With a roster full of players on one-year deals, the Los Angeles Lakers surprised most as they started the season 10-9 without their superstar guard Kobe Bryant. Unfortunately, injuries completely derailed a team that had playoff expectations as they finished with the sixth worst record in the NBA.
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For most of the season, the Lakers’ bench has had more coaches than players. With numerous players in and out of the lineup and Kobe Bryant only appearing in six games, Los Angeles missed a total of 319 games due to injuries according to Lakers.com reporter Mike Trudell:
The final games-missed-to-injury number for the 2013-14 @Lakers: 319. That’s among the highest totals since tracked in the 1980’s.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) April 16, 2014
While it’s one of the highest totals for the franchise since this statistic was tracked in the 1980’s, the 2002-03 Toronto Raptors actually missed a combined 519 games:
Toronto with an absurd 519 in 2002-03. RT @GiftedAndLifted: @LakersReporter what’s the highest and which team and year?
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) April 16, 2014
With the Lakers getting off to a surprisingly good start, there were expectations that the return of Bryant would push them into playoff contention. However, injuries began to destroy the team especially in the backcourt as the Lakers were forced to start six different players at point guard.
With this nightmare season coming to an end, there should be optimism as Los Angeles has a high draft pick in this year’s highly anticipated draft and ample cap room. It will be interesting to see which direction the Lakers take this season or if they decide to wait for the 2015 off-season.
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