Losing looks bad from Lakers’ $2,200 seats

The Lakers have owned the keys to the city since Magic Johnson’s smile became the trademark of an NBA championship in 1980, the first of eight titles the team won during an unfathomably productive 22-year run.

They have overcome locker room disputes -- between Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant in their most recent run of championships, 2000-2002 -- and been the league’s most successful franchise over the last three decades.

But success has turned into distress after the Lakers’ rapid exit from the playoffs Wednesday night when they lost to the Phoenix Suns in the first round. The Lakers have not won a playoff series since O’Neal was traded in 2004. This three-year drought without winning a playoff series has happened only two other times since the Lakers moved here from Minneapolis in 1960.

The Lakers still have a dazzling superstar in Bryant, the game’s most prolific scorer, but he turns 29 in August and his athleticism is likely to fade in a few years. Less than 30 minutes after the Lakers’ season-ending loss in Phoenix, Bryant was prodding the team’s management: “Do something, and do it now,” he said bluntly.

But the Lakers’ prospects for a sudden turnaround are hampered because they are already over the NBA’s strict salary cap for at least one more season, and probably two. If the team’s payroll rises much higher it will reach the dreaded NBA “luxury tax,” which imposes a dollar-for-dollar penalty.

This raises an uncomfortable question for a team that already charges an NBA-high $2,200 for courtside seats: Will the Lakers lose the city’s attention as its most popular team if they remain only a marginal playoff team, despite the brilliance of Bryant?

Lakers season-ticket holders renewed at a 97% rate before this season, a 5% increase from last season that halted a two-year slide in season-ticket sales.

Los Angeles fans are fickle, and too much losing, no matter what team, is never good for business.

“I think the Lakers certainly benefit from a bank account of equity or goodwill,” said Paul Swangard of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. “They’ve created an incredible connection to being synonymous with the sport culture of L.A. But winning gives you better returns.... At some point if you’re taking money out and not putting money back in, it becomes harder to keep those people loyal.”

The Lakers have one of the most successful coaches in NBA history, 61-year-old Phil Jackson, and an owner, Jerry Buss, who has proudly presided over eight of the team’s nine championships.

But they have little to provide hope for in the future, other than talented but oft-injured veteran Lamar Odom and erratic 19-year-old center Andrew Bynum.

In the past, the Lakers had a knack for plucking the right player at the right time. They acquired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in a six-player trade with Milwaukee in 1975. They selected Magic Johnson with the top pick in the 1979 amateur draft and, three years later, selected future Hall of Famer James Worthy. They acquired 17-year-old Bryant in a draft-day trade with Charlotte in 1996 and, a week later, signed O’Neal as a free agent.

The concept of free spending has gradually lessened as the NBA imposed tighter financial rules, making it more difficult for deep-pocketed franchises to snare superstars from other teams. (The “Bird rule,” named after Larry Bird, allows players to make more money by re-signing with their present teams and for one more year than other teams can offer, an attempt by the league to limit massive player transfers.)

There are a few allegedly discontented All-Stars around the league -- Kevin Garnett of Minnesota and Jermaine O’Neal of Indiana are among them -- but they are under contract for two and three more years, respectively, and could be acquired only via trade.

Therein lies the Lakers’ problem: Any potential trading partners this summer probably will want Bynum, whose potential as a 7-footer undoubtedly will be the subject of internal debate within Lakers management. Will they sell the future to make the present more acceptable for Bryant, who still has four years and $88.6 million on his contract?

Lakers officials hold to the company line that any trades that improve the team will be consummated, naturally. But the drum is beating, each stroke louder than the last.

“You have to feel for Kobe Bryant,” TNT analyst Charles Barkley said after the Lakers lost Wednesday. “He’s the best player we have in basketball today. He just doesn’t have enough help. [The other] guys are just too inconsistent and it’s not going to be easy to fix that team. People keep talking about Kevin Garnett, but if [Minnesota executive] Kevin McHale takes any of [the Lakers] for Garnett, he’s crazy.”

The Lakers are “going to have to find a way to add another piece to this team somehow,” said TV analyst Doug Collins, a former NBA player and coach. “If it means there’s a guy out there somewhere that’s overpaid and maybe someone’s trying to get rid of him or whatever, you might have to make that kind of move.

“But you know, now it’s a little different. It might not be as easy to get that piece.”

Collins, who coached Michael Jordan early in his career with the Chicago Bulls, couldn’t help but notice the opposite career paths of Bryant and Jordan.

Jordan was 28 when he won the first of six championships in an eight-year span. Bryant won his last title when he was 23.

“Kobe is going into the rest of his career where if he continues not to win, he’s going to be frustrated as hell. When you look at [his] and Michael’s careers, Michael had his least help when he was young. Kobe had his most help when he was young,” Collins said.

In addition, Bryant has logged nearly 25% more playing time than Jordan at the same age, the basketball equivalent of a Ferrari with high mileage. Bryant has played in so many playoff games they add up to an extra 1.6 regular seasons -- raising concerns over how long he can play at his peak.

“And so now, these minutes are starting to pile up for him,” Collins said.

Jackson has one year left on his three-year, $30-million contract, although the coach won’t ponder an extension until he sees what unfolds during the off-season.

There will also be the draft in June, with the Lakers holding the 19th pick, although, as Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak said recently, “We’re not all that excited about getting younger.”

What would keep their fans involved would be winning, of course, particularly for those who follow the Lakers only on a fair-weather basis. The Lakers, after all, have a record of 121-125 over the last three regular seasons.

“I don’t think the L.A. market fits the ‘lovable loser’ product offering,” Swangard said. “I don’t think you could take the [Chicago] Cubs and move them to L.A. and expect fans to say, ‘We’ve got Wrigley Field and they haven’t won in a million years, but we’ll go out there.’

“With certain teams in the L.A. market, it’s, ‘We should be winning or at least be successful most years.’ That’s what you’ve created for yourself as far as a brand equity.”

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com