by Timmy Duncan

Created on: May 20, 2010

The Los Angeles Lakers entered in to the 2009 – 2010 season as the defending champions who had kept the majority of the core players intact in the offseason. They re-signed Lamar Odom and replaced Trevor Ariza with Ron Artest in what many believed was an upgrade, particularly from a defensive perspective. With most of their best players and coaching staff returning, the Lakers looked like a pretty formidable opponent. Not necessarily a lock to repeat, but the idea of back to back titles was certainly not out of the question.

Much of the Lakers success in 2010 will depend upon health. Andrew Bynum’s faulty knees have been to blame for limiting his development and production on more than one occasion in the last two seasons, knocking him out of play for long stretches in each season. Bynum has regularly shown incredible potential and promise, but has been unable to develop his talent to realize his potential due to injury. Some big men in the NBA are just never able to stay healthy. Yao Ming, Bill Walton, Greg Oden, all of them have had careers plagued with injury partially due to the very thing that gives them such a huge advantage over their opponents – size. The sheer weight of their bodies becomes an unbearable burden for their joints and sometimes it proves to be a deal breaker. The verdict is still out on Bynum but time will tell whether or not he is able to pull through.

Another potential variable is the health of superstar and team leader Kobe Bryant. Bryant is in his early thirties but he has played a ton of games due to his entering the league directly from high school and his multiple playoff appearances. Mileage adds up and eventually it begins to take its toll. Bryant has played through an injury to a finger on his shooting hand that has plagued him for over a year. In addition, his knees have begun to get banged up – there are even reports that he has had to have the knee drained of fluid. Not what Lakers fans want to hear. Nobody is better at playing through pain than Kobe Bryant, but even the toughest player has a breaking point.

The Lakers have made easy work of the playoffs so far, aside from a tough 6 game series with the up and coming Oklahoma City Thunder. Their toughest challenge, likely to be a Finals rematch with old foe the Boston Celtics awaits. Both battle tested, veteran teams, this one is likely to come down to who wants it more.

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