Kobe Bryant: Lakers Star Is Right, Critics Need To Back Off LeBron James

Kobe Bryant has come to the defense of LeBron James.

When the Miami Heat lost the NBA title to the Dallas Mavericks, critics were quick to heap the blame onto the shoulders of James, stating that he disappeared during the fourth quarter of games and was too often deferring to Dwyane Wade.

While both of those points are certainly valid, Bryant's comments were meant in a broader context in terms of James' career, as he has really been put under a microscope since he came into the league.

In an interview with ESPN, Bryant called for everyone to stop scrutinizing James and simply let him play the game.

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"I think people need to lay off that kid, that's what I think. I've gotten to know him pretty well, playing with the Olympic team, and I think they just need to back off him and just let him play and let him live his life and let him make his decisions and let him mature as a player."

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This shouldn't come as something unexpected.

After Bryant went through his own image repair following his infamous Colorado trial, the media was as anxious to tear him down as they were to build him up into a superstar. And now, we see a similar phenomenon happening with James.

Since LeBron came out of high school, he was pegged as a superstar. James was the "chosen one," both by the media and himself, as his infamous tattoo across his back reveals.

He has been built up to the point where he can no longer return to normalcy. James' image is no longer human, but rather some type of basketball playing robot that should be incapable of error.

But that's simply not the case.

Since he was very young in his basketball career, long before he came into the NBA, James dominated every level of competition by blowing everyone out of the water. He was able to rely on his amazing talent to catapult himself above the competition without working as hard as some of the others before him have had to do to achieve similar success.

Don't interpret that the wrong way, either. James' work ethic is strong, but as a freakish athlete whose natural skills are far and beyond what most are given, he has always stood at least a head above the competition.

Despite his dominance on the basketball court, James is still a human being very capable of making ordinary mistakes. He has delivered one memorable performance after the next, but no matter what he does, there is always a critic waiting to harp on some aspect of his game that didn't live up to expectations.

At just 26 years old, LeBron has career averages of 27.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.9 blocks while shooting 47.9 percent from the floor.

There are still shortcomings in James' game. This is not to say that he is infallible by any stretch, because he most certainly is not. Still without a championship and with an inability to properly articulate himself to the mainstream media, James has a lot of growing up to do.

However, to place the blame solely on him and continually tear him down is absolutely wrong.

James' NBA journey is unlike any other superstar's before him. It's not just about the headlines on the nightly news and the next morning in the papers anymore.

What if the Internet had been prominent when Michael Jordan suddenly walked away from the game of basketball to pursue a baseball dream? Or how about when he decided to give it another go-around with a lowly Washington Wizards franchise?

Most are quick to harp on James because it's easy. It's very simple to join the masses of hate and continue to root against a player who has quickly become a villain in the NBA, but that doesn't make it the right move by any stretch.

When LeBron's career comes to an end, he's going to be remembered as one of the most talented players to ever take the court in the NBA, no matter how many championship rings he has in his collection.

His lasting legacy will certainly be impacted by his ability to win, as it has been with every player before him, but unlike his predecessors, James has had to deal with being the most scrutinized professional athlete in any of the four major sports.

Let's appreciate his contributions while they're still relevant.

It's time to let LeBron play.