Friday, December 11, 2009

The Los Angeles Lakers Look to Repeat

By Herman Solomon

The Los Angeles Lakers made a statement last season. In the face of so many naysayers, Kobe Bryant proved that this team had what it takes to win a championship. Many fans and experts doubted Kobe Bryant once the Lakers lost Shaq.

Well, for one, they're the defending champions. They defeated the Orlando Magic with relative ease in the NBA finals, and looked very solid throughout the duration of the 2009 NBA playoffs.

It should also be noted that the only significant player the Lakers have lost is Trevor Ariza. While Ariza was a valuable role player in Los Angeles, he's not one of the team's stars, so all indicators would point to the notion that they should be okay without him.

Much of the Lakers' success last year should be attributed to a lot more than just Kobe himself. This was a team effort through and through.

Contributions from Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, Trevor Ariza, Derek Fisher, and others made the Los Angeles Lakers a team with many dangerous weapons, and a team that no one wanted to face in the playoffs. This was an extremely deep team.

The Lakers are looking to repeat this season - their chances are very good. The last time a team repeated as champions were the Lakers 01' & 02'.

It's hard to repeat as champions in professional sports because players get hurt and more trades happen now then ever before. The Lakers still have Kobe Bryant and he is playing at an elite level.

As long as Kobe continues to play at this level, the Lakers will continue to be contenders for another championship.

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