Kobe: The evolution of greatness or team hinderance?

J.A. Adande has a great piece on ESPN today about Kobe Bryant and his elevating game at age 31. Kobe, much like the only shooting guard ahead of him on the all-time pecking order has found a way to provide efficient scoring as his legs start to fade due to age.

What I wonder about is the effect this has on Kobe's Laker teammates. When MJ used to make a living by beating up other hapless guards in the post it was by necessity as Chicago's other post options were Luc Longley and Dennis Rodman. Kobe will soon be taking post touches away from two excellent post players in Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, and I'm pretty sure Phil would rather see Bynum draw a double team in the post and kick to Bryant on the wing than the other way around.

Kudos to Kobe for finding ways to stay at the top of (or ahead of) the pack, but when the Lakers get their bigs back from injury in the next week, will he stay in the post? And will it hurt the Lakers on the court and in chemistry terms if he does?