Los Angeles Lakers fans have been hanging tough ever since their championship win in 2010 against the Boston Celtics. Perhaps the lowest point since their last championship was the 2013-2014 season, with Kobe Bryant sidelined for most of the season due to injury, the Lakers struggled to win matches, finishing as low as 14th in the Western Conference for the year.
The major difference for the Lakers of 2014 and the Lakers side that’s about to enter the 2018-2019 season is the depth. We’ve decided to look back and compare both Lakers teams and see just how far they’ve come.
2013-2014 Lakers
Arguably the greatest player to ever wear a Lakers jersey, Kobe Bryant, struggled with injury over a few years in the back end of his career. During the 2013-2014 season, Kobe managed to play in only 6 of 82 regular season matches which forced the Lakers to test their depth.
Not only was Kobe injured, but Dwight Howard also made a sudden departure in the offseason and Steve Nash played only a total of 15 games.
Just 27 wins in the year saw the Lakers fall to second last in the Western Conference, at the time, 55 losses was the franchises most amount of losses in a year in the history of the club. For such a proud club, it was a season to forget, the first season since 2004-2005 where the Lakers didn’t qualify for the Playoffs.
With Pau Gasol being added to the injury list during the year, the Los Angeles Lakers were left with a starting line up of Kendall Marshall, Jodie Meeks, Kent Bazemore, Ryan Kelly and Jordan Hill.
There’s no question why the Lakers performed so poorly with a starting line up without a star player within in it.
4 YEARS LATER…
2017-18 Los Angeles Lakers
The future looks bright for this newly formed Lakers side with the four-time MVP, LeBron James, playing at his third club.
Not only did the Lakers pick up LeBron James this offseason, but they’ve also picked up a couple of handy players to support him such as Rajon Rondo and once arch-rival, Lance Stephenson. Clearly, the depth that the Lakers have at this current time is the most significant difference between the current day team and the side they had five years ago.
A possible starting line-up that the Lakers may have for the season opener is Rajon Rondo, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Brandon Ingram, LeBron James and JaVale McGee. With this lineup, they still have a lot of talent coming off the bench from Lonzo Ball to Hart to Stephenson to Kuzma to Beasley.
Comparing these names to the players that finished off the 2014 season on the court of the Lakers shows just how much of a better place the franchise is coming into the season. For the first time since 2012, there’s a very big chance that the Los Angeles Lakers will return to the NBA Playoffs.
It will still certainly take a lot for this side to challenge a super team like the Golden State Warriors who are without a doubt, the benchmark of the competition.
