It's not a bad time to be a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers. Think about it: In June 1991, the Chicago Bulls won a world championship, knocking off the Lakers in five games. They went on to win five more titles in the next seven years. Lakers fans could be in for the same type of ride. There's no Michael Jordan in L.A., but with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, the Lakers have two of the top players in the league. The dynasty begins.

	Kobe Bryant has seemingly made peace for Shaq.

But what if things don't turn out quite the way Jack and Dyan think? Might Jerry West stepping down have a bigger effect on the franchise than we think? What if no power forward is brought in and Glen Rice has to stay? What if the Lakers do have to face the Spurs in the playoffs and what if the Blazers figure out how to put their biggest rival away in a future Game 7? All good points.

This is why we write these Team Offseason Spotlights, to delve into the guts of each NBA team and see where they are going. Are the Lakers going to be the Clippers next season? Of course not, but are they locks to repeat as champs? Not really. With that we give you our 13th offseason team spotlight, the Los Angeles Lakers. As always, we have our opinions, which are below, but we also appreciate yours. Check out what you wrote in our User Comments page to the right.

Why the Lakers were 67-15: The way the stars played last season, nobody could have screwed this up, not Kurt Rambis, Del Harris, Jim Todd or Todd Marinovich. When you put the league's MVP, an unstoppable center at both ends of the floor, out there with one of the top youngsters in the game, a brilliant defensive guard with playmaking skills and smarts, it's hard not to win. The Lakers did bring in the coach of those six Bulls championships in Phil Jackson, and he had as much to prove as anyone. It's safe to say he did.

The difference in the Lakers of this past season and other seasons was the way Shaq and Kobe played. Shaq stayed healthy. He paid attention to defense (thanks to Phil) by hustling down the floor, rebounding and blocking shots. Offensively he was even more dynamic, scoring at will on most nights and improving his embarrassing free throw shooting from 43 percent in the first two months to 60 percent the last three. And Bryant made magnificent strides in the defensive part of his game as well, becoming the Scottie Pippen-like stopper against any guard and smaller forwards, at the same time raising his offensive game. Who knows if Kobe, who went from 19.9 points to 22.5, could average Jordan-like numbers if he was the first option. He probably could.

After that, building a team isn't so difficult. You need a third scoring option, and Glen Rice was it, though he produced his worst season and was hardly reliable. He does not fit in here at all, but he did provide the team with an average of 15.9 points and the threat of big nights. A.C. Green and Robert Horry combined for 11 points and 11 rebounds, tough defense and hustle, and were joined in the front court by the versatile Rick Fox. You can afford to have these guys when your center scores 30 regularly. Ron Harper was brought in to lead and defend, play the point without making mistakes, and he did just that. And after Bryant broke his hand in the preseason, Brian Shaw came in and did a nice job. Derek Fisher played the unnecessary role of true point guard and Travis Knight backed up Shaq. That's 10 players, and a pretty solid team. As it turned out, it was a championship team.

	Current projected top 6
	PG	Derek Fisher
	SG	Kobe Bryant
	SF	Glen Rice
	PF	to be determined
	C	Shaquille O'Neal
	6th	Robert Horry

Team MVP: Kobe was good, but Shaq was better. Neither could have won the title without the other. Shaq's the MVP. Team LVP: We couldn't find an LVP on the other Finals team, the Pacers, but we can here. Derek Fisher was signed to a big contract before Phil Jackson arrived. He shot .346 -- from the field, not the 3-point line -- and isn't a great passer. Phil would give him away at this point. Surprise! We don't realize it today, after watching this team win it all, but remember that Shaq was not concerned at all with defense before Phil arrived. And past coaches didn't seem too concerned with convincing Shaq of his defensive obligations. Shaq nearly leading the league in rebounds and blocks was a surprise. Up and comer: This certainly isn't a young team, but neither were the Bulls during their stretch. However, Kobe is going to get better, and someday we'll see him scoring 30 a night while still providing an all-around game.

What they need: We said it all season, and with salary cap limitations the need has yet to be filled. If a strong rebounder can be brought in to man the power forward spot, thus enabling Shaq to have some help, Horry to play fewer minutes and Green to ride off into the sunset, this team gets better. Someone like Charles Oakley would be perfect, but getting any legit guy to L.A. is complicated.

Rice is certainly the bait in any deal, since he wants more money than he's worth (at least on this team; move him to most teams and he scores 22 again) and the Lakers realize he just doesn't fit in. Man, Elden Campbell wouldn't be bad, would he? Oh, that's another story. Rumors of Anthony Mason ended when he went to Miami. Brian Grant would settle for the $2.5 mil exception, but the Lakers can't pay him in a year either and Portland would rather drop out of the league than see Grant help the Lakers. Toni Kukoc isn't a rebounder, and Philadelphia wants to keep him. Danny Fortson? Matt Geiger? P.J. Brown? Let's see what Mitch Kupchak does.

Other than power forward, the Lakers will need to replace Rice's scoring and range. This could be done with a natural guard, moving Kobe to the point or small forward, and Fox could always play a few more minutes and still be valuable. Again, no money to spend, but players do like to be on winners and this team will be in the West finals again, at least.

As the signing and then actual playing of ancient John Salley proved, Knight is not a feasible backup center to Shaq. The Lakers tried to get John Amaechi, but he decided to stay for no money in Orlando, and then get the big bucks a year later. Oh, Bison Dele, where are you...

What the plan is: It's actually not as simple as it usually is for defending champions. Potentially, three of the starting positions remain up for grabs, depending on what happens to Rice. Green and Harper could retire, and the only kids here, second-year small forward Devean George, rookie power forward Mark Madsen and rookie two-guard Cory Hightower, aren't ready for real minutes. Former Net Kendall Gill would be perfect here, and the rumor is he's ready to sign. A natural two-guard, Gill plays great defense and contributes on offense. He could play the two or three and maybe even the point. Other than that, the Lakers can't get any big names, but they are sure to fill in these gaps because, well, they are the Lakers. Kupchak worked under West for 14 years, and he isn't going to fail.

Once the Lakers find a taker for Rice and get someone to rebound the ball, it's Jackson's job to make it work around the two stars. Also, remember that Jackson really hasn't gotten the chance to put his stamp on this team. He would never have given Fisher a seven-year deal (Phil likes his point guards to be 6-8, and able to hit a shot once in a while), and he tried all season to acquire a big man for those six or seven non-Shaq minutes a night. While there's no reason to believe that Phil and Kupchak can't work together, this isn't the intimidating West running the show, either, so look for Jackson to have more of a say on personnel matters. That doesn't mean Dennis Rodman is coming to town, but, if Phil believed that was the answer, he would be.

Direction heading: There's no reason to think another 67-win season can't happen for the Lakers, but there are some things to keep in mind. In a strong conference to start with, the Blazers don't figure to be any worse, and have the money to make sure of it, and the Spurs will have twin towers for three more years. Two seasons ago Shaq and the Lakers were swept out of the playoffs by Tim Duncan's Spurs. The Lakers are clearly the favorites to repeat as NBA champs this year, but they aren't the same lock that the Bulls were.