Los Angeles Lakers: Who Is Most to Blame for Postseason Struggles?

Let the finger-pointing begin.

The Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 on Monday night, officially ending their season. Hollywood drama never rests, and with the franchise’s second straight down year, a shakeup is stirring in L.A.

But before any rash decisions are made, here are the guiltiest culprits of triggering the Lakers’ demise.

3. Lamar Odom

The Candy Man’s bitter exit took the Lakers a step back this past offseason. The irony of the entire situation is quite sickening.

Los Angeles was ready to ship Odom along with Metta World Peace and/or Luke Walton to the Philadelphia 76ers. And no, the interest wasn’t just one-sided. The swap was going to go down until, as HOOPSWORLD’s Alex Kennedy reported, Odom basically blocked the trade:

"

As I said last week, the Lakers appeared ready to swap Odom for Iguodala, but the 76ers backed out because they didn't want an unhappy Odom.

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) June 27, 2011"

Odom’s refusal to play in Philly foreshadowed David Stern’s veto (oh, I’ll get there) months later. After Odom heard that the Lakers had agreed to deal him away, he demanded a trade...after he refused to be traded.

So instead of ending up with Andre Iguodala, L.A. landed a first-round pick that turned into Jordan Hill.

2. Andrew Bynum

Moments after the Lakers’ Game 5 loss, “#IdTradeGasolFor” took over as the top trending topic on Twitter. For example (via @TristanYV):

"

#IdTradeGasolFor the fat white guy from Space Jam

— Tristan (@tristanyv) May 22, 2012"

 But as fans force the vast majority of the blame on Pau Gasol for the Lakers’ downfall, it’s Bynum that deserves the blame.

Los Angeles’ offensive pecking order was re-established this season. No longer was Gasol the second option to Kobe Bryant. Bynum took over that role, and the Spaniard humbly stood down.

Pau excelled at being weapon No. 3 in the Lakers offense. It allowed him to focus on creating opportunities for his teammates with his exceptional playmaking ability.

Bynum possesses more than enough talent to be Kobe’s right-hand man. But while he dominated teams sporadically, his inconsistency is what did the Lakers in. The immature center simply took nights off, and Gasol got exposed for it.

Fingers are being pointed at Gasol for his failure to take over the game like he’s capable of, but how in the world is he supposed to know which role to play on a nightly basis? Is he supposed to submit when Bynum feels like trying and then shoulder the scoring load when Bynum would rather hoist up three-pointers?

Gasol doesn’t deserve to be the scapegoat because he failed to flip the switch between roles after Bynum took an unannounced vacation.

1. David Stern

Los Angeles got screwed over from the get-go.

The New Orleans Hornets had agreed to trade Chris Paul to the Lakers. A backcourt of CP3 and Kobe, though, was too much for opposing NBA owners to stomach. Dan Gilbert wrote a letter, Mark Cuban cried and Commissioner Stern lost his manhood.

Stern surrendered to the pitiful owner complaints and infamously vetoed the deal for basketball reasons. Only one word does justice to such injustice. Take it away, Paul:

"

WoW

— Chris Paul (@CP3) December 9, 2011"

L.A. fans should never accuse Mitch Kupchak of refusing to make bold moves. He made the boldest move of the 2011-2012 campaign that should’ve led to an NBA championship. But Stern had a power trip.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

Follow @TheRealDDaniels