The Los Angeles Lakers had a successful 2003-04 season. They finished second in the Western Conference and advanced to the NBA Finals, where they fell to the Detroit Pistons in five games. They failed to win the finals despite having arguably the two best players in the league in Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. However, the season was merely a prelude to the activity that would occur within the team during the off-season.
The ongoing feud between O'Neal and Bryant escalated to a fever pitch, and this was a major contribution to coach Phil Jackson's resignation shortly after the season's end. The Lakers explored several candidates to replace Jackson and finally settled on Rudy Tomjanovich.
As far as players, the Lakers were in a situation where either Bryant or Shaq had to leave the team before the next season. The team's front office preferred Kobe's longevity to Shaq's dominance, and signed Bryant to a seven year, $140 million deal. They put O'Neal on the open market, and Shaq landed on the Miami Heat in exchange for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Brian Grant.
Shaq and Kobe both arrived in L.A. in 1996. Kobe was a rookie that the Lakers obtained in the draft through a trade, while Shaq was already a star when he was signed from the Orlando Magic.
However, while it took Kobe until the 1999-2000 season to make a major impact, Shaq's mark was made immediately. O'Neal averaged at least 25 ppg and 10 rpg every season until his last season in L.A., when his scoring average dropped to 21 ppg. At the end of last season, the Lakers decided, partly because of need and partly because of desire, to send Shaq elsewhere. The results thus far have been less than flattering.
The Shaq-less Lakers are off to a 4-4 start, which is good for third place in the Pacific Division and enough for the last playoff spot in the West if the playoffs started today. Three of those victories came over the Houston Rockets without Tracy McGrady, as well as the weak New Orleans Hornets and Atlanta Hawks.
The Lakers dealt Shaq with the expectation that Bryant would be able to compensate for his loss, but Kobe has only done this to a certain extent. He's averaging 28.3 ppg, which about equals his career best, but has been shooting a career-low 38.9 percent from the field, the lowest field-goal percentage among the Lakers' starting five.
In addition, Bryant isn't doing enough to allow his new teammates to contribute. His assists per game are at their lowest level since the 1999-2000 season, and he has taken over a third of the Lakers' starters' shots. Free from the confinement of Jackson's triangle offense, he has chosen to try and run the team mostly by himself despite the fact that the attention he is given by opposing defenses ultimately frees up his teammates.
Without O'Neal the Lakers have a gaping hole in their front court that has been inadequately filled. In addition to Odom and Grant, the Lakers brought Vlade Divac back from the Sacramento Kings, but he has been injured and unable to contribute so far. However, none of these players, individually or combined, can replace Shaq's contributions on both ends of the floor.
O'Neal is arguably the most dominant NBA player of all-time, certainly of the past several years. One All-Star and two fairly talented veterans cannot fill the void left by his departure. He has brought teams success wherever he has played by putting up great numbers as well as letting other players help out as well. There was Penny Hardaway in Orlando, Kobe in L.A., and now he has an emerging star in second-year guard Dwyane Wade in Miami.
The departures of O'Neal and Jackson, as well as guards Gary Payton and Derek Fisher and forward Karl Malone, mean that only Bryant, Devean George, Slava Medvedenko and Kareem Rush remain of the Lakers team that won three straight NBA titles. With so few key players from the recent past left, this Lakers team pales in comparison to the Lake Show of a few years back.
While L.A. will be in playoff contention, it is unreasonable to expect the Lakers to have the kind of success that they have had in the past several years. It isn't even a guarantee that they'll be making the postseason anymore in the very strong Western Conference. While Bryant gives them hope, the Lakers may have a tough road ahead in asserting themselves as one of the NBA's elite teams.
