The Lakers closed the regular season 12-5 with Russell in the lineup after they acquired him at the trade deadline, and they proceeded to reach the Western Conference finals as a No. 7 seed with him at the helm.

No one in Phoenix should be happy with this development. The Suns were standing in the shadow of the NBA’s championship trophy with Paul running the show the last three seasons, and the thought of pairing his offensive genius with Frank Vogel’s defensive mindset should have had everyone in town thinking the Suns would be right there again next year.

Kobe Bryant is universally regarded as one of the 10 greatest players in NBA history, and some even have him in their list of the top five players in basketball history. With five world championships,