Yet, the West being powerful is nothing new, which is why the defending champion Spurs don't think they have to react to the moves made around them.

"It's going to be tough and people are going to have to be playing well at the right time," All-Star forward Tim Duncan said. "It doesn't matter what moves you make, if they're not playing well for you, if you're not jelling, if you don't find the right rhythm or the right people to put on the court at the same time, it's not going to work for you."

The Gasol deal has worked so far for the Lakers, who won the final four games of their road trip leading into the break despite a torn ligament in Bryant's right pinkie finger. If center Andrew Bynum's knee injury heals and he returns at full strength, Los Angeles could be the favorite to reach the NBA finals.

Or, they could be gone in the first round for the third consecutive year. To reach the finals, the Lakers would likely have to survive a field that looks every bit as tough as the one they navigated in 2001, when they swept Portland, Sacramento and San Antonio — all 50-game winners — in the West playoffs to give Bryant his second of three straight championship rings.

He thinks things could be just as difficult this time around.

"Even the bottom tier teams, if you can call them bottom tier teams, the eighth seed, ninth seed, they're tough," said Bryant — who ignored the recommendation of surgery on his finger because he knows the Lakers need him on the floor.

"When we made our run, we obviously had Portland to deal with, we had San Antonio to deal with, Sacramento was just starting to come into its own, and then a couple of years later they were the team to beat. But there were a handful of teams there that were really tough. Now, you have nine, 10 teams that could really do some damage in the playoffs."

Things seem more settled in the East, where Boston and Detroit, which has won 10 in a row, have been head and shoulders above the rest of the field. But as James proved last year in the playoffs and reminded everyone during the All-Star game, he can still take over when it counts, so don't write off the defending conference champs.

"We know we're still not going to get the respect we should get. That's never been a problem for us," James said. "We don't care. We just go out and play. We're always going to be the third or fourth or fifth best team in the Eastern Conference.

"We still go out there and win ballgames and we know when the postseason happens, you've got to come get it from us, because we're very good."