Kobe Bryant's Leadership Will Determine L.A. Lakers' Playoff Fate

Throughout the course of the regular season, you can get by on talent alone.

However, that's not necessarily the case when the postseason rolls around. The most talented team doesn't always get to raise the trophy when it's all said and done.

To win when it counts, you need a true leader and the Los Angeles Lakers have one of those in Kobe Bryant. In fact, it's Kobe's leadership that will ultimately determine how far the Lakers stick around this postseason.

The Lakers certainly have the talent to contend, but they have that real leader that not all playoff teams can boast. Bryant's a guy that has seen and done it all. He knows exactly what needs to be done to win a championship and you can expect his best when the postseason rolls around.

If we learned anything from Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks last season, it's that the less talented team can win a title by playing as a team and leaning heavily on their leader.

That puts the pressure on that one guy to come through when all the chips are on the table. Nowitzki rose to the occasion last season and Bryant needs to do the same this year for the Lakers to have any chance at winning a championship.

When you look at Bryant's career, there's no doubting his greatness as a player, but as a leader, he's come full circle.

He's gone from the guy early in his career, where he had the cocky attitude as a teenager and progressed right into a multi-year feud with Shaquille O'Neal. But while we talk often about Kobe's scoring and his collection of rings over the years, we don't give Bryant enough credit for evolving into a leader when it's deserved.

Sure, Bryant's put the Lakers on his shoulders and led them to championships in 2009 and 2010, but now he has to step up and be the primary leader of this team. Remember that he's had veterans like Derek Fisher around that could help assume some of that role in the past.

Bryant no longer has that luxury. The pressure is entirely on him to lead.

Just take a look back at the past couple weeks and you will see where Bryant is as a leader.

He was certainly disappointed about the Fisher trade, but took the high road and didn't allow his real feelings to serve as a distraction.

Then Kobe was benched by head coach Mike Brown in the fourth quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies, yet he took it in stride instead of throwing head coach Mike Brown under the bus. 

Bryant's has also had to watch teammate Andrew Bynum act foolishly in the past couple weeks, but continued to show support for Bynum.

Someone has to be the alpha male in the locker room and Bryant realizes that others will follow his lead. Kobe has handled everything like a leader should, including his benching. No matter what disappointment or anger Bryant has felt over the course of these weeks, he's taken it all in stride and offered up nothing in terms of controversial statements.

Instead, Bryant won't allow anything to knock the Lakers off a possible path to a championship. As a veteran, he's seeing the big picture.

That's been evident by constantly having his coach and his teammates' backs. Bryant knows Bynum's behavior is bad for the team, but he also sees the fact that Bynum needs a role model to teach him how to act.

What we've seen in Bryant is a kid who has gone all the way from a teenager to a man that has become one of the better leaders in the game.

He wasn't born a leader, but has evolved into one. In the process, Bryant's worked to improve his public persona to the point where he now is no longer a lightning rod for unnecessary controversy and unwanted headlines.

That leadership will be put to the test in a few weeks, as the Lakers will surely go only as far as Kobe can lead them.