The 2012-13 Los Angeles Lakers squad is one of the biggest “what if” teams in recent memory. The Mike D’Antoni-coached team, after all, acquired superstars Dwight Howard and Steve Nash in the offseason and formed a pretty imposing Big 4 alongside Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.
But the star-studded line-up never lived up to its high expectations, as the undefeated “Father Time” and a series of career-defining injuries prevented the team from adding yet another championship banner in Los Angeles.
The now retired Bryant opened up about what the team could have accomplished that year if only the cards went in their favor.
“In all fairness, the second half of the season when I tore my Achilles, we had the best record in the league,” Bryant recalled in a column by the Los Angeles Times’ Arash Markazi .
“We had to make things more contentious than I wanted to, but the object is to win. Unfortunately, I tore my Achilles and that sidetracked everything, but that second half of the season there wasn’t a team in the Western Conference that wanted to play us when we were healthy. Maybe things would’ve been different with Dwight if we were healthy and had made a run. Who knows?”
Howard and Nash missed an alarming number of games throughout that season due to various injuries. This forced Bryant to play almost all 48 minutes each game, as the Lakers fought hard to secure the 8th and final playoff seed.
The heavy usage took a toll on Bryant when he ruptured his Achilles tendon against the Golden State Warriors on April 12, which prematurely ended his season. The five-time NBA champion was playing seven consecutive quarters and at least 40 minutes for seven consecutive games prior to the injury.
The Lakers went on to clinch the 7th seed after amassing a 45-37 record. Howard was able to return in the postseason but the team was eventually swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round.
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