LA Lakers' Fall from Greatness and Rebuilding the Dynasty for the 2011 Season

"I think we're kind of all in shock right now," Lakers forward Luke Walton said. "In a few days, we're gonna look back and feel it, like 'Damn, we really blew that.' And it's going to hurt. It's going to hurt bad."

Why doesn’t it hurt right now? In Phil Jackson’s last moments as a Lakers coach, why did he have to witness two players beat up on a team just because they were humiliating them with every three-point basket they made? Was it Dallas’ fault that LA lost it in all four games of the series? Is it the Mavericks’ fault that Kobe could not carry the team as he had in years before?

Father Time caught up with the Lakers, but what people fail to recognize is the parallel in experience between Dallas and Los Angeles. Yesterday afternoon, a commentator spoke about the young talent taking over the NBA.

However, the Mavericks swept the Lakers and a 33-year old Jason Terry put the nail in LA’s three-peat coffin. Dirk Nowitzki is 32 years old and he scored 17 points. Age is never an excuse to lose the drive to win. The talent is there, but the Lakers began to behave like they did not know how to channel it or stop Dallas from using its own.

What is the ultimate problem? Chemistry. The chemistry factor is beat into the brains of us all day after day as athletes speak about how their franchise is able to be successful. There is more to the subject matter than some are willing to believe.

Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol have the athletic capacity to exceed greatness when their hands are on the ball. Since that is true, it is unfathomable how inconsistent they can be when playing on the court at the same time. Bynum was the only player whose efforts were non-conflicting with the morale that Phil Jackson wanted to impose upon the team.

Gasol was increasingly hard to watch, as his missteps and missed shots allowed the Lakers to dig themselves a deeper hole. Ten points and six rebounds may have made him the top performer from the LA squad, but to the LA fans he failed tremendously.

Rumors of relationship issues have done nothing but sour people’s opinions of Gasol and his durability as an elite basketball player. Champions fight through personal and professional issues to achieve the task at hand. Gasol dropped the ball insurmountably and a lot of fans are waiting for a viable explanation or a quick removal.

Derek Fisher is the closest thing to a landmark in the Lakers franchise next to Jackson, Bryant and Magic Johnson. Thoughts of his exit brought shivers to fans who once believed that he was vital to the LA supernova. Unfortunately, we are faced with the harsh reality that Fisher cannot compete with the versatile point guards of this age. He is not in the top 10 in the league at his position and the Lakers must reconsider his starting role.

The clock has wound down and we were left with an eerie visual of Jackson’s wry smile as he was congratulated and consoled simultaneously. The fans were shaking his hand in an attempt to not only remind him of his outstanding resume but assure him that this series does not demolish what has already been accomplished.

Kobe Bryant wanted fans to believe that the Lakers had more than a shot to come back and win the series after being in a 3-0 hole, but we all knew what was in store. People who may not be able to stomach how monstrous a force the Lakers are in the NBA were even surprised at what happened in Game 4.

Dallas had homecourt advantage; however, that gave LA no right to blow such a stellar opportunity in the postseason.

Everyone short of Bryant will be held accountable for the events that took place yesterday and no one is safe from elimination. Los Angeles Lakers’ General Manager Mitch Kupchak expressed a growing concern for the team’s direction in the middle of the season as he voiced his openness to a few roster changes.

Now that the Lakers have proven to themselves and everyone who believed in them that they will not be successful unless he makes good on his threat, Kupchak has some decisions to make.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement that the NBA and the Players Association have yet to agree upon will give him some breathing space to actually weigh the options that will be most conducive to the success of the organization. Still, the moves he makes in this offseason may determine the plight or rise of a dynasty.