Andrew Bynum - Jan 13, 2008 Left knee injury
Trevor Ariza - Jan 21, 2008 broken right foot
Pau Gasol - Mar 14, 2008 Sprained ankle
Derek Fisher - Mar 29, 2008 Right foot injury
Thelist goes on, the woes will not. The season so far has been anythingbut ordinary and it has been more about endurance and persistence thananything else. With only weeks to go before the NBA playoffs getunderway the Lakers are struggling to maintain their position in thewestern conference standings. With back-to-back losses to sub .500teams, the Lakers seem on the verge of collapse. Another wasted 50point performance by Kobe Bryant, another wasted chance. The injurylist keeps growing, infighting in the team.
Whatmany people are forgetting is that this Laker team is much strongerthan what is seen from the outside. Without a doubt this team isresilient. The season started, well, in absolutechaos. Everyday eager fans received conflicting reports about Lakersstar Kobe Bryant. Was he going to stay or was he going to leave? Massesof reporters swarmed players on their way to the El Segundo practicefacility. National reporters said the season was already over, Kobewould leave and the Lakers would become a lottery team with playerslike Kwame Brown and Brian Cook. What happened next was both beautifuland incredible. Kobeset the precedent and his team followed and surged to higher branchesof the western conference standings. Despite the chaos that started theseason the Lakers were able to play through the uncertainty and risefrom the ashes to become one of the best teams in the overlycompetitive West.
Thenthe Bynum and Ariza injuries occurred. Reporters once again said theseason would be lost if Bynum took more than 8 weeks to return.“Without Bynum this team is like the team last year and the year beforethat, I highly doubt the Lakers will be able to play better than .500ball”. In the wake of devastation the Lakers managed to play greatbasketball and through the brilliance of Mitch Kupchak the Lakerslanded Pau Gasol. Not only did the Lakers hold the fort in Bynum’sabsence they surged to the top of the Western Conference standings.
Again,injury struck early March when Gasol sprained his ankle early in a gameagainst the New Orleans Hornets. Early estimates had Gasol out for twoweeks, despite the loss the Lakers were able to pull of heroic winsagainst the Mavericks and the Jazz.
Hereinlies my point. The Lakers are no stranger to adversity. This wholeseason has been about facing adversity and conquering the challenges ofbattle. Though the Lakers are in a rough stretch at the moment, withmore players getting injured than those coming back from injury, theywill find a way to get through this as they have been doing all season.The Lakers have traversed a road not taken by many teams but in the endit will make all the difference. Maybe the Lakers might not win thechampionship this year but through all the struggles they have had toendure they will come out this season a much more resilient andexperienced ball club. It’s all about weathering the storm and once thestorm has passed the Lakers will emerge a better team; a team which Ithink will be a formidable foe in the playoffs. The regular season hasprepared the team for challenges which undoubtedly will be presentduring the playoffs and after all they have endured the Lakers willhave a much better chance to come out victorious.
Asthe chilli peppers say, “the sun may rise in the east at least itsettles in a fine location”. The Lakers will get their chance to shineone of these days and when the opportunity comes the Lakers will beready; ready to defy all expectations placed upon them and do theunexpected.
