They were then surrounded by mostly role players, players whos names were not as big as O'Neal and Bryant were but names who sparkled and shone when needed. Robert Horry, Rick Fox, Brian Shaw, Devean George and Derek Fisher were the household names of the support cast. These people for all their talent, were content to let O'Neal and Bryant to shine but who can forget Horry's last second, game winning three point shot or of Fisher's winning shot with .2 seconds to win? Yet if not for O'Neal and Bryant who kept the game close for the Lakers, the team won't be winning a championship with only their role players too.
After losing to the San Antonio Spurs in the 2002-2003 conference semi-finals match, Lakers coach Phil Jackson, for all his brilliance in basketball diplomacy, had enough of dealing with the two superstars' ego. He eventually departed as Lakers' coach. Right after his departure, O'Neal asked to be traded with Miami the team he was traded to. That was the end of the triumvirate responsible for the Lakers' three-peat.
This season, the Lakers are out to dominate the Western Conference and eventually win the NBA title as their main goal. Phil Jackson, as everyone knows, has returned to the bench to call the shots for quite sometime now and Kobe Bryant has had his fill of doing everything himself and now knows the importance of winning as a team. Perhaps O'Neal's absence has opened Bryant's eyes that no single person can win an NBA crown by himself . Witnessing how O'Neal's success with the Miami Heat as he helped Dwyane Wade win the crown in 2006 probably added to that belief.
Two years ago, just when the Lakers' season was heading south as Bryant struggled to keep the team afloat by his lonesome, Jackson facilitated a trade that sent Pal Gasol to the Lakers without giving up anything. Kwame Brown was sent to the Grizzlies but was not at par with Gasol talent wise. So why did the Grizzlies settle for him? They could have asked for Andrew Bynum instead, who was injured at the time of the trade. The Lakers went on to the championship finals in Bynum's absence but lost to the Boston Celtics.
Fast forward to the present. The Lakers have beaten the Celtics in their first game playing against each other this season and their next game shall be on the 5th of February. Bynum shall miss this one due to a knee injury and shall be out for eight to twelve weeks. The team is flying high though as Bryant has enough support coming from Gasol and Bynum was a revelation and has emerged as the team's third top scorer and rebounder prior to his injury. The team's role players of Fisher, Sasha Vujacic, Trevor Arriza and Jordan Farmar are talented enough to pitch in too. With Bynum's absence, Lamar Odom is expected to gain more playing time and plug the gaping hole.
If Bynum returns on the 12th week, it means that the playoffs have started then. But based on the Lakers' showing last season, the team can achieve its goal of challenging for the NBA basketball crown without their 7 foot center in the line up. But then again, they might have to face a team with a dominating big man like Kevin Garnett and based on their showing last year, the Lakers might enp up losing again this year!
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