Los Angeles Lakers: Life After Kobe Bryant and How to Prepare For It

The Los Angeles Lakers are on top at the moment; however, the signs of aging are beginning to rear their ugly face.  Derek Fisher is 36, Kobe Bryant is 32, Ron Artest and Lamar Odom are both 31, and Pau Gasol and Matt Barnes are both 30.

As mentioned, age has not become a real problem yet, but in the next couple years, it will.

Furthermore, because the Lakers are such a strong team, they are not exactly able to build via the draft.  Therefore, unless they acquire some young talent now, they may have to face a big fall down the standings.

To make matters worse, they could finally be forced to surrender their long standing reputation as “Los Angeles’ team” to Blake Griffin and the up-and-coming Los Angeles Clippers.

The average player age is currently 29.5 years and Andrew Bynum (23), Shannon Brown (25), Derrick Character (22), and Devin Ebanks (21) are the only players on the current roster under 30 years of age.

Andrew Bynum (provided he can stay healthy) and Shannon Brown certainly have bright futures. But they are not a strong enough core to build a championship team around.  A core of Bynum and Brown would not even make the Lakers the best team in the NBA, let alone in Los Angeles.

As a result, it is becoming clear that the Lakers need to get some better young talent, otherwise it will be hard to compete once Kobe and company are gone.

No matter what happens, the team should be proud of their recent success and should continue to focus on their bid to three-peat as NBA Champions.

Barring a miraculous epiphany, Phil Jackson is finished after this year. If the Lakers keep the current starting lineup intact for the next two to three seasons, Kobe and company have a good chance of completing the three-peat this season and maybe even winning a couple more championships after Phil Jackson is gone.

However, following that, they will drop down the standings and may have t...

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