67RIEFNS No. 64: Lakers’ train wreck

The NBA is full of talent, personality and suspense. During the offseason, It’s easy to forget how wonderful the league can be. So, I’ve assembled 67 Reasons I’m Excited For Next Season (67RIEFNS). They’ll be presented in no particular order.

The Lakers went 27-55 last season, their worst record since moving to Los Angeles.

This season could go even worse.

The Lakers return a motivated Kobe Bryant, but at his age and with his injury history, I wouldn’t count on him for too much. They sure are, though.

Kobe didn’t bite his tongue while the Lakers were losing last season with him sidelined. I can’t imagine him reacting better while more directly suffering the frustrations of losing.

And the Lakers are going to lose – a lot.

Their coach has a backward stance on 3-point shooting, and while he preaches defense, Byron Scott’s teams haven’t defended all that well lately. After Kobe, Carlos Boozer, Jeremy Lin and Nick Young are slated to fill major roles. These are not marks of a winning team.

The Lakers will probably miss the playoffs for consecutive seasons for the first time since 1975 and 1976. I can’t imagine that will go over too well in Los Angeles.

But there’s one big potential bright spot: If the Lakers get a top-five draft pick, they can keep it. Otherwise it goes to the Suns, and an ugly situation gets even worse. The Lakers will be bad, but they’re definitely not locks to keep the pick.

Speaking for non-Lakers fans everywhere, this season should be glorious.

For Lakers fan, keep rooting for Kobe and Co. to prove everyone wrong. You’ll be vindicated – or make the schadenfreude even sweeter.