The mission last season for the Lakers was to take the NBA championship from the Boston Celtics. This year, it’s simply to defend it.

First comes the presentation of the championship rings and raising their 15th NBA title banner, then the Lakers begin that defense at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Staples Center against the arena’s co-tenants, the Clippers.

Led by superstar Kobe Bryant, they seem well-designed to repeat as champions. They certainly go into the season as favorites.

Here’s a look at the team, position by position:

BACKCOURT
Everything starts with Bryant, who averaged 26.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists during the regular season, then earned NBA Finals MVP honors after leading the Lakers past the Orlando Magic.

“If Kobe can give us the same performance as last year, great, but sometimes more can be less in terms of point production,” Laker assistant coach Jim Cleamons said. “Everyone knows what a wonderful scorer he is, but when he sees those double teams and with the players that we can now put around him that can score very well, that will lead to more assists and not as many points. Kobe’s minutes may also go down in that case and keep his legs fresher for the playoffs.”

Derek Fisher, the veteran point guard, is coming off a season in which he led the club in three-point percentage, while averaging 9.9 points per game. He struggled in the early rounds of the playoffs, then came on in the finals to hit 43 percent of his threes against the Magic, including two three-pointers that tied and beat them in game four.

“Derek is a pro’s pro,” Cleamons said. “He understands how to play.”

This could be a season in which Farmar, the backup point guard out of UCLA, pushes Fisher for more minutes.

He’s looked as sharp in the preseason as he did early last year before tearing the lateral meniscus in his left knee that caused him to miss 17 games.

“Jordan has to continue to mature for us as a basketball player,” Cleamons said. “He’s been in our system his entire tenure in the league, and if we are teaching him properly and he’s gathering the information, it’s time for him to put it together.”

Shannon Brown, acquired along with forward Adam Morrison in the Feb. 7 trade from Charlotte for Vladimir Radmanovic, proved to be more than a throw-in in the trade and turned out to be an exceptional defensive player come playoff time. Look for his minutes to increase.

Sasha Vujacic needs to return to the form of two years that earned him a contract extension with the Lakers. His season last year was a disappointment and it resulted in fewer minutes as it wore on.

His three-point shooting dipped dramatically a year ago, but he was more accurate in the preseason, giving hope for the upcoming campaign.

FRONTCOURT
All-star center Pau Gasol is an ideal complement to Bryant. Providing a formidable inside threat, he averaged 18.9 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

The addition of Ron Artest, who switched places with Trevor Ariza (who left to take Artest’s spot on the Houston Rockets) gives the Lakers more of a defensive presence up front with his intensity.

Off the bench there’s Lamar Odom, outstanding the playoffs, Luke Walton, DJ Mbenga, Josh Powell and Morrison.

Odom ended up starting 32 games when Bynum went down with his torn MCL midway through the season. His impressive performance during the playoffs showed the matchup problems he presented to other teams, earning him a new contract in the offseason.

At center is Andrew Bynum, who hopefully can stay healthy after suffering injuries the previous two seasons.

Cleamons assessed the team overall.

“If we move the basketball from one side to the other, there’s no telling who’s going to score, because we are capable of moving the ball so freely and unselfishly that on any given night we can see six or seven guys in double figures and making a good contribution to a winning effort,” he said.

“That’s going to cause havoc with defense, because they have to account for Kobe, for Ron, for Pau, for Andrew and Lamar. There are so many people there, that the defense can’t account for all of them if we move the ball and if we play together.

“That “if” word is the biggest hindrance to a lot of success, but we’ve been there. Having been there, let’s hope that the experience of repeating and going after another title will bear fruit, because we understand that together we can achieve the goal we’ve set out to achieve.”

An impressive preseason could lead to more minutes when it counts.