ROAD TO FOUR-PEAT FILLED WITH HAZARDS.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

Never mind the Sacramento Kings or any team that might come out of the Eastern Conference. If history holds true, the Lakers' biggest challenge in their quest for a fourth consecutive NBA championship simply will be to keep Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal on the roster.

Aside from the Boston Celtics of the late 1950s and '60s - who won eight consecutive titles - three teams have tried for four in a row and none even returned to the NBA Finals.

``There's a lot of things that can go wrong when you're going for a championship,'' Lakers forward Robert Horry said.

It's highly doubtful, however, that the Lakers will be felled by the same misfortune that struck the 1954-55 Minneapolis Lakers and the Chicago Bulls of 1993-94 and 1998-99.

The Bulls' three-peat runs were both ended by the short-lived retirements of Michael Jordan. The 1993-94 Bulls advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals but lost to the New York Knicks in seven games, while the 98-99 Bulls, dismantled after coach Phil Jackson also left, went 13-37 and missed the playoffs by a wide margin.

Lesser known is the plight of the Minneapolis Lakers, who won three consecutive titles starting in 1951-52 behind the play of Hall of Fame center George Mikan, perhaps the biggest star of his era. Mikan was in the top five in scoring during the Lakers' three title runs.

But Mikan retired after winning the championship in 1953-54, and even though Vern Mikkelsen and Clyde Lovellette each scored 18.7 points per game the regular season, the Lakers lost to the Fort Wayne Pistons in four games in the Western Division Finals.

So assuming Bryant and O'Neal don't decide to take their money and three rings and retire in the middle of the season, the Lakers will have a good chance to win their fourth championship and erase any doubts that these Lakers deserve to be in the forefront of any discussions about NBA dynasties.

``Personally, I don't really even think about stuff like that,'' Lakers reserve guard Brian Shaw said. ``That's one of those types of things that when guys are playing, they don't really take the time to reflect on that stuff. When you're done playing, that's the time to look back and reflect on what you've done.''

Even that legendary string of Celtics teams was nearly tripped up going for their fourth championship. The Celtics and the Lakers met for the 1961-92 title, and Los Angeles pushed Boston to the brink of defeat in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

In the final seconds, two-time Lakers All-Star Frank Selvy had an eight- foot shot bounce off the rim and the game went to overtime, in which the Celtics went on to win 110-107.

Those Celtics remain the only NBA team to win four consecutive titles, but back then the NBA was financially unstable and included only eight to 12 teams in its early years. If Jordan had stuck around in the mid-'90s, the Bulls would have been a decent bet to win eight titles in a row.

Those Bulls teams also have a tie to these Lakers in Jackson. The Lakers' championship last season gave Jackson his ninth ring as a coach and tied him with Red Auerbach, who coached all of those championship teams in Boston.

``Not only that, but winning four in a row is something Phil has never done either,'' said Shaw, who reached the NBA Finals with O'Neal and the Orlando Magic in 1994-95, one of the seasons Jordan was retired. ``I think the challenge is there for everybody this season, the challenge of getting something special done.''

It won't be easy. With the Sacramento Kings primed to finally topple the Lakers and O'Neal missing the first part of the regular season while recovering from surgery, the Lakers know the road to No. 4 will be filled with potential pitfalls.

But they seem prepared to face them.

``We've obviously liked the way we've felt at the end of the last three seasons, and we want to feel that way again,'' Shaw said. ``We've pretty much stood pat with the team and haven't made many changes, but that doesn't mean it will be easy.

``There are always challenges. You have to be fortunate when it comes to things like injuries, because you just never know. It's tough to keep things going for this long, to keep the same group together and be successful, but we've managed to do it.''

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