NBA Playoffs 2011: Could This Be the Beginning of the End for Kobe Bryant?

Hey Laker fans, before you throw me off a cliff, harass my family for the next 10 generations and make me join the witness protection program, let me explain.

I am not saying that Kobe is done; I am not saying that he and the Los Angeles Lakers can or will not win the NBA title this year.

They have been built to win for several years now and are capable or rolling over the other NBA playoff teams for a third straight year.

They have assembled a great team, amazing talent and the five championships they have won since 1999, proving that they know how to dominate the league.

Laker nation, and it seems like the majority of NBA fans, expect nothing less than a title. They fully expect Phil Jackson to lead his team to yet another victory and ride off into the sunset following the victory parade.

NBA poster child Kobe Bryant should win his sixth championship and his third straight MVP award. Everything will go as planned, right?

So my question in all of this is: What will happen if Kobe Bryant and the Lakers fall short of the prize and do not win the NBA title this season?

This season has already been one of the most interesting for the Lakers in recent memory. They have had good streaks and they have had bad streaks. Just before the All-Star break, they lost three in a row, including one to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

After the break, they went on a 17-1 tear. They then proceeded to lose five of their last seven games, with losses to the Jazz, Warriors and a frustrating win against the reserve players of the Spurs.

Are the Lakers really worried? They will just flip a switch for the playoffs and everything will be fine. 

Laker coach Phil Jackson offers some insight on that. In a recent interview with Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times, Jackson discussed the recent difficulties and said:

"Yeah, I'm concerned, very much so, you can't turn the switch on and off like that in basketball without having to face some kind of price.

"Your game doesn't just come back all of a sudden. If you had injuries and people out and there were some sustaining facts behind it . . . but there really aren't."

He went on to attribute the recent slide to his team having too many turnovers.

These inconsistencies could mean that the Lakers fall short of the Championship. Couple this with the fact that the other teams in the league have been building teams designed just to beat them, there is a real possibility that they could lose.

So, what about Kobe?

He is 32 years old. He has been in the league for 14 seasons. Although they were managed better this season, he has averaged nearly 39 minutes per game in the regular season and has played in extended playoff series during many of his seasons in the league.

I understand that he is still scoring at a high level and can still take over games, but his nagging injuries seem to be mounting and he has endured the pressure of being the highest profile player in Los Angeles, the NBA and the world for much of his career. 

As shown by the tantrum that he threw in a recent game against the Spurs where he was caught on camera making inappropriate remarks, he is frustrated.

Things are not going smoothly in Laker land.

When asked recently in an Los Angeles Times interview about what he thought about the team heading into the playoffs, he stated: "This team is so weird. I don't know what the hell everybody is going to look like tomorrow. So I don't know."

If the Lakers do not win it all this year, is Kobe really going to want to start a new quest for a championship? At the end of the season, there will be changes. Phil Jackson has said that this will be his last season and who knows what will happen with the collective bargaining agreement.

I know this is a unpopular reality, but there will come a day when even the mighty Kobe will slow down and eventually retire from this game.

It happens to all players, whether the fans want it to or not.

Shaquille O'Neal is not as dominate as he once was and has bounced around the league after leaving the Lakers. Karl Malone did not play at the same level when he went to the Lakers to chase a championship and even the great Michael Jordan had to retire; he did go out on top, but he knew when it was time to go.

Will this playoff season turn out to be what Laker fans expect with their team winning another ring or when we look back, will we point to this season as the beginning of the end for Kobe Bryant?

Only time will tell.