Kobe Bryant: Black Mamba Smart to Verbally Bash LA Lakers Critics

The Los Angeles Lakers appear to be falling apart at the seams, with Andrew Bynum getting benched, Mike Brown not getting support for his decision from Kobe Bryant and the fact they just got blown out by Oklahoma City. 

Just don't try telling Bryant that there is anything wrong with him or this team, as we enter the home stretch. 

Here is what Black Mamba had to say about all the critics on Thursday (via NBA.com):

"

It's stupid. People can be idiots. That's why I don't play those games. People act like (Michael) Jordan never had bad shooting nights, terrible shooting nights. Jerry West had terrible shooting nights. We all have terrible shooting nights. It's part of the game.

The ignorance of people is somewhat annoying at times, but I'm learning to put up with it. We're right where we want to be. Despite the games that we've given away this year, we still find ourselves within striking distance of that second seed in the West, which is pretty remarkable.

"

Some might look at this as a superstar trying to spin some of the criticism that has faced his team, but Bryant is absolutely right to take everyone to task. 

No one is talking about this team as a serious threat in the Western Conference. All we ever hear about is what is going wrong with the Lakers. 

Yet here we are with 15 games to go in the regular season, and the Lakers are sitting in third place in the Western Conference. The only teams they trail are Oklahoma City and San Antonio. 

We have gotten so accustomed to seeing the Lakers dominate the league, that when they aren't steamrolling teams we have to ask what is wrong with them. 

The regular season is a different animal than the playoffs. Anything can happen in a short series, so there is no reason to think the Lakers are just going to be one-and-done. 

They play great defense, which is something they are not given nearly enough credit for. So before we just dismiss this team as over the hill, let's look at what they have built and how successful they have been. 

There are 12 teams in the Western Conference who would love to be in the Lakers' position right now. 

Bryant knows how good this team can be and is right to be annoyed by all the talk that they have somehow struggled.

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