Despite their checkered history with each other, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal still go down as one of the greatest duos in the history of the NBA.
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Shaq knows how Kobe’s mindset works and has acknowledged how great he is. It is because of this, that he will not count out the Lakers this season as he revealed on ESPN Radio, via our own Serena Winters:
Shaq says Lakers are "going to have some talent issues…but you can never count the lakers out with a healthy Kobe" (on @ESPNLA710)
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) August 14, 2014
Prognosticators have not been kind to the Lakers this off-season. ESPN predicted that the Lakers would finish 12th in the Western Conference with 30 wins. Meanwhile, Charles Barkley was adamant that the Lakers wouldn’t make the playoffs next season.
The Lakers have a lot of questions coming into this season. Kobe must prove that he can still play at a high level despite entering his 19th season and coming off two major injuries.
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The team has brought in some decent pieces in Jeremy Lin, Carlos Boozer, and first-round draft pick Julius Randle, as well as new coach Byron Scott, but everything will have to gel extremely well for the Lakers to make a playoff run.
Playing in the Western Conference doesn’t help matters as the Dallas Mavericks barely made the eighth seed last year with 49 wins. But if anyone can lead this team to the playoffs, it is Kobe.
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