Los Angeles Lakers, their bid for a third straight NBA title stopped in its tracks by Dallas earlier this week, face an uncertain future with a raft of aging players and the retirement of coach Phil Jackson.

“It’s going to be a l-o-o-o-ng summer,” Los Angeles’s Ron Artest said after the Mavericks completed their four-game second-round sweep of the two-time defending champions.

The summary dismissal marked not just an end to this season for the Lakers, but the end of an era.

Not only do they have to find a replacement for Jackson, who insists this time he’s retiring for good, but they need to bolster a bench whose weakness was exposed by Dallas and with nine of their players enjoying guaranteed contracts the Lakers have little money with which to revamp the squad.

One contender for the coaching job is current assistant Brian Shaw, a former Lakers player. But it remains to be seen what talent he will have at his disposal.

Superstar Kobe Bryant is the cornerstone of the team. But point guard Derek Fisher will be 37 next season and could be on his way out.

The Lakers could also decide to break up their duo of seven-footers, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol.

Gasol spectacularly under-achieved in the play-offs, amid reports that he and Bryant were at odds off the court.

“It’s going to be a long flight home,” Gasol said after the final defeat of the season.

“It’s been a long, tough season, too.”

Jackson, who led Chicago Bulls to six titles in the 1990s and the Lakers to a total of five, decided to forego retirement at the end of last season to pursue one more career three-peat.

Although the effort failed, he said he was sure Los Angeles Lakers would regroup.

“We all know they always come back and get themselves back in the race,” Jackson said.

“The Lakers are going to survive.”