that no matter how great a player you are, you need two really dominant players to win the Championship in the NBA. Jordan had Pippen, Johnson had Kareem, Bird had McHale and Parish, and as has been mentioned, Shaq had Kobe.
And I don't think any less of any of those great players just because they had a sidekick.
If the Lakers get another really dominant player- like a Tim Duncan (just throwing a name out there, I know that they're not going to be able to get him), they might win it next year.</p>