Since before the season started, the Los Angeles Lakers were the center piece of offseason trade talk. Actually let’s be real about this. The Lakers are always the center piece of blockbuster trade speculation. What’s so different this season, besides the obvious lockout that shortened the season, is the Lakers were ousted early on in the playoffs. We all know Phil Jackson retired from coaching shortly after; and Mike Brown was hired that same month. Obviously with the aforementioned lockout, there wasn’t much talking going on until it ended after Thanksgiving. That’s when it all broke loose in the NBA and the Lakers were right there smack dab in the middle of it. Of course the Lakers were in the middle of trade talk. Dallas punked them in the Western Conference Semifinals. Fans and critics alike can give excuses all day long about the Lakers being tired and what not, but the truth of the matter was they were simply outplayed. In the series before Dallas they played against the Horn...
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