Be careful what you wish for

Just imagine that you're sitting in class and the bell rings dismissing you for the day. You go to basketball practice, complete your requisite number of sprints, drills and shots and then your coach says, "See you on Monday."

You run outside where you dad is waiting, and you're off to the Staples Center where the two of you make it to your seats just in time for the player introductions.

The announcer emphatically calls the names of players you've heard a hundred times. Immediately following Kobe Bryant, the announcer screams, "At starting point guard, from St. Vincent's-St. Mary's, No. 23, Lebron James."

We find ourselves just days after the All-Star game and the defending three-time NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers have a meager 24-23 record. The champs' blood is in the water and the sharks of the league are circling. The other teams smell the demise of the team that has tortured this league for the better part of three regular and post seasons.

Before their current run of five straight victories, four on the road, coaches, players and GM's alike had the Lakers dead in the water.

People in the league speak of the Lakers' sudden futility with the appearance of surprise, but an underlying delight as they rejoice in the fact that if LA misses the playoffs, then the championship is up for grabs.

But, many have missed the ultimate point -- a Lakers' lottery team could spell doom for the teams of the NBA for years to come. Not making the playoffs this season could awaken a sleeping giant.

It is well known what the Lakers can do when hungry, but this team has seemed far from that since its initial 1999 title run in this still fledgling dynasty. They have been virtually playing in a doze in every regular season since, slighting the 82-game schedules as a burdening tune-up for the eventual prize, a playoff run at the championship.

Not making the post-season could cause enough embarrassment to this cast of superstars and super-friends to release the beast from its slumber.

Is the league ready to see this team run off another stretch of three- or four-ring trips in a row?

Beyond running the risk of revitalizing an already outstanding team, a trip to the lottery ceremony would give the Lakers a chance at what they need most, youth and athleticism.

If the basketball gods choose to truly be unfair, the Lakers could walk away with the top pick in Lebron James, providing Phil Jackson with another of the big guards he so covets.

Imagine the power forward spot being filled by the talented Syracuse frosh Carmelo Anthony, or finding the Shaquille O'Neal center-apparent in the Beaumont, TX high school phenom Kendrick Perkins, who is already 6'11", 275 pound.

Not to mention the number of fundamentally sound players from foreign lands in the upcoming draft, i.e. Darko Milicic.

The Lakers' opponents may not have given the true possibilities enough thought. Maybe the teams in the league should see if they could get their pennies back from the wishing well.