<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">EL SEGUNDO -- The story of the Lakers' 2004-05 season will read as a cautionary tale about what happens to a franchise with the hubris to trade one of the game's dominant players when such a decision still amounts to a roll of the dice. It will end with the Lakers written into history alongside the first Michael Jordan-less Chicago Bulls team as the only two in the past 29 years to go from playing in the NBA Finals one season to missing the playoffs the next. Everything that could go wrong has since Shaquille O'Neal was traded to Miami and Kobe Bryant was re-signed to a seven-year, $136 million contract days apart last July. Now the Lakers are headed to the draft lottery for the first time in 11 years. They have yet to be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs but also harbor little hope of playing past April 20. Asked before Tuesday's game about auditioning younger players, interim coach Frank Hamblen said, "The time is drawing nigh." Devean George, one of only two holdovers from the three championship teams, said: "It's difficult, because we've always had ups and downs during our seasons but for the most part we always found a way to pull it out, found a way to come out on top." Yet a footnote must be added to this star-crossed season. Bryant refused to show a crack through it all -- including his coach's stunning resignation, the ankle injury that cost Bryant 14 games or his own teammate calling him the general manager. That is where any review of what the Lakers did this season must start, with Bryant sitting in front of his locker night after night, admitting frustration but trying to stay positive as the losses piled up.</div> Source
