I felt Kobe Bryant was in need of aid and support these days, after getting knocked out of the Playoffs by the Phoenix Suns.  No matter what he does, or how he plays Kobe Bryant will always be criticized and ridiculed.  All the talk now is how Kobe didn’t have a good second half in Game 7 which led to the Laker demise for this season and that a Michael Jordan led team would never play like that.  Why can’t fans just enjoy watching guys like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James for who they are right now, and stop making comparisons to Michael Jordan?  Why do fans have to compare every remotely decent-athletic two guard to come out of college the next Michael Jordan?  Everyone is their own player in their own circumstances of their careers.  Kobe Bryant never had the opportunity to lead a team in his career until now, because the Lakers always had Shaquille O’Neal as their main weapon.  I don’t understand the criticism he has to endure or where the venom comes from.  Last time I checked the Lakers were the inferior team and were the seventh seed, while Phoenix is the number two seed.  So what the Kobe haters are saying is that it’s Kobe’s fault the Lakers lost because Kwame Brown turned back into the same old lottery disappointment, that Smush Parker couldn’t keep Steve Nash and Leandro Barbosa out of the paint?  Yeah Jordan never lost a 3-1 series lead, but I don’t see Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant or Dennis Rodman wearing a Lakers uniform either.