I can't do that.

But I'll summarize one of the main points of my previous article, something that was also commented by another: Kobe is playing bad because he has a bad finger and it might be bad for the Lakers.

Simply put.

I actually posted that same article over at another Laker fan site, but they're way too sensitive. At least you guys here understand (as one user noted, he was upset upon seeing the title of the article, but felt better about it after reading the article itself).

Bryant, perhaps trying to make a late show closing on the stage of Madison Square Garden against the Knicks, ended up with another bad shooting night (8-for-24 for 33 percent, coincidentally the number of his two jerseys...oh wait, that's something special about this performance tonight).

With Bryant's game still clearly affected by the broken finger, and with him already not shooting well anyway, he and the Lakers would be better off with him pounding the ball inside (where Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum are operating excellently) than him jacking up long three-pointers.

Gasol had 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting, along with eight rebounds and five assists. Bynum made seven of his 11 field goal attempts (19 points) in just 25 minutes of playing time.

Don't tell me you'd prefer Kobe's performance tonight over those kind of games. Yet Bryant was called in for the ESPN postgame interview, as if he was the player of the game.

I'm frustrated. I know, a win's a win, but if you understand, I share your frustration. I care about the Lakers, and I care about Kobe. It's his right to play if he wants to or if he thinks he can, but just like Jeff Van Gundy observed, at some point somebody has to keep players safe for themselves, and for the team. Kobe has to understand that, and make some sacrifices for now. And besides, he could seriously get hurt and impair the Lakers in the longer run. There's an NBA title we want to defend, folks.

If I was watching that game with buddies, whose hobbies include crucifying Kobe and calling him selfish, I'd be unable to argue with them. In some stretches I don't even care how to defend him over his haters anymore.

It's our Lakers, and we're going to move on. But for Kobe: Take a rest or something, would ya?