Over the past few seasons the widely held opinion around the league was the Western Conference was divided into two groups, the Lakers and everyone else.
However, as things sit today Los Angeles find themselves sitting six and half games back of the San Antonio Spurs for first place. This has caused many to hit the panic button.
Over the past decade the Spurs and Lakers have been the two most dominant teams in the league.
They have represented the Western Conference in every NBA Finals since 1999, with the exception of 2006.
The Lakers have five titles and the Spurs have won four.
The sentiment over the years has been that the Spurs were getting too old and were no longer able to compete.
However, now that San Antonio is off to its best start in franchise history a number of observers are beginning to wonder whether Los Angeles is capable of making their fourth consecutive trip to the finals.
These critics include Laker legends, Magic Johnson and Jerry West.
Johnson is arguably the greatest point guard in NBA history and led the Showtime Lakers to five NBA Championships in the 1980s.
Furthermore, West did not win as many titles as Magic, but he is the NBA’s logo, and formerly the General Manager of the team.
As a result, when these two individuals begin to question the Los Angeles Lakers the rest of the basketball world listens.
Now-General Manager Mitch Kupchak has publicly stated a trade is possible. Add to that Ron Artest’s alleged trade demand and subsequent retraction. And the debate has begun.
Should the Los Angeles Lakers trade Ron Artest?
Admittedly, Artest was ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
