For a franchise that has won 16 titles, any Los Angeles Lakers season that doesn't end with a championship is considered a failure. But rather than just dole out a blanket "F" for the Lakers' disappointing 2012-13 season, we're going to break down each player's production in groups: Today it's the starters.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The light bulbs on the scoreboard showing the Los Angeles Lakers' 103-82 season-ending loss to the San Antonio Spurs had barely cooled down before they got together one last time to sort through the rubble of their disappointing 2012-13 campaign before saying goodbye for the summer.
LOS ANGELES -- At the very least, tip your hat to Andrew Goudelock and Darius Morris. The Los Angeles Lakers had no business beating the San Antonio Spurs on Friday with no Kobe Bryant, no Steve Nash and no Steve Blake in the lineup.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Dwight Howard was the last player on the court after practice Saturday. He is almost always the last player on the court. It might not show, but he spends hours working on his free throws with Lakers assistant coach Chuck Person before firing a few shots from beyond the arc as he yells “Sam Perkins!
LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Lakers got the win, but they lost the man who pushed them to get there. Kobe Bryant had beaten the odds all season long, tossing in turn-back-the-clock dunks while racking up statistical achievements that were supposed to be impossible for a 34-year-old in his 17th season until it all came to a crashing halt on Friday.
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Kobe Bryant emerged from the showers late Wednesday night and limped through the nearly empty visitors locker room at the Rose Garden, stopping briefly on his way to the training room to change so he could acknowledge Metta World Peace.
PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Rose Garden has been a place, for quite some time, where the Los Angeles Lakers' hopes and dreams have come to die. Coming into Wednesday, the Lakers' previous three games in Portland were losses.
LOS ANGELES -- With all the 5-0 talk surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers' finish to the season, it was questionable whether L.A. would even have enough fight left to get the first game toward that goal.
LOS ANGELES -- Metta World Peace had played possibly his last game with the Los Angeles Lakers when he suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee in late March. The team listed his recovery time at a minimum of six weeks, a date well past the regular-season finale for a team that has no guarantee of making the playoffs.
MILWAUKEE -- Former Los Angeles Lakers coach Bill Sharman had enjoyed relative anonymity for years, as the 86-year-old continued to serve as a consultant to the team and attend games with regularity. Well, ever since the Miami Heat threatened his 1971-72 Lakers' record 33-game winning streak, Sharman became relevant on a national scale again.
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