Kobe Bryant's surgically repaired knee wasn't ready for the first two games of the season. Phil Jackson's stubborn hip was keeping him from coaching outside of L.A. Reese and Ryan's marriage was dissolving.
Indeed, last week provided no shortage of drama in Tinseltown.
And yet, in a scenario plausible only in Hollywood, the Los Angeles Lakers overcame the odds, playing without last season's league-leader in points and without its Hall of Fame coach at full strength, and cruised to a 3-1 mark to open the 2006-07 campaign.
After being knocked out of last year's playoffs with a Game 7 loss to the Phoenix Suns in an emotionally charged opening round, the Lakers are the season's biggest turnaround story thus far.
However, with a 117-101 loss at the Seattle Supersonics Sunday night, they are no longer undefeated. That honor belongs to only the Utah Jazz, the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets and the Philadelphia 76ers, none of whom appeared in last season's playoffs.
The development of a team-oriented offense in L.A. may be the league's biggest surprise. Since L.A.'s 2003-04 offseason trade of Shaquille O'Neal, Bryant became the Lakers' sole offensive focal point. He averaged 27 shots per game last season and led the team in scoring in 75 of the 80 games he played. Bryant's extended rehab from offseason arthroscopic knee surgery, however, forced the Lakers, who were 6-12 without him during their two post-Shaq seasons, to give starring roles to traditionally supplementary players.
The team notched victories in both a season-opening rematch with the Suns and a subsequent trip to Oakland to take on the Golden State Warriors. Scoring over 100 points in both games, the Lakers showed, for the first time, that they can shoulder the offensive load normally carried by Bryant.
Many of the contributors in Bryant's absence were recent Laker draft picks. GM Mitch Kupchak was widely criticized when he used the 10th overall pick in the 2005 draft to select Andrew Bynum, a center straight out of a New Jersey high school, over college national champion Sean May. But the 19-year-old Bynum, the league's youngest player, showed his maturity on opening night, with career highs of 18 points and nine rebounds in his first NBA start.
Kupchak's Pac-10 draftees also did not disappoint. Former Arizona Wildcat Luke Walton provided economical performances against Phoenix and Golden State, averaging 12.5 points and 58 percent from the field. Meanwhile, Jordan Farmar, a rookie point guard from UCLA, equaled Amare Stoudemire's offensive output in 14 minutes off the bench against the Suns, contributing six points in his NBA debut.
The Lakers also owed their success without Bryant to two inspired performances. Gonzaga product Ronny Turiaf, just fifteen months removed from open-heart surgery, had career highs of 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting and nine rebounds against the Warriors. Additionally, forward Lamar Odom, whose six-month-old son died in June, nearly posted back-to-back double-doubles to open the season. Odom, the only player L.A. received in the Shaq trade still wearing a Laker uniform, averaged 28 points and 11 rebounds over the team's first two games.
By the time Bryant returned against the Sonics on Friday night, his teammates' play allowed him to avoid going full-throttle so soon after surgery. In his first game back, a 118-112 win that bumped the Lakers' record to 3-0, Bryant took just 15 shots in 41 minutes, playing a secondary role to Odom, Walton and Turiaf, who combined for 61 points and 19 rebounds.
In the back end of the consecutive contests against Seattle, the Lakers suffered their first loss of the season but did not deviate from the team-centered offensive strategy that propelled them to victory in their first three games. Though Bryant led the team with 15 points, six other Lakers - Odom, Walton, Bynum and Farmar, along with Vladimir Radmonovic and Brian Cook - also reached double figures.
Furthermore, in both games against Seattle, Bryant either tied for or held the team lead in assists, further indicative of the Lakers' new reliance on his much-maligned teammates this season.
This apparent shift in emphasis towards team play has placed the Lakers atop the Pacific Division. Of course, it is only a matter of time before Bryant erupts for a 40-point performance. But in the year following the humiliation of seeing Shaq win a title in Miami without him, Bryant will likely be even more receptive to a winning formula, even if he must sacrifice his scoring title and a share of the spotlight.
