The Los Angeles Lakers aren’t making the playoffs in a tough Western Conference, so the focus has shifted to the 2015 offseason, where the Lakers can scour the free agent market, get healthy and can look to the draft for more help. There’s only one problem — the Lakers have to be in the top-5 of the draft, otherwise their pick will convey to the Phoenix Suns. How do they ensure that they’re really bad?

If your first thought was “they should rest Kobe Bryant,” then you’re either a superfan or you haven’t been paying much attention to Bryant’s game. If your response to that is, “yeah but Kobe’s putting up big numbers, it’s his teammates fault” then you should keep reading and hopefully you’ll come back to reality shortly.

THE HISTORIC KOBE EFFECT

When Kobe was terrific — I’m talking a truly special talent that could affect a game on both sides of the court — he drew so much attention that his teammates benefited. Kobe’s never been an efficient shooter (he’s never shot 47 percent for a season), but he’s been so good at getting buckets when his team needs them — a skill that’s more rare than you’d think.

Kobe’s ability to draw fouls and get those easy points also have a huge effect on the opposition. Get a team into foul trouble and they lose their ability to be extremely aggressive. Take a legendary scorer and put him up against a passive defense and he’ll carve them up like your standard Christmas ham. Here’s how dominant Kobe looked, back in the 2005-06 season.

It’s important to realize that the Kobe that had that effect is long gone. Many don’t want to acknowledge the fact that Kobe hasn’t had a VORP above 5.0 since 2007-08. He hasn’t had a PER over 24 since 2008-09. He hasn’t held his turnover rate beneath 11.4 percent since 2008-09. Simply put — Kobe isn’t the same guy that put up a plus-12.4 on court/off court number back in 2009-10 — but you already knew that.

Did you know how far gone he is from those days?

TODAY’S KOBE EFFECT

This is a good time to browse another article if you’re one of those relentless Kobe followers who supports every brick, every turnover and every defensive deficiency as if it’s somebody else’s fault. The numbers don’t always tell the entire story, but in support of the train wreck that the Lakers have become, Kobe’s numbers say a whole lot.

First, let’s take a look at how Kobe is affecting the Lakers — the 8-19 Lakers, mind you. Let’s just do this in list form to save the blood from flowing off your screen and onto your desk:

Kobe’s VORP this season is .7, good for 138th in the league and is worse than Donald Sloan , Otto Porter and Jared Dudley .

, and . Kobe’s DBPM this season is -2.5, good for 380th in the league and is worse than defensive stalwarts J.J. Barea, Jimmer Fredette and Gerald Green .

and . When Kobe is on the court, the Lakers get outscored by 13.1 points per 100 possessions. When he’s off the court, the Lakers OUTSCORE their opponents by 7.4 points, for a net minus-20.5.

That last bullet point says it all. It’s not Kobe’s teammates that are the problem here…it’s Kobe.

Solomon Hill (44) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana Pacers defeat the Los Angeles Lakers 110-91. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

SO WHAT ARE YOU SAYING

Over the years we’ve made a lot of tongue-in-cheek statements about how the Lakers would be better off letting Kobe walk or trading him for some assets. We were trolling. At this point, we’re totally serious.

We’ve reached the point where if the Lakers want to be bad enough to fall into the bottom five of the league (and thus keep their draft pick), they need to hold onto Bryant and need to play him as much as possible.

We’re past the situation where Kobe’s offense is overshadowing his questionable defense. We’re past the part where Kobe’s effect on the defense is freeing up his teammates. It’s simply a point in time where the Lakers don’t play well when Kobe’s on the court.

It would be easy to throw jabs at Kobe here, calling him a ball hog or some other derogatory term designed to flame the fires, but the fact is, Kobe is trying to pass at times.

His assist percentage is at 25.3, which is greater than his career average of 24.3. The bigger issue has been the fact that even though he’s trying to pass…he’s doing it poorly.

If we assume Kobe will appear in 81 games, then he’s roughly played a third of a season. He’s made 50 bad passes already, putting him on pace for a career high 150 bad pass turnovers.

My gut tells me that’s a combination of forcing it, being a bit stubborn and being unfamiliar. It’s known that Kobe doesn’t practice as often as everyone else, so I ask this — how on earth can he gain familiarity and chemistry with his teammates when the only time they’re playing together is in games?

THESE MOTHERF****S AINT DOING SH*T FOR ME, MITCH

I think Kobe had it backwards. He’s not doing anything for his teammates. He’s not pushing them in practice, he’s not making the team better in games and he’s creating a toxic environment for everyone. Nobody (especially new head coach Byron Scott) wants to put the label of “finished” on Kobe’s career, but it’s obvious — he’s finished.

Magic Johnson came out earlier in December and said that he hopes the Lakers lose every game. That’s the only way the Lakers can ensure that the rebuild is swift and effective. If the Lakers hope to accomplish that — and if Kobe wants to do something for the franchise — he should just make sure he stays on the court. It’s worked so far.