1987-88 NBA PREVIEW : WESTERN CONFERENCE : If Lakers Stay Healthy, Others Can Only Hope

Five reasons why the Lakers might not repeat as Western Conference champions in the National Basketball Assn.:

--Ralph Sampson, healthy, wealthy and finally dedicated to the proposition that he must play with the intensity of his fellow Tower, Akeem Olajuwon, puts the Houston Rockets back on a championship course.

--Mark Aguirre, no longer tormented by Dick Motta, shows some of the leadership of his buddy Magic Johnson and carries the Dallas Mavericks to a title, wiping out the memory of last season’s first-round playoff loss to Seattle.

--Bernie Bickerstaff, who made a lot of converts when he took the sub-.500 SuperSonics to the conference finals last spring, leaves no doubt he’s the best coach in the league by guiding Dale Ellis, Tom Chambers and Xavier McDaniel all the way to a championship.

--Karl Malone, who is known as the Mailman but would prefer to become Mr. Olympia, takes no prisoners while the beefed-up Utah Jazz beat up on everybody.

--Joe Barry Carroll, who had the door torn off his locker by a frustrated Coach George Karl during Golden State’s playoff loss to the Lakers, trashes the Warrior dressing room, challenges Karl to a fight, then vents his leftover fury on the rest of the league.

Two great reasons why the Lakers will repeat:

--There’s no reason to believe that any of the above will happen.

--The Lakers are far and away better than every other team.

A year ago, the Lakers were supposedly on the decline after being ousted from the playoffs the previous season by the Rockets. Now, if the Lakers stay healthy, everybody is resigned to playing for second place.

Team-by-Team Look: Page 8.