What Will Los Angeles Lakers Do If Steve Nash Gets Injured?

There's no replacing a point guard of Steve Nash's caliber. The Phoenix Suns will discover the hardships of life on the court sans Nash when they trot out the likes of Goran Dragic, Kendall Marshall and Sebastian Telfair to run the show during the 2012-13 NBA season.

The Los Angeles Lakers could certainly find themselves in an even tougher bind at some point. Nash, a two-time MVP, has played phenomenally well while avoiding injury in recent years, though at 38, his body will be at risk of a debilitating breakdown nearly every time he takes the floor. Any nagging ache or pain that Nash encounters during what's likely to be a long and grueling campaign is rendered all the more dangerous by the natural slowing of his body's recuperative processes.

Losing Nash for any significant length of time would be a massive blow to the Lakers' title hopes, not unlike how Karl Malone's knee injury sidetracked LA's chances during the 2003-04 season. The Lakers' corps of backups at the point—Steve Blake, Chris Duhon, Darius Morris and perhaps Andrew Goudelock and rookie Darius Johnson-Odom—would be hard-pressed to match Nash's competence and productivity collectively, much less individually.



No Nash would likely mean less pick-and-roll with Dwight Howard, the game's premiere finisher, and Pau Gasol, a fine partner in his own right. So too would Nash's absence put the ball back in Kobe Bryant's hands, potentially even to the extent that's nauseated so many in Lakerland in recent years.

In theory, Nash's mere presence is paramount to lifting the curtain on this new era of "Showtime." Tactically, the Lakers roster is set up in such a way as to accentuate, if not necessitate, a point guard who can lubricate an offense and keep everyone happy and involved, as few like Nash can.

The same goes for the locker room, wherein Nash would presumably play "good cop" to Kobe's "bad cop."

Still, while losing Na...

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