The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most successful professional sports franchises in the United States. 16-time NBA Champions, which is second most all-time (the Boston Celtics are first with 17). An NBA-leading 31 Conference championships, leading every other team in appearances in the NBA Finals by double digits (next closest is Boston, with 21 appearances).

The Lakers are one of the world’s most popular franchises, and have been for decades. Without a football team in Los Angeles, the Lakers are Hollywood’s team, where every major figure in LA is seen at their games at some point during the season. The Lakers have massive followings throughout both the country and the world, with the biggest population of Laker fans most likely located in China.

The Lakers have always been an extremely talented basketball team. They have had legendary players, like Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy and, perhaps one of the 2 most famous Lakers ever, Magic Johnson.

The Lakers have been the epitome of success. In their history between Minneapolis and Los Angeles, the Lakers have only finished under a .500 winning percentage 12 times in their 67 years. Even more spectacularly, the Lakers have missed the playoffs just five times in their franchise history. They also are the NBA record holder for most wins (3,180) and best winning percentage (.618) as a franchise (as of Dec. 13, 2013).

Currently, the Lakers are led by one of basketball’s greatest competitors ever, Kobe Bryant. Kobe has already won five titles with the Lakers, and is hungry for his sixth. Kobe is the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, which is no small feat considering who has played for the purple and gold. Kobe is the longest-tenured Laker ever, currently in his 18th season with the team.

Kobe is known as a confident (and borderline-cocky) player who believes he is the best the game has ever had. While basketball fans everywhere say he is one of the best ever, there is a group who agree with Kobe. Laker fans, undying Kobe supporters, believe that Kobe can single-handedly lead them to a championship. Kobe, himself, has expressed a desire to do one last thing in the NBA: get his sixth championship ring,

This has become increasing problematic for the Laker organization. Last season, knowing Kobe was getting older, the Lakers decided to make multiple moves to try and win right away. They traded away multiple draft picks to acquire point guard Steve Nash from the Phoenix Suns, and later acquired center Dwight Howard in a four-team trade with the Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets. The Lakers, on paper, were the favorites to win the West and contend for their 17th title.

However, on the court, the team never gelled together. Head coach Mike Brown was fired five games into the season, as his offensive style was not working and the defense was suffering because of it. When new head coach Mike D’Antoni took over, his fast-paced offense put Bryant, Howard and power forward Pau Gasol into roles they had rarely played before, and the team’s defense became worse than it was with Brown.

Then, D’Antoni decided to rely on Kobe to lead the team on the playoff push, as Bryant was the fiercest competitor in the game. Kobe responded by playing entire games, and was averaging over 45 minutes a game during the last weeks of the year. Going into the Apr. 12 game against the Golden State Warriors, Bryant had played over 40 minutes in seven consecutive games and, entering the fourth quarter of the game, had played every minute in seven consecutive quarters.

Late in the fourth, Kobe slipped and fell on the court, and proceeded to slowly hobble back to the bench. A foul had been called on the play, and Kobe went to the free throw line in noticeable pain. He made both free throws, then immediately was subbed out and went to the locker room. After the Lakers won the game, Kobe told the media he had completely tore his Achilles tendon and would be out for the remainder of the season.

The Lakers squeaked into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed, but the Spurs swept them in four games and ended their tumultuous season. But, from here, the season would look good compared to the offseason.

In the offseason, Dwight Howard decided to leave more than $20 million and the Lakers for the Houston Rockets, which was unfathomable to many Laker fans. How could someone ever leave the Lakers for another team? This isn’t any other team; this is the Los Angeles Lakers. Who would ever leave the Lakers for a smaller market?

However, the main problem Howard had was Kobe and his status in the Lakers world. Kobe is the King of Los Angeles, and, subsequently, is considered a god to the fans of the Lakers. For Howard, he knew that he would be living in Kobe’s shadow, and if he ever did something that was counter-productive to Kobe, the franchise and its fans would blame Dwight, even if he were right.

The Lakers furthered that problem during the beginning of the season. They signed Kobe to a two-year extension, worth $48.5 million over the two years. This will make Kobe a Laker into his 20th season, which will make him the first player in NBA history to play with a single team for 20 years.

Laker fans made one thing clear on social media: this is a discount. He could have made around $32 million in Year 19 and around $34 million in Year 20. Instead, he will make around $23.5 million in Year 19 and around $25 million in Year 20. But, make no mistake: this discount is not enough for the Lakers.

The Lakers have only Nash’s contract on the books for next season, and, without Bryant’s deal, would have had enough money to sign two maximum-level free agents from other teams, creating scenarios that could include players like Carmelo Anthony, Greg Monroe, Zach Randolph and, in a perfect world for the Lakers, LeBron James. And, even if they signed two maximum-level free agents, the Lakers would have had space to sign players to lower level contracts that would fill their roster with competitive players.

Even if Kobe decided to resign with the Lakers, had he taken a bigger discount in the range of $10 million per year, the team could have had financial flexibility to sign one maximum-level contract and multiple other mid-level contracts of talented players.

However, with Kobe’s contract, the Lakers have just enough space to sign one maximum-level contract, but that’s it. They will have to sign the rest of their team with minimum-level contracts, which does not give them enough flexibility.

Also, the Lakers have Pau Gasol coming off the books, making over $19 million this year. If the Lakers want Gasol back, will he take a discount to help the team? How significant of a discount will it be? Even if Gasol wanted to come back, he knows he could get a significantly higher amount from another team than staying with the Lakers.

The one other portion that is significant? After superstars like Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard could not get along with Kobe, why would any other superstar want to? Kobe, as previously stated, is the king in Los Angeles, and anyone coming in would have to play second-fiddle to Kobe. Why would Carmelo Anthony or LeBron James leave the spotlight of superstardom to play Kobe’s second-fiddle?

Now, the biggest reason the Lakers agreed to pay Kobe $48.5 million is simple: Kobe is worth a lot more than just that. With a new television deal coming in the near future, the Lakers needed to keep their seasoned superstar to be able to sell high. And, with the amount of marketing the Lakers are able to do with Kobe, his value to the Lakers is worth (in my estimation) over $100 million. They’re getting Kobe for considerably less than they will make off of him.

However, one factor that remains to be seen: Kobe is returning from a major injury, and many doubt he will be close to his ‘old self’ as a basketball player. In his first game back, with expectations as high as ever, Kobe only scored nine points. In the three games the Lakers have played with Kobe, they are 0-3. By focusing on an aging, recovering player, the Lakers may be hurting their chances at being competitive.

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/409873771802411008

To conclude, the Lakers are a proud franchise. They have an extremely rich history of success and popularity. They have an extremely rabid fan base, which believes that its team will contend for a title every year. They have the capability to spend as much as necessary, even going into the luxury tax, as they make more money than they could ever conceivably spend on players.

But, the Lakers, as they are right now, are a franchise in turmoil. And, as shocking as it may be to the ever-optimistic Laker fans, they may be heading for long-term mediocrity.

Why?

-They are run by the children of legendary owner Dr. Jerry Buss, who have internal battles over petty things that affect how they run the team. However, it is unclear whether the Buss children want to be focused solely on winning championships or being profit-oriented.

-They currently have a single player, Kobe Bryant, who might be bigger than the Laker franchise itself. Bryant has become synonymous with the Lakers, and has gotten to a point of popularity where the Lakers had no choice but to keep him. If they didn’t, they risked isolating a significant portion of their fan base.

-Bryant’s ego and salary are hurting the teams long-term chances at being successful, making it seem increasingly difficult to convince other talented players to come play alongside Bryant.

-Lastly, the Lakers do not have many opportunities to improve in the NBA Draft, as they traded both of their 2013 draft picks, their second round pick in 2014 and their first round pick in 2015 to acquire Steve Nash. Nash played in 50 of the 82 games in 2012-13, and (as of Dec. 13, 2013) has played in six of the 22 games in 2013-14. He continues to be plagued by injuries, and may not return to the Lakers until after the 2014 All-Star Game.

A team without much talent, with a star player returning from a major injury and battling Father Time. A general manager without much salary flexibility or draft picks, who has to try to sign free agents that know they’re going to be second-fiddle to the star player. An ownership group that has not set their identity and may have more internal issues at the top than they appear. A fan base that does not know anything other than success, yet are in denial that mediocrity seems like a foregone conclusion. And, finally, a star player who, in essence, has control over every facet of the franchise, from how its run by the ownership, how it acquires players, how the fan base sees the team, and how the team plays on the court.

If I told you this was a professional sports franchise without saying which franchise it was, it would be inconceivable to consider this franchise mediocre.

This franchise would be called chaos.

But, because it is the Los Angeles Lakers, many people believe they will figure this out and right the ship soon.

Consider this a warning: the Los Angeles Lakers as we know them to be (always a playoff team, always with a chance to win the NBA title) are gone. The only question going forward is: will they ever get back to that form? Personally, I think it will be a very long time before that happens.