Lakers head for hat-trick

LA Lakers pair Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal

BBC Sport Online's Kevin Asseo previews the new NBA season and predicts a third consecutive championship for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Throughout the NBA pre-season, all the attention has focused on one player.

Michael Jordan's return to basketball has been a cause of excitement among basketball fans around the world.

However, come April, when it is time for the NBA's post-season, expect all the attention to on focused on one team rather than one player.

The Los Angeles Lakers, winners of the last two consecutive NBA championships, will have their sights set on a "three-peat".

The Lakers cruised to a victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Finals last season while compiling a best-ever 15-1 post-season record.

O'Neal and Bryant alone provide the Lakers with the talent they need

And this season, there is no reason to believe the Lakers' string of championships will be broken.

With all apologies to Jordan, Los Angeles is home to probably the two best players in the league - Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.

Bryant is a player in the mould of Jordan - remarkably athletic and virtually impossible to guard, with brilliant defensive skills as well.

O'Neal, the Lakers' 340-pound, 7'1" centre, is primed for another year of dominating opponents with his unrivalled play in the middle.

Even with questionable depth and several injury problems, O'Neal and Bryant alone provide the Lakers with the talent they need to win their third title in a row.

Elsewhere in the NBA's Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs may pose the biggest threat to the Lakers' hopes of a three-peat.

The Spurs have a special pair of players of their own, big men Tim Duncan and David Robinson, who led them to the best regular season record in the league last year.

But as evidenced by their crushing defeat to the Lakers in the play-offs, the Spurs lack the talented back-court players needed to seriously compete for a title.

Allen Iverson - last year's most vauable player

Philadelphia were Eastern Conference champions last season, but Allen Iverson, last year's Most Valuable Player, will have to shoulder even more of his team's load than he did last year.

Starting point guard Eric Snow will be out of the line-up for several months, leaving Iverson as the only proven player in the 76ers' back court.

The Milwaukee Bucks came within one game of the NBA Finals last season and recently added physical power forward Anthony Mason to their already potent roster.

Mason, together with scoring machines Glenn Robinson and Ray Allen, will make the Bucks one of the East's top teams.

The Orlando Magic should be the most improved team in the league this year, with rising young star Tracy McGrady and old hand Grant Hill leading the way.

And with newly acquired Patrick Ewing at centre, Orlando could be the team to win the Eastern Conference title and meet the Lakers in the NBA Finals.

Whichever side emerges from the crowded East, they figure to be little more than a footnote in the Lakers' drive to another championship.