When you really think about it, the Lakers did rather well considering how things went. Things that, oh by the way, were completely out of their control.
Like all the injuries they were saddled with, for instance. Not a single player played all 82 games for the Purple and Gold. Or even 80.
Even guys who suited up in a majority of L.A.'s contests did so valiantly, playing through pain.
That's standard operating procedure for Kobe Bryant, but Dwight Howard didn't get enough credit for coming back in time for the start of the season and playing even while his back was still healing from surgery last year. And on top of that, he had to fight through recurring shoulder injuries as well.
Metta World Peace returned, remarkably, from knee surgery in less than two weeks to rejoin his teammates for the final playoff push.
Antawn Jamison is scheduled to undergo surgery on his injured wrist in the offseason, but he refuses to miss any time.
Steve Nash has tried to do everything he can to stay on the court, resorting to taking three injections just to ease his pain enough to play in the postseason.
Their projected preseason starting lineup—you remember, the one that appeared to absolutely dominate on paper—combined to miss an entire season's worth of games and only started together a grand total of seven times.
Sure, they lost all seven of those games, but when you don't play together for weeks at a time the chemistry just isn't there.
That was the biggest negative of all those injuries—the way it robbed the Lakers of any semblance of cohesion.
The 2012 Lakers looked much different than the 2011 version. They didn't just add Dwight Howard and Steve Nash; they also signed Antawn Jamison and Jodie ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
