A sense of dread had been hanging over me for a few weeks now.

The Lakers aren’t going to win a championship.

And Kobe Bryant is not going to win another MVP title.

The first is headed to Cleveland. The second is going to LeBron James.

Ugh.

And now I’m extrapolating into the future, where I see one or even two more NBA Finals the Lakers don’t win, turning the early part of this century into the 1960s all over again (close, no cigars) … and I see LeBron winning about six straight MVPs, unless Dwyane Wade slips in there once or twice.

The rebuilt, post-Shaq Lakers will have two real shots at a championship. Maybe three. Even four. But I don’t see them getting it done.

Last year, they win it all if the Boston Celtics don’t reinvent themselves, turning a bad team into a great one with two canny deals. (Signing Ray Allen, trading for Kevin Garnett.)

This year, with the Cleveland Cavaliers one victory away from being guaranteed home court throughout the playoffs, I don’t see the Lakers (or anyone else) defeating them in a seven-game series. Not when the Cavs are 39-1 at home.

Yes. I know. That “1” on the Cavs’ home mark comes courtesy of the Lakers. So, yes, they at least have demonstrated they can win there.

But can they win there in the NBA Finals?  Can they win there twice if the Cavs pick off one of the middle three games at Staples Center? (Which they seem likely to do, frankly.)

So, if the Celtics waited another year before making the Big Fix, or LeBron is merely awe-inspiring, not single-handed game-changing by the time he turned 23 … the Lakers could have won two more NBA titles here, 2008, 2009.

Now, they may not win any.

And as good as Kobe has been, LeBron has been better. Even in Lakerland, we have to concede it. LBJ has better stats nearly across the board, and his team has won more games. MVP voters tend to let that combination of factors decide how they will vote. And I see Kobe with little or no chance to win the voting. He might not finish far ahead of Wade for second place. So, one of the great players of the era … only one MVP trophy. Even Steve Nash won two.

Yes. Doom. I feel a sense of doom. There will be 5-6 weeks of grinding through the Western Conference playoffs, which I believe the Lakers can do, then they get the Cavs … and I don’t believe they can defeat them. Who stops LeBron?

I don’t see this ending well. I feel another big letdown coming up. Well, two of them, when Kobe misses his last best chance to win the MVP trophy, too.