what happened to LA lakers?
93143
i think that since the departure of shaq, derek fisher and guys like fox and horry really left a huge void in the chemistry department. what we're seeing now is a lakers team that is rebuilding. reaching the playoffs wud be a big thing for them. but once their players blossom within the traingle there will be a bright future for them especially lamar odom. odom may not be consistent in scoring but look at his other stats like reb and asst. plus they need a quality big man. all in all there trying to find the pieces that would fit #8
594904
if luck doesnt exist, then the suns should have won the series by now. 2 magical improbable buzzer beating shots by kobe in a single game? how many shooting stars must have had to fall in LA before that happened. game 4 was merely stolen by the lakers, with luck and, well kobe's innate instinct to shoot everytime. big whoop. the suns showed their grit by running them out in game 5, and finally spittin' in the lakers' turf on game 6. the lakers have absolutely NO CHANCE IN HELL in winning game 7. some people say that the suns are choke artists when it comes to close games; well they just proved in game 6 that they can make the necessary plays when the game is on the line.\n\ngame 7, suns will reach 110 points and win it by at least 15.
985334
Kobe had an offseason arthroscopic  knee surgery. It wasn't anything too serious. It was done right after the end of last season, and was the reason why he didn't play in the world FIBA tournament with the rest of USA. He didn't play just as a precautionary measure.
821285
the lakers are probably one of the most improved squads of the year. they CAN beat the jazz if they play their game, with kobe distributing the ball in addition to scoring, and lamar playing his usual point-forward position, and if needed, having #24 take over in the fourth. i didn't actually watch the bucks game so i can't tell you why they lost, but i bet it had something to do with michael redd dropping 45. damn. i bet the bucks aren't missing rayray too much. haha.
305587
I think that the key thing that the Lakers need to improve their team to Championship calibre are:\n\nFirstly, a player who is effective offensively on the interior. Kwame Brown is an absolute offensive basket case and even Phil Jackson has admitted that he has missed shots that were "impossible to miss". Chris Mihm has done a quietly effective job but it is not sufficient, and Lamar Odom hasn't been that great a post up player.\n\nSecondly, get at least one more good perimeter shooter. The Lakers need someone who can consistently hit the outside shot to make teams pay for double or triple teaming Kobe. Someone who can hit a three pointer consistenly would be a great bonus. Smush Parker, Sasha Vujacic and Devean George are just not good enough perimeter shooters.
408277
No way, the lakers do not have enough fire power. And Lamar Odom is not yet ready for primetime. Maybe next season!
673421
He's out of Minnesota for sure......but where will he go???  I say LA....they definately need a low post presence & that will allow Lamar Odom to play on the wing more. He is a great player but the knock on KG has been that he disappears late in big games (crunch time)....no worries, Kobe will be the man in the final minutes anyway.  Lakers are the perfect team to make a run at him.  As for the guy above that mentioned the Chicago Bulls....NO WAY!  The Bulls have made it obvious that they're building with youth, they have several good young players with a load of potential, not to mention the #2 pick in this years draft....why would they break them up by trading for a 30 year old vet in Garnett who hasn't shown he can lead a franchise anywhere?  KG is a Laker come the '06-07 season, watch & see.
610523
No the Lakers didn't give up, they are just plain dumb to have Kobe in their line up...And the most important thing is that the Phoenix Suns is better than the Lakers. Phoenix has great teamwork unlike Lakers who is all Kobe ball hogging plays. Well he is not MJ my God!!!! He can't do everything by his own. Look at Steve Nash, great distributor of ball and with that he is the MVP! TWO STRAIGHT YEARS!!! Kobe can't do that, can't even win the award once. Well Nash is really better than rest. He is the best actually. Lakers being afraid of the Clippers? Nope. The Lakers can beat the Clippers but not the Phoenix Suns. That's the story of it. If the Lakers faced the Clippers in the first round then it would be possible that they advance to the second round and face maybe Phoenix. But it happened the other way around and they faced Phoenix in the first round that is why they can't go to the second round. Too bad Phil Jackson's record in the playoffs was ruined by Kobe Bryant...Go Phoenix!!!
444761
LAKERS WILL BOUNCE BACK NO DOUGHT, KOBE WILL PUT ON THE SUPERHERO SHOW ,EVENTUALLY BECOMING THE MVP AND STUNNING THE WHOLE NBA WITH A CHAMPIONSHIP WIN... \n\nLAKERS ALL THE WAY !!!
607145
I'm a  Laker fan and I can say that trade sucks. No offense, the Lakers need Shaq to win championships. Before, I was a solid Laker fan. Now, I'm like a Spurs fan or a Cavs fan or any team which has great players. I don't hate the Lakers, I'm still a fan, but trading Shaq was not the best idea they ever had. It's going to be a long time since will see again the Lakers as world champs.
1123240
Hey, Ive got some OCEANFRONT property in Arizona if you believe that they buried the hatchet... Come on now, SHAQ disses Kobe every chance he gets, it is subtle, but there. The only REUNION will be KOBE standing in SHAQS house watching the BIG MAN get his ring for the first game of the season.... and seeing SHAQ smile and flash the ring at KOBE. Lakers SUCK for doing Shaq like they did, hell Phil came back for  10 MILLION, NOT KOBE, hell, he talked shit about him in his book!!!
333985
The Los Angeles Lakers!  WHO CARES!!!!!
529274
the lakers are garbage they are just a fluke
56168
Probably. They are currently 7th in the Western Conference, and they are playing better than they were at the start of the season. Who is going to pass them? Golden State? Utah? Maybe. But I think the Lakers will make it. Of course, there is a good chance they will get creamed in the first round, but they'll be there.
277499
i think it went down after the michael jordan era. what the nba needs now is a rivalry like the bird-magic rivalry to spice up the nba or another dynasty like the bulls. hopefully this. basically without a player as dominant as jordan or a rivalry like the celtics lakers in the 80's the popularity really went down.
369364
The Lakers are playing the best basketball in the league right now.  If Kobe can continue to keep his teammates involved and they can continue to play as well as they have there is a good possibility they could be hoisting the championship trophy this June.  They just need to keep getting Kwame brown the ball inside and letting Smush Parker keep breaking people down in the lane and kicking out ala Steve Nash.  They are certainly beating the Suns at their own game offensively and stopping them on defense.
381962
They went into their usual slump, but they didn't break out of it.  Historically, they usually have problems in Feb-mid-March.  Most of the time, they snap out of it in time to make a good run from mid-March on.  This time, they just didn't seem to have the drive.  I think the decimation of their defence for most of the year did not help.  They played much better when Jovo got back and he added a shot from the point on the power play.  Unfortunately, too little too late.  It depresses me and I am pretty pissed off about their lack of drive over the past 10 games.  Now I go through the playoffs with out my team.  Depressing really!