Before the defending champion Lakers can think three-peat, they'll have to get out of the Western Conference for a fourth year in a row. Piece of cake? Not so fast. They don't call it the wild West for nothing.

But with Kobe still at the top of his game, Phil Jackson back on the sidelines, and L.A.'s core still intact (not to mention the additions of Matt Barnes and Steve Blake), you have to like their chances of representing the West in the NBA Finals once again. Our 93 NBA panelists sure do; in our survey, 95 percent of our experts voted them in as 2010-11 West champs.

Check out the results below from ESPN

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/s...t10-WestChamps