They Can’t Quit Arguing About Bryant

Thank you, T.J. Simers, for telling it like it is. Kobe Bryant tanked it in Game 7, and I was beginning to think I was the only one who noticed.

As for you adoring Kobe fans -- especially all you balding middle-aged men with potbellies and blubbery arms out there -- place your No. 8 jerseys in mothballs, and please refrain from falling for his marketing ploy by purchasing his new No. 24 model. Give your money to a deserving charity instead.

JOHN CRESSY

Ventura

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Kobe Bryant was able to complete his resume in Game 7. He has been:

* A rookie

* A winner

* A hero

* A general manager

* A loser

* A villain

* A scorer

* A “facilitator”

* And, now, a quitter.

BERT BERGEN

La Canada

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I don’t understand how Kobe can quit in the middle of a playoff game and get away with it.

Regardless of why he quit -- hurt feelings, or an attempt to cast the blame for the loss on his teammates -- the result is the same as though he decided to throw the game and ensure a Laker loss.

Isn’t there a rule against such behavior? Doesn’t anyone in the Laker organization care? Doesn’t the league office care? Doesn’t anyone at the L.A. Times care?

GREY R. BROOKS

Prescott, Ariz.

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The hatchet jobs done by Plaschke and Simers after Game 7 expose not only their ignorance of Kobe’s trying to hold to the only strategy that was successful against the Suns, but once again expose their long-standing antipathy to him. Maybe they aren’t aware that Kobe’s biggest game against Phoenix resulted in a loss.

The bulk of the fans in this town regard the end-of-the-season run by Kobe and the Lakers as a heroic effort. We agree with Kobe that a strong core has developed and we’d like to follow the progress next year without these two taking cheap shots whenever the opportunity presents itself.

JIM GOETSCH

North Hollywood

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If Kobe was not doing exactly what Phil wanted, Phil could have benched him at any time.

MICHAEL MCNALLY

Walnut

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I blame Kobe for 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, world famine, and for Smush Parker not being able to hit a shot if his life depended on it, for Kwame Brown to have T-Rex hands, and for everything that went wrong in Lakerdom. Those who don’t like Kobe to begin with salivate at the chance to rip Kobe to pieces. True Laker fans know the true value of Kobe and know that however he plays, it’s what’s best for the team.

Kobe Bryant has to be the most vilified athlete in the history of modern sports. And it’s a shame.

JON CRUZ

Carson

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The Lakers made the playoffs because of Kobe. The Lakers had a 3-1 series lead because of Kobe. Even if Kobe had scored 43 points in the last game, the Lakers still would have lost by 12 points.

You can’t blame Kobe. What you can do is blame the front office for not getting players who can compete with the other players in the league.

STEVEN J. SHAEVEL

Woodland Hills

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Before the end of Game 7, I knew the Kobe bashing would be long and hard. I keep wondering when The Times and the fans would wake up to the obvious. I’ve been watching the Lakers since the 1960s and this is the biggest collection of stiffs in the history of the Lakers. Kobe didn’t put this team together, Mitch Kupchak did.

DMARK BUTLER

Baldwin Hills

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Fourth place in MVP voting? Are you kidding? What a joke. Do the voting members dislike Kobe that much? If Michael Jordan were still playing and had put up the kind of numbers that Kobe had this year, he would’ve run away with the MVP award -- no contest. What a crime. You were robbed, Kobe.

GARY SANDERS

Foothill Ranch

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Well, at least Smush Parker has all summer long to get all aspects of sulking out of his system, and preferably extending into next season, with another team.

MARK J. FEATHERSTONE

Windsor Hills

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Dear Dr. Buss,

Crush Smush. Bar Lamar. Nuke Luke. Don’t mommy Kwame. Go to heaven, Devean. Pitch Mitch. Kill Phil. Please hurry, Jerry!

ROBERT SCHAEFER

Ventura