For Los Angeles Lakers, Only Title Will Alleviate Pressure

The pressure is palatable. It's as if every Lakers player, official, and fan is walking on pins and needles.

And if they don't feel that way, they should.

You see, there's no excuse for the team in purple and gold not to win it all come June. Not one.

L.A. is healthier than Boston. They're more talented the Cleveland. They're more experienced than Orlando.

And as for their Western Conference counterparts? The lack of any legitimate threat among them nullifies the need to explain why the Lakers should definitely not drop four out of seven in the first three rounds of the postseason.

All of this explains why wins one through 16 (assuming they get that championship-earning 16th win) will be followed not by triumphant euphoria, but instead by a collective sigh of relief.

Relief for Phil Jackson in finally passing Red Auerbach as the most decorated NBA coach of all time. Relief for Mitch Kupchak, in that all the years of catering to Kobe Bryant's demands will finally have paid off. Relief for Bryant, in that he can finally proclaim himself the numero uno of a championship team.

Bryant is the central pillar holding up the weight of the team's great expectations. He has the supporting cast whose absence prompted him to ask for a trade less than two years ago, so any failure to win the ultimate prize must be shared equally (if not more so) by him.

That kind of pressure puts the Lakers in danger of playing not to lose, instead of competing to win. Flaws (such as L.A.'s lack of a "killer instinct" or their at-times sub-par defense) are magnified under the negative light of apprehension, when they should be corrected under the positive professionalism of team unity.

It's that ominous weight of unfulfilled potential that kept one-time contenders like the Pistons (2005-2008), Suns (2007-2008), and Blazers (2001-2003) from riding a positive vibe to the promised land.

And yet, despite the load that comes with the hype, there's nothing the Lakers can do about it. Theirs is challenge to carry that weight to the top of the mountain.

If they don't, it's a long, painful fall back down onto those pins and needles.