Can the Scorching Hot Kobe Bryant Continue to Carry the Los Angeles Lakers?

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant is on a tear like no one else in the NBA at the moment.

At age 33, he's leading the NBA in scoring at 32.0 points per game through the first 14 games of the season. That's close to seven points above his career average.

Not only that, but he's been scorching hot as of late with four consecutive 40-plus point efforts. In his last five games, Bryant is knocking it down at an unreal rate, chipping in 39.6 points per contest.

I can keep on going, throwing out ridiculous numbers to show what type of tear that Bryant is currently on, but the question is can he keep it up?

Yes and no.

He certainly can't keep throwing up 40-plus efforts and quite frankly, the Lakers might be in trouble if they needed him to.

But what he can do is continue to carry the Lakers offense.

We've seen what that's like before. No one in the game has the killer instinct that he has. He's the best closer in the game for a reason. He will keep attacking until someone slows him down and judging by the start of the 2012 season, it's going to be very difficult for someone to do that.

After the less-than-spectacular Lakers offseason, it was questioned if this team could even contend. Analysts questioned whether or not Bryant could still be Kobe-like this many years into his career. The thought of Andrew Bynum replacing Bryant as the Lakers No. 1 option was even brought up.

No player in the game is better at silencing his critics better than Bryant.

The streak that he's been on has done exactly that, and he's got the Lakers contending.

With that in mind, Bryant is going to do what it takes to keep this Lakers team rolling. But don't be surprised if he doesn't slow down for a while.