2008-09: The Season In Pictures

A MUST-SEE BROADWAY HIT
Kobe Bryant, who averaged 26.8 points a game, set a single-game scoring record for the current Madison Square Garden on Feb. 2, when he dropped 61 on the Knicks. Said Lamar Odom, "He was just in another world."

THE FORCE OFF THE BENCH
Luke Walton was a spark plug as a reserve. He overcame toe and ankle injuries to average 5.0 points and 2.8 rebounds an outing and even started 34 games, 14 of which came after Vladimir Radmanovic was traded.

THE EYES HAVE IT
The oldest—and shortest—member of the Lakers, 34-year-old Derek Fisher played all 82 games for the fourth straight season. The 6' 1" point guard averaged just 0.88 turnovers a game, the lowest of his career.

FIREPOWER IN RESERVE
Lamar Odom spent the first half of the season coming off the bench, but he excelled in the secondary role, scoring 11.3 points and grabbing 8.2 rebounds per game. He returned to the starting lineup regularly in February.

LONG-RANGE BOMBER
Guard Sasha Vujacic made 81 three-pointers and had a career-high 77 steals. "He's just out there whacking away, working really hard," Phil Jackson said of Vujacic, "but a lot of times he's playing by the seat of his pants."

THE MAN OF STEAL
A member of the Bench Mob for most of the season, Trevor Ariza cracked the starting lineup on March 11, then had a career-high 26 points two games later. The fifth-year forward led L.A. in steals with 1.67 a game.

ARTISTRY IN THE PAINT
Pau Gasol led L.A. in rebounding and minutes, playing more after Andrew Bynum went down. "Yeah, I'm playing a lot of minutes," he said in February. "It's hard. It's demanding. But I'm not going to complain."

CENTER OF ATTENTION
Though he missed 32 games with an MCL injury, 21-year-old Andrew Bynum began evolving as L.A.'s big man of the future. "No matter who we're playing against, he can be our advantage or our x factor," said Derek Fisher.

THE OTHER AIR JORDAN
He's no MJ, but L.A. native Jordan Farmar continued to contribute as the backup point guard, averaging 6.4 points in 18.3 minutes, despite sitting out 17 games with a meniscus tear in his left knee.