Believe it or not, Los Angeles Lakers fans, but pre-fall, there once existed a controlled optimism surrounding your team.
The hypothetical 2013-2014 NBA campaign would usher in a post-“Dwightmare” time of fresh beginnings and a promising future.
Indeed, head coach Mike D’Antoni and Steve Nash would recreate their run-and-gun Phoenix Suns-era magic. Pau Gasol would serve as the Amar’e Stoudemire-type of a D’Antoni-coached yesteryear, of course with some actual title-winning mettle behind him.
And Kobe Bryant would continually reinvent himself as the leader of this Big Three at age 35—flush with $48 million and championship aspirations in tow.
Heck, even the likes of Nick Young, Jordan Hill, Xavier Henry and others would come into their own as complementary pieces. At least until the Lakers salary and luxury-tax issues ridded themselves at season’s end.
The Lakeshow would compete at a respectable level and earn a playoff berth—lowest-tier in the Western Conference or not.
Not too shabby for a rebuilding franchise, right?
Yeah, well…then the actual 2013-2014 season happened.
LA kept its head above water to the tune of 10 wins and nine losses before Bryant returned from his torn Achilles. It really seemed capable of realizing postseason status, especially when No. 24 came back.
Unfortunately, the Black Mamba’s considerably brief return lasted for just six games before he sustained a left tibial fracture. Plus, his presence technically made the Lakers worse to the extent of a 2-4 mark—blasphemy be damned.
In any case, after an overall break-even start at 13-13, the bottom fell out—completely, utterly and everyway conceivably.
The alleged fearsome triumvirate succumbed to its average age of 36 in the injury box score with a collective 108 games missed. In fact, of the outrageous 29 lineups used, one featuring Nash, Bryant and Gasol never materialized. The former two only playing a combined 16 games certainly aided that disturbing phenomenon.
Ergo, a total B-grade roster of unknowns stumbled its way to a 19-38 record and a last-place standing in the West.
Be sure to tip the 23 games worth of extended losing streaks on your way out the door.
The Lakers are positively atrocious on defense with a 25th-ranked 108.6 points allowed per 100 possessions. They also can’t rebound any better than a 22nd-ranked 42.1 boards per contest.
Things don’t get any brighter on the opposite end of the floor, either. The second-highest number of offensive possessions per 48 minutes (97.4) still produces a vastly inefficient 103.1 points, qualifying them for another bottom-10 rating (No. 23).
Suffice it to say, a group comprised of an overachieving Kendall Marshall at point guard (9.6 assists per game), an efficient, but no longer go-to Gasol at center and SG Jodie Meeks, SF Wesley Johnson and PF Hill is just not starting-five quality at the NBA level.
So, the Lakers are merely reduced to a defunct Bryant and Nash-less roster that devotes floor time for team tryouts. Proven winners like Steve Blake get traded, while the likes of Kent Bazemore and MarShon Brooks get 31.5 and 21.0 minutes, respectively.
This once legendary member of the Association simply must continue its suffering in 2014. It must do so under the deplorable ownership of Jim Buss, through mounting losses and with an ugly mark of $5 million past the luxury-tax threshold hanging over its head.
Oh, don’t forget tanking for high draft picks and earning the franchise’s third sub-30-win campaign (and first outside of Milwaukee) in the process.
Like the old adage says, “Things must get worse before they get better.”
Lakers Nation can only hope that the “better” arrives around the $38-million cap-space, 2014-2015 corner.
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