The Los Angeles Lakers just cannot seem to catch a break. Their time during the preseason has not been perfect by any stretch; the team has had their share of wins and loses. But their situation is far from hopeless. LA has a lot of pure talents to at least give the franchise a few things to smile about as Kobe Bryant enters the final years of his storied career.

However, they were dealt another blow today. Steven Nash injured his back after moving luggage in such a way that he may have just relegated himself to a back up position come late October. The 40-year-old two time MVP missed three straight practices and missed the Utah Jazz game thanks to the injury.

Head coach Byron Scott calls it nothing that will end his season, however.

"Steve, today, kind of hurt his back," Scott said via the LA Times. "He had a little bit of a setback, just kind of carrying some bars or something. He felt a twinge in his back."

At this time The Lakers do not know how long Nash will be out of action. The guard is the NBA's oldest player and was plagued with injuries all of last season as well. The difficulties led to Nash only playing in 15 games last season. If this is a sign of things to come, a similar performance may be expected soon.

Where does the organization turn from here? Well thankfully the team already has a talented point guard in Jeremy Lin. While Lin has been mostly relegated to playing second fiddle to the veteran Nash, this is his overt unity to prove himself as a valuable contributor to this team.

Not for nothing, but serving as a back up and getting put into the spotlight is Lin has made himself a competitor in the past, so if nothing else this is the time for Los Angeles to see if their investment in the young player is going to immediately pay off.

From there, it really is hard to say how the starting line up will change at all, really. The other players on the team have been about as consistent and productive as was expected. Now however is the time to see if the lakers have a long term plan at replacing their often injured guard. He clearly is not worth the 9.7 million that he has been charging them for his services.

 If the Lakers really want to recapture their former glory, their duty is to continue to build towards the future; a future which Nash is definitely not a part of.