Ever since the days of George Mikan back in the 1950s and 1960s, the Los Angeles Lakers have been one of the paragons of consistent success in the NBA. The team has been able to seamlessly transition between periods of dominance going back to the Showtime Lakers of the 1980s, the Shaq-Kobe Lakers of the 2000s, to the Kobe-Gasol teams from 2008-2012.
That all changed in the tail end of the 2012-2013 season when Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant –one of the primary factors in the Laker’s success — went down with a torn Achilles and as a result, altered the trajectory of the Lakers franchise for years to come.