Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and the Los Angeles Lakers Have Yet to Be Dethroned

In the summer, fans were all hyped over LeBron James and Chris Bosh joining Dwyane Wade in Miami.

Throughout the season, the same people that counted out the Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs because of age are now preaching their dominance.

Carmelo Anthony has just been traded to the New York Knicks to play next to Amar'e Stoudemire, and now they're supposedly going to be a title contender for years to come.

How quickly they forget.

The last time the Los Angeles Lakers lost a seven-game series was all the way back in 2008 against the Boston Celtics.

It doesn't matter if they seem uninterested in playing in the meaningless regular season. It doesn't matter that they won't have home court advantage throughout the playoffs. It doesn't even matter that they lost to the bottom-feeder Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Boston Celtics proved last year that a team can coast into the playoffs and just flip the switch when it matters.

They entered the postseason as a No. 4 seed. No one expected them to return to the Finals. Analysts had written them off long before the playoffs even started. The Miami Heat were an attractive upset pick in the first round.

Doesn't that sound familiar?

The Celtics embarrassed the Heat, manhandled the Cavaliers and beat down the Magic to reach the championship.

These 2011 Lakers will walk the same path. They'll turn it on in the playoffs all the way to another championship berth.

The trends are in the Lakers' favor. Again, they haven't lost a seven-game series since 2008. They've been to the Finals every season since Pau Gasol came to Los Angeles. Phil Jackson has never not three-peated.

On top of all that, this Lakers team, on paper, is even more talented than their last two championship squads.

Haters, enjoy the regular season. Enjoy the time when the lights are off and nothing matters, because when the Lakers flip that switch and the lights come on, it's over.

David Daniels is an NFL Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report and a Syndicated Writer. Follow him on Twitter.