LA Lakers, Bryant rebound strong after lockout

For the duration of the lengthened lockout offseason, NBA reporters around the nation found… For the duration of the lengthened lockout offseason, NBA reporters around the nation found themselves hard-pressed to come up with news to report on the league.

Besides ESPN.com’s rankings of the top 500 players in the league and news of the NBA Draft held in June, fresh content was rare.

As a result, fans of the basketball association became subjected to sports-media-outlet stories that dealt primarily with the most recognizable faces of the league. Eventually, much of the discourse focused on the seemingly inevitable demise of the Los Angeles Lakers and their superstar guard Kobe Bryant.

After being swept in the semifinals of the NBA Playoffs by the eventual champions, the Dallas Mavericks, the Lakers appeared to be heading into a tailspin that would lead to a season filled with losing and strife in the realm of Los Angeles basketball. Questions ran wild regarding how the team would respond to the jarring series against Dallas and how the franchise would perform in the next season.

Phil Jackson, the greatest coach in the history of the league, took his eight NBA Championship rings and rode off into the Montana sunset he holds so dear. New coach Mike Brown became the sheriff in the City of Angels.

The team supposedly only fielded three quality players. They had no depth. Kobe Bryant, after what was arguably his worst season since his rookie year, seemed to be heading toward the end of his career. Many wondered whether other players were entering the dusk of their careers as well.

After the loss to Dallas, Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who won five NBA Championships with Los Angeles during its “Showtime” days, called for drastic changes to the roster. He went so far as to say that the team should be “blown up” in the offseason.

“The Lakers have two problems; they’re too slow and they have no athletes,” Johnson said to ESPN in May. “This is an athletic league now. When you think about all the teams that are in the playoffs right now, they all can run fast and jump high.”

But now, eight months later, the Lakers sit at 10-5. Bryant is leading the league in scoring. Los Angeles defends the basket with the best of any team in the NBA and it’s leading a division that many thought the Clippers — after pairing their exciting young superstar Blake Griffin with an even more exciting young superstar, Chris Paul — would dominate.

And despite Johnson’s figurative call to arms, the roster of the Los Angeles Lakers remains nearly the same as it was in May. The only notable change was the departure of Lamar Odom, who expressed discontent after the much-publicized trade for then-New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul fell through when NBA Commissioner David Stern nixed the deal. Days later, Los Angeles traded Odom to the Mavericks in exchange for a trade exception of $8.9 million, indicating at the time that more transactions lay waiting.

Speculation abounded about whether the Lakers would attempt a trade for disgruntled Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard or other players.  Instead, the Lakers filled out their rotation with forwards Troy Murphy and Josh McRoberts. Both players addressed an issue prevalent in the previous roster: the lack of a deep bench.

McRoberts, a former Duke star, and Murphy, who averaged a double-double during his tenure with the Indiana Pacers, provide the hustle and rebounds missing from last year’s team. The efforts of both players cannot be undervalued and have helped Los Angeles become the league’s top rebounding team, averaging 45.6 a game.

The resurgences of Matt Barnes and Steve Blake, players signed before last season, also play a large part in the newfound depth of a supposedly weak Lakers team. Under Jackson, these players found the concepts of the coach’s famed triangle offense difficult to grasp.

Along with the artist formerly known as Ron Artest (now Metta World Peace), these players thrive in Brown’s new system. In addition to new signee and 3-point marksman Jason Kapono, who won back-to-back NBA Three-Point Shootout crowns at the 2007 and 2008 NBA All-Star Weekends, Brown has five bench players who provide quality minutes, a rare luxury for NBA coaches.

Head coach Mike Brown has silenced nearly all critics regarding the quality of team he would produce this season, guiding the Lakers to a rank of third in the Western Conference. Besides that, the Lakers rank fifth in the league in scoring defense, only allowing 89.4 points to their opposition on a nightly basis. With the body of work Brown put together during his tenure in Cleveland — a tenure during which he was one of the NBA’s most winning coaches — it should come as no surprise to anyone that the focus of this Lakers team is on defense.

As for the questions of age: Well, I believe we all know what Bryant spent his extended summer doing — working harder than anyone else while listening to the criticisms being levied upon him and the death sentence members of the media attempted to exact on his career.

All the criticisms of his age, his shot selection and his injuries only added fuel to the inferno that represents the competitive drive of Kobe Bryant. That inferno is why he draws many comparisons to Michael Jordan — the Black Mamba’s desire to win can only be likened to that of His Airness.

Bryant’s “poor” (in relation to his career performance) season was a direct result of the multitude of injuries he sustained — and defied, by continuing to play in every single contest. Injuries to his knee, ankle and finger severely inhibited his abilities, and it was noticeable. I would like to see any reader of this column try to get out of bed in the morning with those sorts of injuries, let alone participate in one of the most physically demanding endeavors on the face of this earth for 40 minutes a night.

This season, Kobe is back and looks like he did in his prime. After a string of four consecutive 40-point nights and two consecutive Western Conference Player of the Week titles, Bryant leads the league in scoring at 30.3 points per game. Although he suffered a torn ligament in his wrist earlier in the season, it appears to have had no effect thus far on his performance.

That being said, expect the Lakers to contend for another championship this season. Despite the league’s shifts in focus to youth, speed and athleticism, the Lakers have played with the best of them to date. And in their game Monday, the oldest player on the roster — 37-year-old Derek Fisher — hit a 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds remaining to seal a 73-70 victory over the Mavericks.

For the upcoming week, here are games to look out for on national television.

Tonight: Miami Heat vs. Los Angeles Lakers @ 8 p.m., TNT

Two of the league’s top teams meet in Miami as the Lakers begin their annual two-game road trip that takes them to Miami and Orlando. Any time LeBron James and Kobe Bryant square off, any self-respecting fan should be watching.

Friday, Jan. 20: Los Angeles Clippers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves @ 10:30 p.m., ESPN

Excitement should abound on this particular Friday as two of the most exciting young teams in the league collide in the City of Angels. The match-up between Chris Paul of the Clippers and Ricky Rubio of the T’Wolves is exciting enough, but add in the chance to watch Paul throw alley-oops to Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan and the opportunity to see Kevin Love go to work in the paint, and you have a game that will be keeping me in on a Friday night.