NBA Playoffs 2012: Can You Blame Kobe Bryant If the Lakers Lose to Denver?

The Los Angeles Lakers held a 3-1 advantage over the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2012 NBA playoffs, but instead of advancing to a semifinals meeting with the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Lakers are faced with a decisive Game 7 grudge match.

Anything can happen in Game 7 of a playoff series, but if the Lakers should lose, like many analysts have predicted, the stones of blame will certainly be tossed. But it will be extremely difficult to throw those rocks in Kobe Bryant's direction.

Kobe is averaging 31 points, 5.2 assists, 4.5 rebounds and shooting 45 percent from the field in the first round, but I'm sure his skeptics will find some way to shift the Lakers' struggles onto him.

Statistics be damned. That's how it always is with Bryant.

The Lakers have struggled to defend the perimeter, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum are playing down to their height and talent and Mike Brown has no concept of coaching a championship team, but it's all Kobe's fault.

Maybe there is some truth to all of the above-mentioned conclusions, but after Kobe's Game 6, 31-point performance while battling an obvious sickness, is that assessment really fair?

Denver may very well capitalize on their consecutive wins to even their series with the Lakers at 3-3, but how could anyone blame it on Kobe?

In the course of six games, Bynum has been dominant for a few, Gasol has been absent from most and Kobe has been game from the start.

Of course, Bryant has suffered through a few tough shooting nights from the field, but that's what shooting guards do.

Bryant's main objective as a shooting guard is to score the ball, and so far, he has accomplished that goal, but where is his backup?

I keep hearing that Bynum and Gasol are the Lakes' biggest postseason advantage due to their height and talent, but Kobe keeps bailing them out—or maybe not.

If the Nuggets do prevail in Game 7, how will the Lakers' massive front line explain being outplayed by the smallest frontcourt in the playoffs?

Bynum's Game 1 triple-double is an afterthought right now, and is Gasol even playing in this series?

I will be the first person to admit that Kobe takes chances that place his teammates in perilous positions, but Bryant is also the best bailout player whom I have ever seen.

The Lakers may not reach the 2012 NBA Finals, but it will not be because Kobe prevented it.