With the San Antonio Spur's series sweep and 103-82 thumping of the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center, a merciless end has come to a troubling season for the purple and gold. Let's take a look at the season that was.

The 2012-2013 Lakers crew entered the season as one of the most hyped collective groupings of talent that has ever graced the NBA. Some might even say that they may have only been second to the current Miami Heat roster in terms of intimidating names. It was supposed to be a glorious season.

After all, future Hall of Famer Steve Nash was easily the third, and maybe even fourth, best player on the roster. With Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, Ron Artest, and Kobe Bryant making up the rest of the starting squad, the Lakers seemed destined for Western Conference superiority and a likely shot at the championship.

"There was a huge amount of bad luck this season for the NBA's luckiest franchise. That's what happened, no more and no less. The Lakers rolled the dice on a roster loaded with aging veterans and a younger star coming off of a major surgery with very little depth," writes Tom Ziller for SB Nation.

The Lakers certainly had their fair (or is it unfair?) share of bad luck this year. A surprise injury to Steve Nash that took him out of commission for two months, Howard's slow recovery from his back injury, multiple problems for Gasol, and of course, the injury that ended any legitimate title hope: Bryant's torn achilles tendon. 

"It's like a nightmare, it's like a bad dream and we couldn't wake up out of it," Howard said about the season. "That's what it felt like. It seemed like nothing could go right from the start, injuries and all that stuff, but we can get an opportunity to get some rest for guys who are injured, coming off injuries. A chance to rehab and think about what we can all do to better ourselves."

As bad as it was for the players, the coaching situation did not fare much better. Head coach Mike Brown was fired after a mere 5 games, and soon it was Mike D'Antoni who would take the reigns. Though he is an established coach, D'Antoni faced criticism all year long and there was consistent fan support for Laker great Phil Jackson to return.

"I'm proud of them, because they fought," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said. "It was kind of a year that was all upside-down, but I appreciate the effort to get us into the playoffs. We just didn't have it."

Didn't have it is quite the understatement. In reality, the Laker's had it, made a bunch of trades to put together an aging, injury prone roster, subsequently suffered a lot of injuries, and proceeded to completely bungle the coaching situation by not trying to hire perhaps the greatest coach of all time. 

Did the 2012-2013 Los Angeles Lakers squad get unlucky? Absolutely. Did they bring it upon themselves? No doubt. A series sweep in the first round seems like a fitting end to a season with so much unrealized potential. Better luck next year.