After their first trip to the NBA lottery in nine years and just the third in team history, the Los Angeles Lakers again look poised for the ping pong balls. Kobe Bryant has returned from a knee injury that kept him on the bench for most of last season and, while it seemed like Los Angeles had a solid lineup coming into 2014, they already have some serious ground to make up.
The injury bug has hampered the team just four games into the season. Newly acquired point guard Jeremy Lin returned from a sprained ankle in preseason and will now assume the starting role as Steve Nash has been ruled out for the 2014-2015 season with a recurring back issue. Nash, who was acquired via trade in 2012, has played in 65 games in two seasons for the Lakers. Not only did they lose their 40 year-old point guard for the season, they also lost their 7th overall draft pick Julius Randle to a broken leg on opening night. That leaves Jordan Hill and an aging Carlos Boozer to protect the paint. Meanwhile, Nick Young is expected to miss another five weeks while he recovers from a surgically repaired thumb.
New head coach Byron Scott is faced with a daunting task of competing in an incredibly strong Western Conference. But this is something the Lakers anticipated coming into this season. Was this a team that was really expected to compete for a title, much less, make the playoffs? Sure, they get the highest paid player in the game and future Hall-of-Famer Kobe Bryant back on the floor, but did they surround him with enough talent? A 36 year-old ego joined by a 40 year-old point guard, a 32 year-old ogre at forward, a rookie center, and Swaggy P on the wing with a weak bench does not sound like an ideal NBA recipe for success. As if old age wasn't enough, the injury bug has depleted a team that has just recently lost its position as ruler of Los Angeles.
Three years ago, the Lakers thought they had successfully formulated a big three that seemed poised to make a run to the NBA Finals. We saw similarities between the 2012 Lakers team and the early 2000s Lakers team that had two egomaniacs in Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. Yet, the duo of young Kobe and Shaq Diesel was able to win not one, but three NBA Championships, while the trio of Bryant, Nash, and Dwight Howard came up empty-handed. Shaq snatched all three NBA Finals MVPs from Kobe from 1999-2002 when the Lakers won three NBA Finals in a row. Kobe was able to notch two Finals MVPs later in back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010 alongside the likes of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, as well as Lamar Odom and veteran Derek Fisher. Now, in 2014, the Los Angeles Lakers are lacking the talent that had won them five championships in the past 15 years. Kobe has never done it alone, as is the trend in the NBA and, now, more than ever, he is alone in Los Angeles.
A 36 year-old that has be named NBA MVP just once in his entire career has little to work with in 2014. Now, with the only hope of a supporting cast injured, Bryant's chances at a sixth NBA Title are just about finished. The 0-4 Lakers are at the bottom of the league with the Philadelphia 76ers as the only teams to lose all four games this season. The Lakers are the only team that has yet to win a game in a tough Western Conference. They have one of the worst defenses in the NBA, giving up 118 point per game. Rebounding has struggled as well. Bryant is leading the scoring, averaging 24.8 points per game and is also leading the team in minutes played-the only player on the Lakers averaging over 30 minutes per night. Late in his career, Kobe has continued to make highlight plays, but he is not getting any help from his teammates this season. For now, the Lakers' only chance lies in the hand of Nick Young, who averaged 17.9 points per game last season. Young alongside Bryant is something Lakers fans have longed for and may be the only thing to look forward to until talks about tanking begin to stir once again.