"Yeah,'' Bryant said, "but they're stronger. At least they were last year physically. So that's something we've made a conscious effort to improve on. Everybody here looks bigger, everybody got in the weight room this summer and got stronger. Because those boys were just stronger than we were, and they got a lot of rebounds because they were tougher in the paint. They're still the barometer which we judge ourselves by. Kobe Bryant on the Lakers skill versus the Celtics strength

We all know that this year it looks, although it's early, like a contest between the Lakers, Celtics and Cleveland (Orlando is, perhaps, at the door). Certainly other teams will come into it and I'm not impugning anyone, but from my seat, these seem to be the cream right now. How about the Nuggets? If the Lakers needed to hit the weight room to compete with the Celtics (and Cleveland finally gave LeBron what he needs to compete) what exactly will the new Nuggets need to do to become the fourth team in this contest?