2010 NBA Playoffs: The Time Is Now for Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers

In the midst of all the concerns about injuries, chemistry, playing time, and Kobe Bryant's shot selection, the Los Angeles Lakers still managed to finish with the best record in the Western Conference to capture the No. 1 seed going into the playoffs.

The Lakers have the opportunity to render their various detractors obsolete once they take the court against the Oklahoma city Thunder on Sunday, even though there are some predicting the Lakers to fail in that endeavour.

The Lakers are an inherently better team that the Thunder, and the inside trio of Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, and Lamar Odom is likely too much for Oklahoma City to overcome.

Some people choose to base their postseason reasoning on the regular season, but that logic fails to consider the various factors associated with the playoffs not found in the first 82 games.

The most important element is experience, and somehow it has become the most under-valued factor when discussing the potential fate of a playoff team.

The pace of the game slows down in the postseason. A premium is placed on focus and concentration, and the experience of being in those situations is something the Lakers are familiar with. 

The majority of the Lakers' problems in the regular season derived from inconsistency, which is a byproduct of a lack of focus, but this is something easily correctable for Los Angeles.

The Lakers are well-versed in the importance of the postseason, and a player like Bryant lives to excel on the game's ultimate stage—and there is little doubt that he will be prepared for this year's battle.

In the same vein as Michael Jordan, Bryant is a player who thrives under the pressure of the postseason, and his career has been defined by the ability to recognize the urgency of the moment.

Even when Bryant was playing sidekick to Shaquille O'Neal, it was his play which proved to be the difference in the series versus the Portland Trail Blazers in 2000, and the San Antonio Spurs in 2001.

Bryant acts a stabalizing force for his teammates, and he is the player they look to to bail them out of tight situations, or to just take over when the circumstances dictate it.

Jerry Buss and Mitch Kupchak have surrounded him with a team which was built with the sole purpose of competing for championships, and even though the model may be flawed, it's hard to argue the results.

Bryant is the centerpiece to what may be the most talented starting unit in the postseason, and this team has confronted similar nagging issues in the past and overcome them.

An unproductive reserve unit and poor defense from the point guard position plagued the Lakers in the regular season, but the same is true of last year, but Los Angeles found a way to defeat those demons.

Los Angeles was not the best team in the regular season, but the same was true in 2008 and 2009, yet the Lakers managed to reach the NBA Finals each year, and captured the championship in 2009.

Coach Phil Jackson's philosophy is not based on regular season success, but he uses those games to establish roster identity and devise strategy for the postseason, and he has had some success with that approach.

Jackson may not be a master motivator—he leaves that to his team—but he is an expert at making adjustments in the postseason, and there is no reason to think that aspect has changed.

More than any other team in the league, the Lakers understand exactly what it takes to win a championship, and they also understand no title is won based on their regular season performance.

This is the moment which has defined the history of the Los Angeles Lakers' franchise, and the past has shown us it would be foolish to count them out based on what the first 82 games has shown us.

Elevating play is not the same as the perceived notion of turning it on and off because it involves more attention to details, and if the Lakers can find that happy medium, the title is theirs to lose.