It seems a long time ago when the Los Angeles Lakers were being led by Kobe Bryant to a third straight NBA Finals, winning the second consecutive championship in an epic Game 7 against the Boston Celtics. In fact, a while has passed but the struggles of recent years make those times seem far more distant.
In those days the Lakers were cruising through the NBA, pairing 2008 MVP Kobe Bryant with a deadly rotation of three big men; All-Star Pau Gasol, the young and rising Andrew Bynum, and eventual Sixth Man of the Year Lamar Odom.