Top 10 Los Angeles Lakers teams
Does Dwight Howard make current team worthy of the best?
By Neil Paine | Basketball-Reference.com
ESPN INSIDER
If nothing else, the Los Angeles Lakers certainly made the biggest splash of the 2012 offseason, reeling in the game's most prized big man in Dwight Howard. Because of that move (and that move alone, frankly), they might well end up winning the championship -- the 2012-13 season simulation I ran last Friday had them in a dead heat with the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs as the favorites to win the Western Conference.
However, those imagining that L.A.'s 2012-13 team stacks up with the franchise's all-time most talent-rich rosters might need to readjust their thinking. While it's true that next season's Lakers have just a
bout as much front-line talent as any in Los Angeles' illustrious history, that fact by itself won't be enough to catapult them into the pantheon of great Lakers squads, at least in the regular season.
Here's how the Lakers' 2012-13 roster looks right now:
<!-- begin inline 1 -->2012-13 Los Angeles Lakers
(expected roster)
<table><thead><tr><th>Player</th><th>Age</th><th>Minutes</th><th>Talent</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr class="last"><td>Pau Gasol</td><td>32</td><td>2707</td><td>115</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Kobe Bryant</td><td>34</td><td>2680</td><td>127</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Dwight Howard</td><td>27</td><td>2652</td><td>134</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Steve Nash</td><td>38</td><td>2323</td><td>108</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Antawn Jamison</td><td>36</td><td>2093</td><td>92</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Metta World Peace</td><td>33</td><td>2067</td><td>96</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Steve Blake</td><td>32</td><td>1499</td><td>84</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Devin Ebanks</td><td>23</td><td>1025</td><td>91</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Jordan Hill</td><td>25</td><td>1008</td><td>94</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Andrew Goudelock</td><td>24</td><td>806</td><td>79</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Chris Duhon</td><td>30</td><td>261</td><td>83</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Earl Clark</td><td>25</td><td>174</td><td>84</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Darius Morris</td><td>22</td><td>162</td><td>87</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Team Talent Index
</td><td></td><td></td><td>106</td></tr></tbody></table>
<!-- end inline 1 -->
Looking at their depth chart, they boast two legitimate stars, Howard and Kobe Bryant. They also have two near-stars in Pau Gasol and Steve Nash, but the latter should be viewed with caution, seeing as the list of point guards who did anything of note at age 38 is pretty much one player long (John Stockton). Beyond that group, L.A.'s roster is awfully thin; squint and you might see league-average performers in Antawn Jamison and Metta World Peace (both shells of their former selves at this point), plus Devin Ebanks, but that's being generous. And the rest is replacement-level fare.
If we want to put L.A.'s total talent base in context, let's look at the "True Talent" ratings of their rosters, similar to this article I wrote about the all-time best Dream Teams. In that piece, I used advanced statistical plus/minus (ASPM, the best box score metric for predicting future team results) to assess talent, and I'll do that again for seasons going back to 1978. However, for years before that, I have to use Basketball-Reference's win shares (WS), which predicts at a slightly lower level than ASPM but is probably the second most accurate box score metric for that purpose.
To get everything on the same scale, I turned each player's seasonal ASPM and WS scores into a Talent Index where the NBA average is 100 and every 15 points above/below average represents one standard deviation. Once again, I used a weighted three-year average of the Index, along with a bit of regression to the mean, to determine a player's true talent in any given season, and weighted those numbers by regular-season minutes played to determine the aggregate talent level of a team's roster for a given year.
As blinding as their star power is, as we established earlier, the 2012-13 Lakers are not a deep team. Thus, their aggregate talent base currently looks fairly unremarkable by the franchise's historical standards. This Lakers team ranks just 28th among Lakers teams since 1967 with a Talent Index of just 106.
So compare this season's group to those of the most impressive Lakers teams since 1967 (the first year in the sample, due to historical issues with split-season stats for players in older seasons) and you'll see why the 2012-13 quality is superficial.
<center><hr style="width: 50%;"> </center>1. 1986-87 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 114 | Record: 65-17
<!-- begin inline 2 -->The all-time best: 1986-87 Los Angeles Lakers
<table><thead><tr><th>Player</th><th>Age</th><th>Minutes</th><th>Talent</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr class="last"><td>Magic Johnson</td><td>27</td><td>2904</td><td>146</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>James Worthy</td><td>25</td><td>2819</td><td>117</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Byron Scott</td><td>25</td><td>2729</td><td>110</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Kareem Abdul-Jabbar</td><td>39</td><td>2441</td><td>117</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Michael Cooper</td><td>30</td><td>2253</td><td>104</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>A.C. Green</td><td>23</td><td>2240</td><td>110</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Kurt Rambis</td><td>28</td><td>1514</td><td>110</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Billy Thompson</td><td>23</td><td>762</td><td>91</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Mychal Thompson</td><td>32</td><td>680</td><td>90</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Wes Matthews</td><td>27</td><td>532</td><td>90</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Frank Brickowski</td><td>27</td><td>404</td><td>89</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Mike Smrek</td><td>24</td><td>233</td><td>79</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Adrian Branch</td><td>23</td><td>219</td><td>103</td></tr></tbody></table>
<!-- end inline 2 -->
Based on the players on their roster and the stages of their careers they were in, the '87 Lakers come out as Los Angeles' most gifted team since '67. Magic Johnson, James Worthy and Byron Scott were all at the peaks of their respective abilities, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was still quite productive at age 39 and the team received great contributions from role players Michael Cooper, A.C. Green and Kurt Rambis.
As if to prove their superiority, they put together one of the most dominant playoff runs in recent memory, going 15-3 in the postseason en route to a title.
2. 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 112 | Record: 69-13
The '72 Lakers breezed through the regular season with a then-record 69 wins, and for a good reason -- in addition to aging greats Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West still hanging on to their elite peak performances, Los Angeles was also the beneficiary of underrated performances by Gail Goodrich (in the best season of his career), Happy Hairston and Flynn Robinson. Also helping the cause: none of their players were out-and-out bad -- their worst Talent Index was Pat Riley's 90, which would rank better than six members of the 2013 team.
3. 1985-86 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 112 | Record: 62-20
4. 1999-2000 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 112 | Record: 67-15
<!-- begin inline 3 -->Phil Jackson's best: 1999-2000 Los Angeles Lakers
<table><thead><tr><th>Player</th><th>Age</th><th>Minutes</th><th>Talent</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr class="last"><td>Shaquille O'Neal</td><td>27</td><td>3163</td><td>150</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Glen Rice</td><td>32</td><td>2530</td><td>105</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Kobe Bryant</td><td>21</td><td>2524</td><td>125</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Ron Harper</td><td>36</td><td>2042</td><td>102</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>A.C. Green</td><td>36</td><td>1929</td><td>103</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Derek Fisher</td><td>25</td><td>1803</td><td>96</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Robert Horry</td><td>29</td><td>1685</td><td>117</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Rick Fox</td><td>30</td><td>1473</td><td>96</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Brian Shaw</td><td>33</td><td>1249</td><td>89</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Travis Knight</td><td>25</td><td>410</td><td>91</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Devean George</td><td>22</td><td>345</td><td>89</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>John Salley</td><td>35</td><td>303</td><td>92</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>John Celestand</td><td>22</td><td>185</td><td>85</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Tyronn Lue</td><td>22</td><td>146</td><td>94</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Sam Jacobson</td><td>24</td><td>18</td><td>88
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<!-- end inline 3 -->
This was the most talented Lakers team Phil Jackson ever coached, thanks to Shaquille O'Neal's greatest season ever and Bryant's emergence as a true star after three seasons of growing pains. The result was one of the franchise's best regular seasons to date, and although they didn't turn in the most dominant of playoff runs, they were at their best when the games counted the most, winning all five of their most important postseason games according to Championship Leverage.
5. 1984-85 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 111 | Record: 62-20
6. 1979-80 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 111 | Record: 60-22
In Johnson's rookie year, L.A. went from being a decent team to a great one, winning 13 more games than it had the previous season. They also won the NBA's biggest prize when Magic famously stood in for Abdul-Jabbar at center in Game 6 of the Finals at Philadelphia, recording 42 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals to power the Lakers to their first ring in eight years. At the top, this roster resembles the 2013 version in terms of talent, but the Lakers' supporting players were much better in 1980 than they project to be this year.
7. 2010-11 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 110 | Record: 57-25
Coming off two consecutive title runs, the 2011 Lakers underperformed relative to their immensely talented roster, winning just 57 regular-season games (the same as they'd done the previous year, with less talent) and flaming out early in the playoffs with a sweep at the hands of the eventual champion Dallas Mavericks.
This team was fueled by what are likely to be the last truly great seasons of Bryant and Gasol's careers, along with the last effective years anyone will probably get out of World Peace or Lamar Odom, but it wasn't enough for L.A. to three-peat.
8. 1990-91 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 110 | Record: 58-24
9. 2001-02 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 110 | Record: 58-24
10. 2008-09 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 110 | Record: 65-17
<!-- begin inline 4 -->Kobe Bryant's best: 2008-09 Los Angeles Lakers
<table><thead><tr><th>Player</th><th>Age</th><th>Minutes</th><th>Talent</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr class="last"><td>Pau Gasol</td><td>28</td><td>2999</td><td>120</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Kobe Bryant</td><td>30</td><td>2960</td><td>137</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Derek Fisher</td><td>34</td><td>2441</td><td>103</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Lamar Odom</td><td>29</td><td>2316</td><td>111</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Trevor Ariza</td><td>23</td><td>1999</td><td>114</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Andrew Bynum</td><td>21</td><td>1446</td><td>110</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Sasha Vujacic</td><td>24</td><td>1293</td><td>103</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Jordan Farmar</td><td>22</td><td>1192</td><td>91</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Luke Walton</td><td>28</td><td>1166</td><td>92</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Vladimir Radmanovic</td><td>28</td><td>771</td><td>91</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Josh Powell</td><td>26</td><td>703</td><td>78</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Didier Ilunga-Mbenga</td><td>28</td><td>181</td><td>98</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Shannon Brown</td><td>23</td><td>136</td><td>88</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Chris Mihm</td><td>29</td><td>105</td><td>85</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Adam Morrison</td><td>24</td><td>44</td><td>72</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Sun Yue</td><td>23</td><td>28</td><td>93</td></tr></tbody></table>
<!-- end inline 4 -->
The 2008-09 team is the greatest Lakers team Bryant ever led to a championship (as its unquestioned Alpha Dog, at least). With 65 wins, the 2009 Lakers had a dominant regular season, but their best work was done in the playoffs, where they were practically unbeatable in big moments -- they put up a plus-11.9 margin of victory in what Championship Leverage considers their eight most crucial games. Their sheer depth of talent (seven players with an above-average Talent Index) puts L.A.'s 2013 roster, with merely four above-average players, to shame.
L.A.'s last attempt at a store-bought "four Hall of Famers" lineup, the 2003-04 Los Angeles Lakers, might just be the best guide we have to predicting how the 2013 Lakers will fare. That team saw Karl Malone miss half the season with injuries, and Gary Payton never really meshed with O'Neal, Bryant and the Triangle offense, but they still won 56 games and made their way to the NBA Finals. Of course, it bears repeating that L.A.'s supporting players were much better in '04 than they project to be in '13.
Again, this doesn't mean the 2012-13 Lakers aren't the favorites in the West, nor does it mean they can't win the championship (although they would be the Lakers squad with the lowest Talent Index to do so since the 1960s).
What it does mean, though, is that any comparisons with great L.A. teams of yore should probably be put to rest. While the 2012-13 version has four very good players (and little else), past Lakers teams were built on depth, in addition to stars.
Does Dwight Howard make current team worthy of the best?
By Neil Paine | Basketball-Reference.com
ESPN INSIDER
If nothing else, the Los Angeles Lakers certainly made the biggest splash of the 2012 offseason, reeling in the game's most prized big man in Dwight Howard. Because of that move (and that move alone, frankly), they might well end up winning the championship -- the 2012-13 season simulation I ran last Friday had them in a dead heat with the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs as the favorites to win the Western Conference.
However, those imagining that L.A.'s 2012-13 team stacks up with the franchise's all-time most talent-rich rosters might need to readjust their thinking. While it's true that next season's Lakers have just a
bout as much front-line talent as any in Los Angeles' illustrious history, that fact by itself won't be enough to catapult them into the pantheon of great Lakers squads, at least in the regular season.
Here's how the Lakers' 2012-13 roster looks right now:
<!-- begin inline 1 -->2012-13 Los Angeles Lakers
(expected roster)
<table><thead><tr><th>Player</th><th>Age</th><th>Minutes</th><th>Talent</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr class="last"><td>Pau Gasol</td><td>32</td><td>2707</td><td>115</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Kobe Bryant</td><td>34</td><td>2680</td><td>127</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Dwight Howard</td><td>27</td><td>2652</td><td>134</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Steve Nash</td><td>38</td><td>2323</td><td>108</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Antawn Jamison</td><td>36</td><td>2093</td><td>92</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Metta World Peace</td><td>33</td><td>2067</td><td>96</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Steve Blake</td><td>32</td><td>1499</td><td>84</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Devin Ebanks</td><td>23</td><td>1025</td><td>91</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Jordan Hill</td><td>25</td><td>1008</td><td>94</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Andrew Goudelock</td><td>24</td><td>806</td><td>79</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Chris Duhon</td><td>30</td><td>261</td><td>83</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Earl Clark</td><td>25</td><td>174</td><td>84</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Darius Morris</td><td>22</td><td>162</td><td>87</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Team Talent Index
</td><td></td><td></td><td>106</td></tr></tbody></table>
<!-- end inline 1 -->
Looking at their depth chart, they boast two legitimate stars, Howard and Kobe Bryant. They also have two near-stars in Pau Gasol and Steve Nash, but the latter should be viewed with caution, seeing as the list of point guards who did anything of note at age 38 is pretty much one player long (John Stockton). Beyond that group, L.A.'s roster is awfully thin; squint and you might see league-average performers in Antawn Jamison and Metta World Peace (both shells of their former selves at this point), plus Devin Ebanks, but that's being generous. And the rest is replacement-level fare.
If we want to put L.A.'s total talent base in context, let's look at the "True Talent" ratings of their rosters, similar to this article I wrote about the all-time best Dream Teams. In that piece, I used advanced statistical plus/minus (ASPM, the best box score metric for predicting future team results) to assess talent, and I'll do that again for seasons going back to 1978. However, for years before that, I have to use Basketball-Reference's win shares (WS), which predicts at a slightly lower level than ASPM but is probably the second most accurate box score metric for that purpose.
To get everything on the same scale, I turned each player's seasonal ASPM and WS scores into a Talent Index where the NBA average is 100 and every 15 points above/below average represents one standard deviation. Once again, I used a weighted three-year average of the Index, along with a bit of regression to the mean, to determine a player's true talent in any given season, and weighted those numbers by regular-season minutes played to determine the aggregate talent level of a team's roster for a given year.
As blinding as their star power is, as we established earlier, the 2012-13 Lakers are not a deep team. Thus, their aggregate talent base currently looks fairly unremarkable by the franchise's historical standards. This Lakers team ranks just 28th among Lakers teams since 1967 with a Talent Index of just 106.
So compare this season's group to those of the most impressive Lakers teams since 1967 (the first year in the sample, due to historical issues with split-season stats for players in older seasons) and you'll see why the 2012-13 quality is superficial.
<center><hr style="width: 50%;"> </center>1. 1986-87 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 114 | Record: 65-17
<!-- begin inline 2 -->The all-time best: 1986-87 Los Angeles Lakers
<table><thead><tr><th>Player</th><th>Age</th><th>Minutes</th><th>Talent</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr class="last"><td>Magic Johnson</td><td>27</td><td>2904</td><td>146</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>James Worthy</td><td>25</td><td>2819</td><td>117</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Byron Scott</td><td>25</td><td>2729</td><td>110</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Kareem Abdul-Jabbar</td><td>39</td><td>2441</td><td>117</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Michael Cooper</td><td>30</td><td>2253</td><td>104</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>A.C. Green</td><td>23</td><td>2240</td><td>110</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Kurt Rambis</td><td>28</td><td>1514</td><td>110</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Billy Thompson</td><td>23</td><td>762</td><td>91</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Mychal Thompson</td><td>32</td><td>680</td><td>90</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Wes Matthews</td><td>27</td><td>532</td><td>90</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Frank Brickowski</td><td>27</td><td>404</td><td>89</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Mike Smrek</td><td>24</td><td>233</td><td>79</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Adrian Branch</td><td>23</td><td>219</td><td>103</td></tr></tbody></table>
<!-- end inline 2 -->
Based on the players on their roster and the stages of their careers they were in, the '87 Lakers come out as Los Angeles' most gifted team since '67. Magic Johnson, James Worthy and Byron Scott were all at the peaks of their respective abilities, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was still quite productive at age 39 and the team received great contributions from role players Michael Cooper, A.C. Green and Kurt Rambis.
As if to prove their superiority, they put together one of the most dominant playoff runs in recent memory, going 15-3 in the postseason en route to a title.
2. 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 112 | Record: 69-13
The '72 Lakers breezed through the regular season with a then-record 69 wins, and for a good reason -- in addition to aging greats Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West still hanging on to their elite peak performances, Los Angeles was also the beneficiary of underrated performances by Gail Goodrich (in the best season of his career), Happy Hairston and Flynn Robinson. Also helping the cause: none of their players were out-and-out bad -- their worst Talent Index was Pat Riley's 90, which would rank better than six members of the 2013 team.
3. 1985-86 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 112 | Record: 62-20
4. 1999-2000 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 112 | Record: 67-15
<!-- begin inline 3 -->Phil Jackson's best: 1999-2000 Los Angeles Lakers
<table><thead><tr><th>Player</th><th>Age</th><th>Minutes</th><th>Talent</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr class="last"><td>Shaquille O'Neal</td><td>27</td><td>3163</td><td>150</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Glen Rice</td><td>32</td><td>2530</td><td>105</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Kobe Bryant</td><td>21</td><td>2524</td><td>125</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Ron Harper</td><td>36</td><td>2042</td><td>102</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>A.C. Green</td><td>36</td><td>1929</td><td>103</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Derek Fisher</td><td>25</td><td>1803</td><td>96</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Robert Horry</td><td>29</td><td>1685</td><td>117</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Rick Fox</td><td>30</td><td>1473</td><td>96</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Brian Shaw</td><td>33</td><td>1249</td><td>89</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Travis Knight</td><td>25</td><td>410</td><td>91</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Devean George</td><td>22</td><td>345</td><td>89</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>John Salley</td><td>35</td><td>303</td><td>92</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>John Celestand</td><td>22</td><td>185</td><td>85</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Tyronn Lue</td><td>22</td><td>146</td><td>94</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Sam Jacobson</td><td>24</td><td>18</td><td>88
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<!-- end inline 3 -->
This was the most talented Lakers team Phil Jackson ever coached, thanks to Shaquille O'Neal's greatest season ever and Bryant's emergence as a true star after three seasons of growing pains. The result was one of the franchise's best regular seasons to date, and although they didn't turn in the most dominant of playoff runs, they were at their best when the games counted the most, winning all five of their most important postseason games according to Championship Leverage.
5. 1984-85 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 111 | Record: 62-20
6. 1979-80 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 111 | Record: 60-22
In Johnson's rookie year, L.A. went from being a decent team to a great one, winning 13 more games than it had the previous season. They also won the NBA's biggest prize when Magic famously stood in for Abdul-Jabbar at center in Game 6 of the Finals at Philadelphia, recording 42 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals to power the Lakers to their first ring in eight years. At the top, this roster resembles the 2013 version in terms of talent, but the Lakers' supporting players were much better in 1980 than they project to be this year.
7. 2010-11 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 110 | Record: 57-25
Coming off two consecutive title runs, the 2011 Lakers underperformed relative to their immensely talented roster, winning just 57 regular-season games (the same as they'd done the previous year, with less talent) and flaming out early in the playoffs with a sweep at the hands of the eventual champion Dallas Mavericks.
This team was fueled by what are likely to be the last truly great seasons of Bryant and Gasol's careers, along with the last effective years anyone will probably get out of World Peace or Lamar Odom, but it wasn't enough for L.A. to three-peat.
8. 1990-91 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 110 | Record: 58-24
9. 2001-02 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 110 | Record: 58-24
10. 2008-09 Los Angeles Lakers
Talent Index: 110 | Record: 65-17
<!-- begin inline 4 -->Kobe Bryant's best: 2008-09 Los Angeles Lakers
<table><thead><tr><th>Player</th><th>Age</th><th>Minutes</th><th>Talent</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr class="last"><td>Pau Gasol</td><td>28</td><td>2999</td><td>120</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Kobe Bryant</td><td>30</td><td>2960</td><td>137</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Derek Fisher</td><td>34</td><td>2441</td><td>103</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Lamar Odom</td><td>29</td><td>2316</td><td>111</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Trevor Ariza</td><td>23</td><td>1999</td><td>114</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Andrew Bynum</td><td>21</td><td>1446</td><td>110</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Sasha Vujacic</td><td>24</td><td>1293</td><td>103</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Jordan Farmar</td><td>22</td><td>1192</td><td>91</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Luke Walton</td><td>28</td><td>1166</td><td>92</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Vladimir Radmanovic</td><td>28</td><td>771</td><td>91</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Josh Powell</td><td>26</td><td>703</td><td>78</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Didier Ilunga-Mbenga</td><td>28</td><td>181</td><td>98</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Shannon Brown</td><td>23</td><td>136</td><td>88</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Chris Mihm</td><td>29</td><td>105</td><td>85</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Adam Morrison</td><td>24</td><td>44</td><td>72</td></tr><tr class="last"><td>Sun Yue</td><td>23</td><td>28</td><td>93</td></tr></tbody></table>
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The 2008-09 team is the greatest Lakers team Bryant ever led to a championship (as its unquestioned Alpha Dog, at least). With 65 wins, the 2009 Lakers had a dominant regular season, but their best work was done in the playoffs, where they were practically unbeatable in big moments -- they put up a plus-11.9 margin of victory in what Championship Leverage considers their eight most crucial games. Their sheer depth of talent (seven players with an above-average Talent Index) puts L.A.'s 2013 roster, with merely four above-average players, to shame.
L.A.'s last attempt at a store-bought "four Hall of Famers" lineup, the 2003-04 Los Angeles Lakers, might just be the best guide we have to predicting how the 2013 Lakers will fare. That team saw Karl Malone miss half the season with injuries, and Gary Payton never really meshed with O'Neal, Bryant and the Triangle offense, but they still won 56 games and made their way to the NBA Finals. Of course, it bears repeating that L.A.'s supporting players were much better in '04 than they project to be in '13.
Again, this doesn't mean the 2012-13 Lakers aren't the favorites in the West, nor does it mean they can't win the championship (although they would be the Lakers squad with the lowest Talent Index to do so since the 1960s).
What it does mean, though, is that any comparisons with great L.A. teams of yore should probably be put to rest. While the 2012-13 version has four very good players (and little else), past Lakers teams were built on depth, in addition to stars.
