Five Things the Lakers Must Do to Make a Playoff Run This Season

November 16, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers trainer Gary Vitti treats guard Kobe Bryant (24) for an injury suffered against the Golden State Warriors during the first half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

1. Stay Healthy

While it is popular to blame the players, coaches, and front office for the team’s failures in recent seasons, the biggest reason the Lakers have played so poorly is the unbelievable amount of injuries the team has endured during that stretch.

Three seasons ago, the Lakers starting line-up was Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard, and Metta World Peace. The team looked capable of winning a championship on paper, but all five starters were injured at some point during the season.

Major injuries were suffered by key reserves like Steve Blake and Jordan Hill as well. At season’s end, the team was so crippled that their starting backcourt for the last two games of the 2013 playoffs consisted of Darius Morris and Andrew Goudelock.

The next season the Lakers assembled a young and potentially exciting roster. Players such as Xavier Henry, Jodie Meeks, Jordan Farmar, Kent Bazemore, Kendall Marshall, and Nick Young thrived in Mike D’Antoni‘s offensive system.

Gasol was still there, as were key reserves like Blake, Hill, and Chris Kaman. The Lakers shocked the Clippers in the first game of the season and had a winning record (10-10) after 20 games.

Oct 28, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Julius Randle (30) is tended to after an injury during the second half against the Houston Rockets at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

That’s when the injuries set in and the squad was decimated. There were more than a few instances throughout the season when the team only had eight available players.

In one particular game, the Lakers didn’t have enough players to finish and would’ve forfeited if it wasn’t for an archaic rule that allowed them to keep going with a player that had fouled out.

Last season, the front office assembled a poor roster. The Lakers played hard for most of the season, but with such a limited talent pool the team couldn’t overcome the constant string of injuries including the premature loss of Bryant for the third year in a row.

Heralded rookie Julius Randle didn’t even make it through the first game before breaking his right leg. Henry’s career may have ended with one last devastating Achilles injury. Young was injured off and on throughout the season and never regained his form the year before.

The list of injured players goes on and on, and the result was the worst record in franchise history.

The number one goal for the Lakers this season has to be, stay healthy. If any NBA team is to compete for the playoffs, let alone a championship, it must avoid losing its key players.

If Stephen Curry got injured and missed the upcoming season, the Warriors would struggle to make the playoffs and certainly wouldn’t repeat as champions.

The Thunder won’t compete at an elite level unless Durant remains healthy and regains his prior form. The same could be said for Houston without James Harden and the Clippers without Chris Paul.

Laker doctors better figure out why the team has suffered so many injuries the past three years and do something about it.

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