5 Reasons the Los Angeles Lakers Are Legitimate Title Contenders

The Los Angeles Lakers are the most successful postseason team in the history of the NBA. They've been to the postseason 58 times, the conference finals 40 times and the NBA Finals 32 times, and they have been crowned champs 17 times. 

That's one of the most amazing things in professional sports. In their 63-year history, they've been one of the last four teams 40 times.

This year, going into the season, many (including yours truly) marked this as the beginning of the end of an empire.

Maybe not. The Lakers aren't ready to give it up yet. The Lakers are valid contenders for the NBA title yet again, and here are five reasons why.

A Relatively Weaker Western Conference

The Western Conference is, generally speaking, weaker than it's been in over a decade. The Lakers' path to the NBA Finals is not nearly as drastic as it would have been in the past.

In the past there have been times where teams have won the finals in large part because the opposing conference was so hard to get through that by the time their NBA Finals opponent had gotten through the conference finals, it was already on empty.

Such teams include the Detroit Pistons of 2004, the 1994 Rockets and the 2006 Heat. 

This year's Eastern Conference finals promises to be a grueling series between the Heat and the Bulls. Could the winner be so exhausted getting to the NBA Finals that the Lakers can take advantage?

Defense Wins Championships

Mike Brown may have drawn the ire of many critics for an over-reliance on Kobe Bryant in isolation plays, but the part the critics ignore is that the Lakers defense is actually very good. In fact, the only team in the Western Conference with a better defense is the Dallas Mavericks.

Defense wins championships.

That's not just an adage—it's a historical fact. Since the merge, only the '01 Lakers and the '95 Rockets have won the championship without a top-10 defense, and over 75 percent of teams who have won were top-five.

The Lakers D is good enough to win a ring.

Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum

The Lakers have arguably the best power forward and center tandem in the NBA. No one else has a pair of seven-footers like the Lakers do.

Right now the Mike Brown offense is a system in progress. Thus far, yes, there have been some issues with Kobe doing too much, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol being passive-aggressive in regard to their feelings about that and so on, but this will work out in the long run.

Once they get their inside-out game working properly, the Lakers offense will be fearsome.

Matchups

When you consider the favorites to win the Western and Eastern Conferences, Oklahoma City and Miami, respectively, the Lakers match up well with both teams. Both teams lack significant two-way players on the inside.

The battle of the paint is crucial in postseason series. Against the two teams that they'd be most likely to meet in the conference and the NBA Finals, the Lakers match up well in that department.

Kobe Bryant

Do I really even need to qualify this?

Kobe Bryant is determined to win that sixth ring. That's obvious. With him on the team, you can never count the Lakers out of a game, out of a series or out of the championship until they've lost four.