The three was ill advised, especially with them being down by only one point. He's only shooting 23% from three point range in the series to begin with, so what were his odds of making that shot, verses going for a layup? Not good management skills in the closing minutes, but still, he played good the first three quarters.
As far as Kobe, first you complained about him not making it out of the FIRST round. He's done that, now you're bringing up a game seven. Well, to Kobe's credit, he didn't let the Utah series go seven games.
Kobe didn't need to show up in game seven because he did something MUCH more spectacular. He closed the opposing Utah team out, and where....on their home court, perhaps the toughest place to win in ALL of basketball.
That's much more difficult to do than winning a game seven on your own home court.