You say all of this as if your undying love for Kobe doesn't influence your opinion. Kobe is capable of getting hot and that's undeniable. The issue is, how often can he do it and how reliable is it? Beyond that, is it even worth waiting all game for? I think you've noticed over the last few years that Kobe can't simply turn it on whenever he wants to or needs to. If he's left out there long enough, he's eventually going to make some shots but that can be said for anyone. In the meantime, you're leaving someone out of the game who is going to get more rebounds, set up more teammates, play better defense, and affect the game more than he will.
This team doesn't live or die by what Kobe does. If they did, they might not have even made it this far.