Why Kobe Bryant Isn't Helping the Los Angeles Lakers

All right, all right—enough of the backlash.

I'll admit it: As fans, we're all obsessed with top scorers.

We love it when players like Kobe Bryant put up huge numbers on a nightly basis. That's why we watch the games. That's why we buy the jerseys.

And that's why I got ripped to pieces last week after I suggested Kobe's play was hurting the Lakers.

But here's a question: Is it just instant gratification we're interested in, or do players like Kobe seriously have the goods to win?

The Lakers now stand at 37-32, after Kobe has single-handedly torched opponents by averaging an inhuman 50-plus points in the last four contests—including two 60-point spectacles.

I hope we can agree that scoring like this won't last...although many Lakers fans would sell their left you-know-whats to see Kobe keep it up for the rest of the season.

But what happens when the hot streak ends?

Look, when you're on fire, you should shoot it; hell yeah you should shoot it. The problem, though, is that you can't stay on fire forever.

And consider this: What do the Lakers actually gain when Kobe plays out of his mind?

Well, there's faith in his superhuman skills, for starters.

But there's also an unhealthy reliance on those skills, an imbalance in the triangle that Phil Jackson can't be happy with.

And I'm only saying that because I want the Lakers to win.

For all of Kobe's heroics, he can't carry the team by himself in the playoffs.

Call me a hater, a candy-ass, or a joke—but don't call me wrong until you study up on your history.

Yeah, Michael Jordan may have averaged an unreal 35.1-per in the '93 Finals, and won several championship games with 40-plus—but he did it as part of a team.

Even Dwyane Wade in last year's Finals had help from defensive juggernauts like Shaq, Alonzo Mourning, and Gary Payton.

The best franchises in the league today have three things in common: smart front offices, savvy coaches, and players who fit together like pieces of a puzzle.

None of them rely on 50-per-game saviors.

In fact, teams like the Suns, Mavericks, Pistons, and Spurs are built on formulas in which no single scorer needs to average more than 20 or 25 a night.

The truth of the matter, like it or not, is that offensive-minded alpha males don't produce titles by themselves in today's NBA. Look at Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony in Denver, or Gilbert Arenas in Washington.

Arenas, like Kobe, is a master of regular-season wizardry (pardon the pun). He's liable to explode for 40 or 50 on any given night, and he can win games on his own against mediocre squads.

In fairness, it's not like KB24 and Agent 0 haven't proven themselves in the playoffs. They both sport impressive springtime highlight reels, and they've both nailed game-winning postseason buzzer-beaters.

The only problem is that their upside is also their downfall.

I hate to psychoanalyze, but the motivations here are obvious: Arenas sat on the bench early in his pro career, and Kobe grew up as an isolated foreigner with a me-against-the-world mentality.

The result for both KB and Gilbert is a volatile combination of amazing talent and a something-to-prove mentality. That makes them tough fits in any organization—especially when their teammates bow to their marquee status.

Look at the NBA's perennial contenders. Show me one squad that doesn't have at least three players who can make that shot.

On the Lakers and the Wizards? Bryant and Arenas are the only candidates.

Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, and Smush Parker might be capable—but they're largely unproven.

Why?

Because Bryant and Arenas are always the ones shouldering the crunch-time burden.

Here's the bottom line: Dropping 30-plus a game can get you a solid regular season, but you need your teammates in the playoffs. And they can't be there for you if they never get a chance to produce.

So this article is bleak, right? Well, maybe what I'm trying to do is motivate the top scorers to be better team players—and, more relevantly, to be better winners.

And where do I get the audacity to tell NBA players how to win?

Hey, I've never lost an NBA game...