NBA Preview: The Los Angeles Lakers

It must have been hard for Kobe Bryant, watching Miami win the NBA Championship and Dwayne Wade take home the NBA Finals MVP Award. Deep down inside, Kobe knows that it would be him winning the championship and MVP award if Shaq were still a Laker. However, the relationship with Kobe and the big fella went sour, so Shaq went to Miami to get another ring. Now, all Kobe Bryant can do is make the best of his current situation. The Los Angeles Lakers finished last year with a winning record of 45-37, but lost to the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. The Lakers came close to upsetting the Suns, pushing the series to seven games before bowing out of the playoffs. Unfortunately, for fans of the Lakers, that may be as good as it gets for a while.

With the amount of talent in the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Lakers are no guarantee to return to the NBA Playoffs this year. They did not make any significant changes that would dramatically improve the team this season. In addition, they ended last year on somewhat of a sour note. Even though the Lakers pushed the Suns to seven games, the series ended with controversy once again surrounding Kobe Bryant. In game seven against Phoenix, it appeared that Kobe gave up on his teammates in the second half. Charles Barkley called out Kobe for only taking three shots in the second half of game seven. Barkley said Kobe was selfish for not doing more to help the team win. Bryant confronted Barkley about the comments and disagreed with him. After a thrilling seven game series, it was a disappointing way for the Lakers’ season to end.

Kobe Bryant is ready to move on with his career and is changing his uniform number to prove his point. For the first time in his NBA career, Kobe will wear the number 24 instead of his usual 8. Kobe may be changing his number to show his conviction to win, but the Lakers did little to help him in the off-season. The Los Angeles Lakers added a few players, but none good enough to make them an elite team in the NBA. The Lakers best new additions are free agent Vladimir Radmanovic and first round draft pick Jordan Farmar. Both players will help, but not enough to improve the Lakers significantly. If the Lakers hope to compete successfully in the Western Conference, they will need to sign a big name free agent or pull off a headline trade. Neither seems likely at this point in time.

In addition to Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers are led by Lamar Odom, who averages 15 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists per game. The nucleus of Bryant and Odom is good and it is too bad the Lakers can’t add another great player to the mix. Their surrounding cast is mainly a group of good, young players with potential. Smush Parker, Luke Walton, Kwame Brown, Brian Cook, and Chris Mihm all have talent, but not enough for the Lakers to compete with the elite teams in the West. Jim Jackson is currently an unsigned free agent and Devean George signed with Dallas in the off-season.

Once again, Kobe Bryant will have to carry the Lakers on his back for them to have a chance to win. Kobe will score a lot of points and it will be exciting to watch, as always. However, losing in the first round of the NBA Playoffs is about the best the Lakers can hope for. If they want to do better than that, they will need to make some moves before the end of the trading deadline. Otherwise, Kobe will have to watch some other player hold up his NBA Finals MVP Award again this season.