Their star has ripped them, the trade winds have blown over them, the bulk of the Western Conference is muscling past them.
At this baking point of the basketball summer, the Lakers' complicated and extensive needs have shriveled down to something simple.
They need to be able to look in the mirror.
They need something to remind them -- and us -- of who they really are.
The Lakers need to acquire, well, a Laker.
The Lakers need to sign Derek Fisher.
It shouldn't take them longer than four-tenths of a second to figure out why.
When he ran off the court after making that game-winning shot in San Antonio in the spring of 2004, the Lakers' heart disappeared with him.
When he understandably took big money to leave for Golden State, a big part of the Lakers' soul went bankrupt.
On that same day three years ago when Kobe Bryant announced he was re-signing with the Lakers, Fisher announced he was leaving, and guess who has participated in more playoff victories since?
Fast-forward to Thursday, when Bryant offered an apology for ripping Andrew Bynum but again refused to flatly state that he wants to stay here.
It was a day the Lakers needed someone like Fisher more than ever.
Pushing his 33rd birthday, Fisher is indeed not the point guard that he was when he played here.
Statistically, he's better.
Savvy, he has more.
In an emotional news conference this week, Fisher became a free agent when he walked away from a guaranteed $21-million contract from the Utah Jazz because he said he wants to live in a city with medical facilities best-suited to treating his infant daughter Tatum's eye cancer.
"Life for me outweighs the game of basketball," he told reporters.
Once again, Fisher's strength isn't shooting or passing, but perspective.
He joined the Lakers at the same time as Kobe Bryant in 1996, both kid rookies, both in their first trips to Hollywood, but two vastly different personalities.
While Bryant soared, Fisher was stuck with his feet on the ground.
While Bryant became a pace-setter, Fisher was stuck being a peacemaker.
But while Bryant was sexy, Fisher became solid, and guess who ended up standing taller?
When Bryant crashed, Fisher was there to pick him up.
When Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal fought, Fisher was there to leap between them.
When the Lakers' dream-team locker room seemed on the verge of implosion, Fisher's quiet tones became the voice of reason.
