The 2013 NBA offseason had major implications on the fate of the league in the coming years. This offseason brought fans many unusual moves. Big-name players switched teams, the “bad” teams got better, and some of the most historic teams in history look as they are going to fall off the map for awhile. Clearly, the league is going through some changes both in players and perception.

Can LeBron and the Heat win a third straight NBA title or will another team de-throne them? By Steve Jurvetson (Flickr: LeBron James), via Wikimedia Commons

Josh Smith joined the Pistons, Andre Igoudala joined Golden State (this one happened before Howard), Al Jefferson joined the Bobcats, Chris Kaman and Nick Young went to the Lakers, Metta World Peace joined the Knicks, Paul Millsap went to Atlanta, Brandon Knight and Brandon Jennings were traded for each other, Monta Ellis went to Dallas, Greg Oden and Michael Beasley joined Miami, Chauncey Billups went back to Detroit and Andrew Bynum and his hair move to Cleveland, where (of course) a bank is located.

Within all the madness, there were a few retirements and coaching moves too. Doc Rivers left Boston to become the Clippers coach, and Jason Kidd became the Nets coach. George Karl and Lionel Hollins lost their jobs despite the Nuggets and Grizzlies having great seasons. In addition to Jason Kidd retiring, Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady also decided it was time to hang it up.

For me, one move made me feel sick to my stomach and I’m a Lakers fan. Longtime Celtics Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were dealt to the Nets and for some reason that makes me mad. It has recently come out that LeBron and the Miami Heat are critical of the move since both Pierce and Garnett criticized Ray Allen last season for leaving Boston and joining Miami. Unlike Allen, Pierce and Garnett were traded away, and although Garnett waived his no trade clause he did it because he wanted to keep playing alongside Pierce. The move of Pierce and Garnett means the Celtics (like the Lakers) will probably have less than spectacular seasons ahead.

The NBA looks as it is shaping up to be great in the next ten or so years and I for one, am very excited. There is so much young talent in the league and it will only get better. The 2013-14 season tips off in a couple weeks and I will be glued to my TV all season long.

Who do you think was the biggest NBA move of the summer? Comment below!

The Lakers have Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Pau Gasol, Jordan Hill, Metta World Peace, Steve Blake, Jodie Meeks and Robert Sacre. That is eight players and the Lakers normally like to have 13-14 players on the roster, which means there will be some new faces wearing purple and gold this coming season. Unfortunately for the Lakers the only contracts they can offer to free agents is the veteran minimum because of their salary cap problems and the unwillingness to dig themselves deeper as they await the 2014 offseason, where they now that Howard left, will only have Nash’s 9 million on the books.

The Lakers will look to re-vamp the team in 2014 offseason but as for the 2014 regular season, it remains to be seen. The Lakers will likely try and build a team around Gasol at the center and Kobe Bryant, something which worked quite well if anyone remembers.  I do agree that the Lakers need to get younger and more athletic just to keep up with some of the teams in the NBA but the money situation puts them in a tight place. The Lakers will and are looking to add shooters to the team to help spread the floor. Familiar names such as Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic have come about but who knows with rumors nowadays.

Many people especially now that Howard has bolted have been quick to immediately throw the Lakers out, saying that they will be at the bottom of the standings but I for one disagree. The starting lineup of Gasol, Hill, Metta, Kobe and Nash is still pretty good and can make a run in the playoffs, just not for a title. But because the Lakers are the Lakers and not winning a title is considered a failure, I believe the team should “tank” unless they can find a way to make a huge splash of a trade. The 2014 draft is considered to have one of the better draft classes in a long time so falling in the standings for a year and drafting a good young player wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Who knows when Kobe will return, even though I believe it will be opening night and while Kobe and the rest of the Lakers might not like the idea, it makes more sense than to just be another mediocre team in the Western Conference without a chance to win the title.

Have Kobe come back fully healthy and play a little bit and then come back in 2014 full strength and hopefully take a pay cut to remain with the team to help with salary purposes and add leadership to the new core of Lakers. This is a strange time in Laker land but I think Laker fans would accept one year of “tanking” so that we could come back even stronger the next one. The Lakers will have trouble tanking and while that’s a good sign, they do have something going for them and it’s that they will have their checkbooks open and ready come the 2014 offseason.

Difficult to watch. Painful. Heartbreaking.

These are just a few descriptions to describe the scene in the Staples Center as Kobe Bryant limped off the court on Friday night. Many people in the stands or people just watching the game didn’t think too much of the injury, they just knew that he was having a very hard time and needed to leave the court. The man was in obvious pain and the fans knew it.

Lakers fans hope Kobe can get back to the court soon. By Keith Allison from Kinston, USA, via Wikimedia Commons

The injury looked bad, but nobody knew what was coming within the hour. It was a torn Achilles, out for the season and possibly the end to an era in Laker-land. After all he is going to be turning 35 this coming August and there has been much speculation of his retirement after his contract expires next season. The man the Laker faithful has looked to as a God was now finally looking human. Kobe has made a living off of defying odds and playing through a number of countless injuries and somehow still producing at his incredible level but not this time. When asked postgame if this was something he could just rest and shake off, Kobe said with puffy eyes, a sign of the Mamba breaking down, “I can’t walk”. And for anyone who read Kobes’ 3:00 AM rant on Facebook, it showed you his disappointment and love for his team and the city he plays for.

So, what now? Where does a Laker franchise go from here? For the last 17 years, Kobe has been the “man” and now he’s hurt. In the midst of one of the strangest and longest Lakers seasons in recent memory, it seems that he was destined to finally get hurt. Every member of the starting five has missed time this season with injuries from Nash to Pau to Dwight and so on. They had a coaching change going from defensive-minded Mike Brown to offensive powerhouse Mike D’Antoni. In my opinion, the season has been a complete failure since the day that the management spurned Phil Jackson and went with D’Antoni to coach the team. That being said, D’Antoni can coach and is good at it, so props to him for what he has done with all the distractions. Still, he isn’t the right coach for the Lakers. Many people will look at the extreme amount of minutes Kobe played before the injury including playing all 48 minutes against Portland, a game I was in attendance at. But in reality, Kobe needed to play all those minutes just to put this team into position to make the playoffs. Kobe knows his body better than almost any athlete I have ever seen and he wanted to play. It isn’t as if Kobe said no and D’Antoni forced him to go into the game.

As for Kobe and the Lakers, I don’t believe that he is done. He just can’t be. He is too good and too strongly motivated to get that coveted sixth ring to be done. Luckily for Kobe he didn’t tear his ACL or anything as serious like that. An Achilles tear is serious but is recoverable. He is expected to be out six to nine months, which would put him in perfect position to start the season if all goes well. Kobe is a freak when it comes to healing from injuries and despite the fact that he has never had to deal with this serious of an injury, I expect him to recover and be ready to chase the trophy again. But for now, Bryant is a spectator and coach on the bench as his team tries to make the playoffs without him.

What now?

It is now Dwight Howard’s time to step up and take control of his team and prove to the management and the fans that he is the building piece that we all believe him to be. It’s his time to shine and earn his money. I believe the Lakers will still make the playoffs and could possibly make a small run depending on whether or not they make their shots. Dwight Howard has already led a team to the NBA Finals once before in his career, only to be bested by Kobe and the Lakers. The part that makes me and many other fans so upset is all the hard work this team has put in to put themselves in position to make the playoffs after such a horrible start even with all the distractions and injuries throughout the season. The timing of the injury and just the injury in itself to the player is wrong.

This highly touted Laker season has been horrible for the players, for the fans and for the city of Los Angeles. A season that started with so much hope and happiness after acquiring Nash and Howard has turned into an injury-prone year where the team is barely holding onto the eighth seed in the West with two games left. If someone told me that in the beginning of the year, I would have laughed and brushed it off but now it has become a nightmare of a reality and the cherry on the top of this misguided season is now the unfortunate injury to Kobe.

Kobe is more than a basketball player to the city. He is a role model, a leader and most importantly a person who has given L.A. hope for his whole career with the purple and gold. His passion for the game of basketball and his raw will to win is unlike anything anyone has ever seen since Michael Jordan stepped foot onto a court and it seems we may never see a player with that mentality again in the NBA. With his killer instinct, you better believe the Black Mamba will be back and better than ever. The man has too much motivation to prove everyone wrong not too be.

Like the current Laker team, the 2003-2004 Laker team had much hype going into it. Adding hall of famers Gary Payton and Karl Malone will do that to a team, and they ended up making it to the NBA finals only to lose to the one-year wonder Detroit Pistons.

You may be wondering why it matters, since it was almost ten years ago and the current team looks nowhere close to a championship-contending squad, but the current team and the 03-04 has the same makeup of players. It was the last time that a Laker squad had this much “star” power on the roster and I found it very interesting the differences and similarities from the two teams. Lets check it out:

2003-2004 Lakers:

Coach: Phil Jackson

Record through 54 games: 35-19

Center: Shaq, 21.5 PPG and 11.5 rebounds per game

Power Forward: Karl Malone, 13.2 PPG and 8.7 rebounds per game

Small Forward: Devean George, 7.4 PPG and 4.0 rebounds per game

Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant, 24.0 PPG and 5.1 assists per game

Point Guard: Gary Payton, 14.6 PPG and 5.5 assists per game

Key Bench Players: Stanislav Medvendenko, 8.3 PPG

Derek Fisher, 7.1 PPG

Kareem Rush, 6.4 PPG

Mike D’Antoni’s free-wheeling coaching style has cross-crossed the Lakers, leaving them structureless. By Keith Allison [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Coach: Mike D’Antoni

Record through 54 games: 25-29

Center: Dwight Howard, 16.3 PPG and 11.8 rebounds per game

Power Forward: Pau Gasol, 13.4 PPG and 8.0 rebounds per game

Small Forward: Metta World Peace, 12.9 PPG and 5.6 rebounds per game

Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant, 26.8 PPG and 5.6 assists per game

Point Guard: Steve Nash, 11.8 PPG and 7.4 assists per game

Key Bench Players: Antawn Jamison, 8.4 PPG

Earl Clark (who now is starting), 8.1 PPG

Jodie Meeks, 7.8 PPG

The Lakers currently sit at 25-29 through 54 games, while the 03-04 team went  35-19.

Why is this team so bad? I have the answer in two words: Mike D’Antoni. In 03-04, Phil Jackson knew how to get players to play with each other and do it well. It’s obvious D’Antoni does not.

I truly believe that if Phil Jackson had been hired instead of D’Antoni the Lakers would at least be contending and starting to play the kind of basketball that we all expected them to be at this point in the season. I have said from the beginning that D’Anotni isn’t the right coach for the Lakers and I stand by that.

But it isn’t completely his fault. The lineups of Howard, Gasol, Kobe and Nash have only played in 17 of the 54 games together, a difficult situation for any coach.

The Lakers have been decimated by injuries throughout the season, including Dwight Howard, who is still playing hurt. When Jordan Hill went down, the Lakers found a replacement in Earl Clark who has turned out to be a pleasant surprise. But when Pau Gasol went down in Brooklyn a few weeks ago, the Lakers’ playoff chances went from hopeful to doubtful. Losing Pau was a huge blow to an already-hurt team and it has shown in their play, losing three of five since the injury.

Now rumors have been swirling of trading Dwight Howard because of the poor play and the fact that he may leave at the end of the season.

In my opinion, in order to make sure that Howard stays, the Lakers should part ways with D’Antoni and find a coach that will realize how to utilize the players he has and won’t bench a key cog on two NBA championship teams.

Mike D’Antoni is a good coach with a very high basketball IQ but neither him nor his system fit into what the coach of the Lakers should be. This Laker team is too talented to be playing this poorly and I for one don’t believe it’s all the players’ fault.

The sooner the Lakers front office realizes that, the better and the franchise can get back to its winning ways. At least the 2003-2004 Lakers made it to the finals and although they lost, I’m sure if you ask any Laker fan at the moment if they would take a loss in the finals as opposed to not even making the playoffs – they would take that in a heartbeat.

We’ll see what kind of heart this star-driven version 2.0 of the purple and gold have in the second half of the season.  Stay tuned.

With the Super Bowl right around the corner, the time of year has returned once again. This particular pocket on the calendar serves as the preparation point that will give way to the onslaught of sport for the year to come.

As we speak, New Orleans is being blitzed and invaded by 49ers fans and Ravens fans alike, not to mention the straight-up football fans and “party fans” that are piling in. It is Bourbon Street, after all.

Even the First Super Bowl Party gets a little loose! By White House (Pete Souza) / Maison Blanche (Pete Souza) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

We know the pageantry and performance of the big game won’t disappoint. The annual pinnacle of American sport never lets us down, and even if the scoreboard is lopsided, one of your friends at the party seems to always end up that way as well, making the whole Super Bowl party experience a let-down-free zone.

Pushing all the rif-raf to the peanut gallery, the 49ers open, and will most likely remain, favorites – and with good reason. Colin Kaepernick is a dynamic force that is currently surfing the wave that most young phenoms always seem to – “they don’t even know where they are right now.”

The combination of Colin Kaepernick riding the whitewash of momentum, coupled with his elite, dual-threat ability coming of age right before our eyes, makes the 49ers an extremely dangerous favorite. The 49ers could win by a slim margin or a big margin. This is something you can’t necessarily say about the Ravens.

If the Ravens get over, it will be a ‘Rice, Rice, Flacco to Boldin or Pitta 3rd down conversion’ type of game. The deep bomb to Torrey Smith is something I don’t really see the defense of the 49ers allowing, given the prowlace their two all-pro safeties.  At the same time, I would also be foolish if I didn’t consider the magic a retiring Ray Lewis and his defense seem to have going.  Underdogs can still overachieve.

Analysis of the game aside, the unbridled fun of the Super Bowl also serves as a recognizable signaling of the year to come in all other arenas of sport.

The NBA all-star game is on the horizon, and unfortunately for most fans, the taste of purple and gold is impossible to remove from the palate of NBA water-cooler talk everywhere.

Dwight Howard throw-downs have been few and far between so far this season. By Fido (Flickr: Bucks @ Lakers) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

I know everyone is exhausted with the revolving Laker discussion, but the reason the Lakers continue to hoard the headlines is a reason you rarely equate with this franchise – their ineptitude.

Give me an “A” or give me an “F,” right?  Unfortunately, “F” sells in a huge way, and sadly, sells even more than “A” does – but you can’t blame the Lakers for all the attention they are recieving.  Another main reason the Lakers are hogging print and air waves is because nothing around the rest of the NBA is making waves.

The Heat are dominating in their defense of the title. The Celtics, Knicks and Rose-less Bulls are still nipping at their heels in the East.  Great.

In the West, the Thunder are still running, the Spurs are still lurking, and the Clippers and Grizzlies are still up-and-coming. Great.

Yawn.  Alright!  I’m awake!

Moving on — what or who else looms near this time of year? You got it – everyone’s favorite worst guy ever, the infamous “bracket guy.”

Unrightfully so, no one pays an emphatic amount of attention to the national NCAA basketball scene until March rolls around, but when it does, get ready to throw down your bracket and your bucks.

Cinderellas will be the overlying theme as they always are, and golden chariots will turn back into pumpkins in the end like they always do – but the overall saga of March never comes up short.  One.  Shining.  Moment.  I’m welling up just thinking about it.  No I’m not.

Seamheads are beyond hyped this time of year as well. Everyone is a potential pennant winner in spring training, and pitchers and catchers report in less than a month.

With the Giants coming off another World Series Championship and the Dodgers having huge expectations, the rivalry only looks to get juicier. By andyrusch (http://www.flickr.com/photos/asrusch/5748267516/) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Money, money and more money has morphed a perpetual big-market underachiever into the new West coast version of the New York Yankees. Trading for the gigantic contracts of super stars has given way to monumental stadium renovations for the Dodgers, which will create more revenue, and eventually give way to taking on even more gigantic contracts of super stars.

Moneyball may get you to the dance, but big money allows you to go home with the prom queen in the end. The Dodgers have officially taken on the new face of baseball’s dark side, and will become even more of a polarizing team than they were before.

Spoiler alert: yes, the rebels eventually win in Star Wars, but in baseball the empire always eventually wins in bulk. Blue thinkers finally realizing gold once again could be right around the corner.

From progression to regression – congratulations on almost killing your sport one more time, Gary Bettman. Hockey is back, but now the few casual fans that existed before care even less.

Kings captain Dustin Brown hoists the cup, a trophy of a dying sport. By Eric Chan from Hollywood, United States (DSC00815 Uploaded by JoeJohnson2) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

On a positive note, the Kings raising the banner was beyond due.  It was an awesome run last season and a championship that was well deserved for Kingdom loyalists — but the realistic future of hockey has essentially become a dimming light, one that now can barely even be seen by a telescope in the night sky of the American sporting realm.

It wouldn’t be an all discussion without mentioning eagles and earplugs, two associations about to start the longest campaigns of any professional leagues in the United States. 10 months?  Forget campaigns, try marathons.

There are niches in our sports melting pot that absolutely live for the PGA and Nascar circuits. And strangely enough, they couldn’t be more polar opposites.  Its the quietest sport and the loudest sport.  Its the high-class perception and the low-class perception.  And given the differences, it’s kind of ironic how the hardcore fans of both circuits would probably never get along, yet the 19th hole and the 5th wheel effectively serve the same purpose.  I guess that’s one thing everyone can agree on – booze.

So there it is and here it comes – the great American sporting landscape.  And with all of the anticipation and excitement on the horizon, there’s honestly nothing I can see that could put damper on the cornucopia of sport all of us fans are in line for, could there be?

April 15th. Yea, the smartass went and did it.

Throughout about 75 percent of this season, the Los Angeles Lakers have been the epicenter of the most disappointing teams in the NBA. They are currently 15-21 through 36 games and things don’t seem to be moving in the right direction. After an off-season of major promise including trading for all-stars Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, the Lakers were primed to possibly have one of the best seasons in NBA history and once again seriously contend for a title. Thus far the Lakers have been anything but contenders. After firing their head coach after 5 games, “offensive genius” Mike D’Antoni took the helm. Through 25 games with D’Antoni as coach, the Lakers are averaging 104.3 points a game and are 10-15.

Steve Nash is a 2-time NBA MVP, but has yet to help turn this Lakers season around. By Keith Allison from Baltimore, USA

The Lakers currently sit in the 11^th spot in the Western Conference playoff picture and would miss the playoffs if the season ended today. This is Laker land and just one single year of not winning the title (let alone missing the playoffs) isn’t acceptable. Pau Gasol will get a lot of the blame. After all, something has to be done, and who better to blame than the quiet Spaniard. When this team doesn’t play well, Pau is the scapegoat and that isn’t fair to him. But if Pau isn’t to blame for the Lakers struggles, then who is?

The Solution:

Normally I’m not one to criticize coaching moves by management because it is their job and I believe that they know what they are doing, but this isn’t a normal situation. In my and many Laker fans’ eyes, Mike D’Antoni is to blame, and he deserves every ounce of criticism he gets. D’Antoni is not the right coach for this Lakers and never will be as long as Dwight Howard and Kobe are on the team. He refuses to adjust his offensive schemes in order to make it work with the players he has and that is the downfall to the Lakers.

Offense isn’t what has been hurting the Lakers this season, it’s the defense — something D’Antoni has never been good at coaching. In Phoenix, D’Antoni had the players that were able to run up and down the floor easily and at a speed that he needs them to in order for his offense to work and the scoring would over-match the defensive lapses a lot of the time. But in Los Angeles, that isn’t the case. While the Lakers are averaging a high number of points a game, they can’t keep up with the scoring of the other teams because of their age and the skill players they have. D’Antoni has never coached a player like Dwight Howard, who is a beast in the paint, and he needs to utilize him more in the offense. The Lakers have had the same scheme of offense for the last 15 or so years and it hasn’t let them down, so why change it now? They use two big men to run the offense and not a point guard. No offense to Nash — he is doing a great job — but D’Antoni needs to go.

The move to spurn Phil Jackson was one of the dumbest moves Jim Buss could have made and he should be run out of town for doing so. D’Antoni’s track record isn’t even all that impressive. He coached the Suns to a few conference finals, never getting to the finals and was basically run out of New York. Jackson didn’t make sense long-term because of his age but for this current team, he made the most sense. I believe the Lakers would look like the Lakers I know if he had been put under center. D’Antoni needs to be fired or at least change-up his schemes. Until the Lakers management and D’Antoni himself realize that, the Lakers will continue to struggle and as a Laker fan, it hurts me to even write that. I hope they can figure it out otherwise this season will go down as one of the biggest letdowns for a team in NBA history.

Recap (After all, I am a Lakers fan):

For the first part of the year, the Lakers were without point guards Steve Nash and Steve Blake and relied on third-stringers Darius Morris and Chris Duhon. Now there are even more injuries with Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Jordan Hill all out. Despite the most recent injuries, it’s clear that something is wrong with this team. It makes no logical sense that a team with two hall-of-famers, Kobe and Nash, plus the best center in the league could be this bad.

This is the worst of it too — the whole season hasn’t been this bad; they won six of seven games to end 2012. They got back to .500 at 15-15 but since have lost six straight. I’m a Lakers fan and I still believe that this team will figure “it” out, although I could be saying this because I am strongly hoping they will. The Lakers’ players have shown that they have heart although it hasn’t produced wins. I believe they will still make the playoffs as a lower seed, and as long as you make the playoffs, anything is possible. You’ve just got to believe.

It’s just like I thought.

I’ve said all along that if the Lakers were a stock, Christmas is about the time I’d buy them. Steve Nash is back in the lineup, Pau Gasol looks healthy, and the Lakers are back to .500. Championship, here we come?

Metta World Peace has been a key cog to this star-studded Lakers team all along. By Derral Chen (Flickr: Ron Artest) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The five-game winning streak has included everything Lakers fans have hoped for since Mike Brown was fired, albeit a little late. By the time May rolls around, Lakers fans will have convinced themselves that their team has rounded into a championship contender. Perhaps they will be right.

Steve Nash has returned after missing 24 games to run the point in Mike D’Antoni’s system, Pau Gasol is back from knee tendinitis, and Los Angeles has its swagger back. I think.

And the key is not Nash. It’s not the relentless Kobe Bryant. Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol are great players to have around, but the catalyst for this team is none other than Metta World Peace.

I’ve talked about the MWP signing as being the key to the past four seasons for the Lakers and I stand by that. I even created a Ron Artest Venn Diagram. I want to be clear here: Ron Artest’s play won’t be able to carry the Lakers all season. But if they are to play themselves into championship form, the offensive threat that Metta World Peace can provide needs to be apparent to other teams. He cannot be a non-factor.

Every team with stars needs role players — guys who will do all the dirty work and produce when other options are taken away. Through his first 23 games, MWP was scoring 12.1 points per game. Over the past five games, he’s averaging 18.4 points, including a 19 point, 16 rebound game in Philadelphia.

MWP’s production won’t be this big all year. Pau Gasol will score more than him over the course of the year. So will Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant, and Steve Nash. But when MWP is active offensively he’s also active defensively and can be, the Lakers hope, the best role player in the game. Right now it doesn’t seem like it matters, but if the Lakers get deep into the playoffs, it could be the key cog in a championship run.

Or so Lakers fans are hoping — the Christmas spirit abounding in Los Angeles.

What would the world be without MWP’s twitter account?

[tweet https://twitter.com/MettaWorldPeace/status/283765891353698304]

We talk about whether expectations have changed because of the team’s slow start, whether the Lakers are legitimate contenders or just an interesting story, and then we played a game of “who would you rather have” with six NBA forwards based in Los Angeles.

Leave us a note, subscribe to us on itunes, and let us know what you think.

The New York Yankees of the hardwood have met and exceeded off-season expectations. Should we be so surprised? Since moving to Los Angeles in 1960, the Lakers have once again done what they are known for doing — perpetually adding to the list of all-time acquisitions in the history of the NBA, year after year.

The Lakers have brought into the fold the star power of the biggest off-season prize in big man Dwight Howard, as well as one of the most respected and decorated point guards in the history of the game in Steve Nash. Los Angeles has once again struck big and has made the biggest series of offseason splashes in recent NBA history.

Moreover, when you add in bench-strengthening additions like Antawn Jamison, Jodie Meeks and Chris Duhon, this off-season could be graded even higher than all-time great Laker off-seasons, meeting or exceeding when they brought in the likes of Wilt Chamberlain in 1968, Kareem-Abdul Jabbar in 1975 or Shaquille O’Neal in 1996.

When you take into consideration this year’s epic additions, and then throw into the recipe mainstays like Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Metta-World Peace, Jordan Hill and Steve Blake, what do you expect the overall dish to taste like? Some are saying an NBA championship favorite, others are saying a huge chemistry problem. I argue as objectively as I can that it is honestly someplace in-between.

While Dwight Howard not seeing a lot of preseason game action due to his recovery from a minor back procedure and Kobe missing the last week of practice and games in the preseason obviously isn’t going to help to build early-season chemistry, don’t think for a second that this team not gelling early means that they won’t end up gelling at some point in the new year, when games start to matter.

Howard recovering from surgery at the outset will predictably stunt the growth process, but let’s take a look at what will ultimately make that process flourish.

Point primarily to the Princeton offense. The first cousin of the Triangle, both are based in similar principles: spacing, ball movement, movement without the ball and player versatility. Both feature many series of 2-man and 3-man games and like the triangle, the post is the hub of the offense. This is and will be the perfect compliment to a roster that includes above average passing big men like Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol, as well as Hall-of-Fame-level facilitators like Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant. The main benefit to consider is that the Princeton system brings structure to an offensive gameplan that last year, looked like a complete mess.

How will it all come together? How will each piece fit and what can we expect from each separate personality in the process of building what is paramount – team chemistry? Below is an in-depth look at each player who looks to contribute this upcoming season:

Kobe Bryant

The addition of more high-end stars leaves the door wide open for Kobe to trust his teammates at a new and unprecedented level. Steve Nash now being in the back-court means Kobe doesn’t have to have the ball in his hands the majority of the time when it matters most — namely, at the end of the shot clock and at the end of quarters and games.

Kobe Bryant hits another clutch fadeaway jumper. By Keith Allison from Baltimore, USA (AAAA9080) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Kobe won’t have to hoist as many bad shots as he has had to in the recent past. Steve Nash will get him better shots. And if Bryant can be assisted by Nash within the confines of the Princeton offense by cutting to the basket on rubs and back-cuts for easy lay-ups, as well as get more open shots on the perimeter, his ego will hopefully be satisfied.

All of us Lakers fans and haters alike can at least agree on that simple fact: Bryant does have a huge ego to satisfy, no matter how his overall skills may have eroded (or not eroded at all in his mind) from their peak some five years ago.

All of this considered, Kobe’s minutes will more-than-likely be curbed and managed with the addition of the most capable scoring backup he has ever had behind him at shooting guard in Jodie Meeks. Less wear and tear during the season means more energy come playoff time. In Lakerland, having the most available to you come playoff time is all that matters.

Dwight Howard

Finally, Dwight doesn’t have to be the man. And although the public and media’s perception during his holdout/re-sign/holdout might suggest that he feels like he needs to be the man, I argue that his loose and playful personality points to something different. It points to a level of humility and that he has no problem being ‘one of the guys’ and contributing to a champion in any way, shape or form that he can to help the team reach the ultimate goal.

He has learned in failures past that it takes more than himself to win it all. This is the reason he came to Los Angeles. Yes, his offensive game in the post needs further development. Yes, his free throw percentage needs to improve. But one needs to also consider that the man will turn only 27 years old in December. There is plenty of room and time to improve over the next few years. We may have yet to see Howard’s peak.

There is no question in any argument that could be presented that his presence as a defensive force in the middle is a factor the Lakers haven’t had since Wilt many eras ago. Yea, you heard me Kareem and Shaq. Howard will be a strong anchor in the middle for a defense that has lacked one basic element in recent years past…. a strong anchor in the middle. There will be no more free layups lines for guys like Durant and Westbrook. Dwight will have opportunities for defensive and offensive rebounds galore.

His calling card on this squad will be limiting the opposition to one-and-done’s on the defensive end and feasting on put-backs around the basket on the offensive end. The size of his impact in the paint on both ends of the floor will be just as big as the smile you will see on his face all season long. Dwight and Hollywood will be a great match for years to come.

Steve Nash

Quick, go back to “The Showtime Era.” How long ago was Magic dishing out dimes like nobody’s business? 20-plus years ago? This was the last time the Lakers had an ultimate facilitator. And now they have one again, finally.

Nick Van Exel, Sedale Threatt, Ron Harper, Derek Fisher, Smush Parker or even Ramon Sessions you could never honestly tag as great or even good ‘facilitators.’ Not only is Steve Nash this, but he is one of the best facilitators this league has ever seen.

While he is getting up there in age, his conditioning and ability have not diminished much at all. Nash is one of those rare athletes where body is even more of the ultimate temple come the late 30’s towards the end of his career. His ability to retain his conditioning and skill given his growing age is at the same hall-of-fame level that his uncanny passing acumen and dead-eye shooting ability has always been.

So what is Nash’s outlook with this group? Simple – to get everyone theirs. The Princeton offense is predicated on reading the defense and taking what they give you. This charge, along with managing what is truly a juggernaut offense is the task that Nash has been chosen to achieve. Who better than the most unselfish point guard the NBA has seen in the last decade-plus to tackle this assignment? With all the offensive talent that surrounds him, Nash could eclipse an assists per game average of 12 and beyond.

Pau Gasol

Gasol’s role looks to be very similar to what it was last year. While both Pau and Howard are in the game, Gasol’s 15-20 foot game will be his primary niche. A lot of those shots, when missed, will be followed in by Howard around the rim. When Howard leaves the floor and Pau remains, look for Gasol to take his game down low. This becomes the perfect, simplistic inside-outside game plan for the game’s most diverse big man.

Pau Gasol blocks a shot as Metta World-Peace looks on. By Keith Allison (Flickr: Pau Gasol, Metta World Peace) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Metta World-Peace

While World-Peace isn’t what he once was on the offensive end, his defensive prowess remains. Metta’s role on this roster should be one main focus night-in, night-out — lock down the opposition’s best wing player defensively. Period. One goal. A tunnel assignment.

I believe a personality like World-Peace can thrive in a simplified situation such as this. And as long as the voices of Kobe Bryant and Mike Brown keep him focused, his toughness will be irreplaceable, given that Bryant, Nash and Gasol are average to only above-average defenders at best at this point in their careers.

If his team needs him to hit an outside shot or contribute garbage points around the basket, we all know Metta can do that in spurts, but I truly believe a simplified approach to Metta’s game and role on this team will get the most out of his unique talent.

Oops, I forgot to mention regular therapy sessions once a week, if not more. Toss that in there. Stay in your shoes Ron-Ron.

The Bench

Scoring off the bench was one of the biggest holes the Lakers had to fill this off-season to get back to a championship level. Antawn Jamison highlights a much-improved bench in 2012-13. Jamison is one of those swing forwards that can replace Metta World-Peace at the 3 in certain situations or Pau Gasol at the 4 in other particular situations. Defensively he may be a liability, but that’s not why Los Angeles brought him in. They brought him in to score. And score he can. In many ways. Those who haven’t seen Jamison’s game will be thrilled with his go-to move – a sneaky, almost strange-looking finger-roll game around the basket. Jamison is instantly a 6th man of the year candidate.

Jordan Hill is returning from a herniated disc injury and should be ready to go for opening night. Last season he surprisingly emerged from the bench as the go-to replacement at power forward when Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum needed a rest. The Lakers wisely re-signed the hustling garbageman for less than a mid-level exception — two more years and a reasonable total of only 7 million dollars. Hill’s knack and fast-twitch muscle fibers that slither and leverage both defensive and offensive rebounds cannot be understated. And if his most recent ailment doesn’t nag, there is nothing that says he can’t duplicate and even improve upon his key role off the bench from last year’s campaign.

Jodie Meeks looks to be the 8th man behind Kobe, and as Bryant’s minutes slowly diminish, Meeks appears to be more than capable as an ideal second team scorer at the off-guard position. A product of the lottery farm known as the University of Kentucky, Jodie comes over to Tinseltown from Philadelphia where over the last two seasons, the now 25-year-old averaged a solid 9.5 points in 26.5 minutes a game off the Sixers bench.

The Lakers scoring in the late 1st and 3rd quarter – early 2nd and 4th quarter portions of the game will be made or broken by how consistently Jodie can put the ball in the hole. For what Meeks can potentially bring to the table for only $1.5 million a year over the next two years, Mitch Kupchak has a lot of pats on the back to come. And I’m not even kidding here – #20 might end up being my favorite Laker this season when its all said and done. I love these types of key role players.

All through camp Steve Blake and Chris Duhon have battled for the 9th man spot backing up Steve Nash at the point guard position. Blake began camp recovering from a foot injury where he punctured his foot walking over one-way tire spikes in a parking lot (Clint Barmes breaking his collarbone “lugging deer meat” thinks that is one of the most ridiculous non-field injuries in recent memory).

Steve Blake whips the ball around the perimeter. By Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA (Steve Blake  Uploaded by JoeJohnson2) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Hailing from the floor-slapping defensive juggernaut of Duke, Duhon’s defense gives the Lakers something they haven’t had in a very long time – a force that can potentially check and keep up with the elite offensive point guards the NBA now glorifies. Look for Duhon to slowly steal minutes from Blake at this position as the season matures.

Devin Ebanks and Chris Douglas-Roberts will compete for the 11th man position on the roster. Major injuries aside, best-case scenario for these two backup wing players will be limited contributions, aside from pushing starters in practice and trying to impress coaches for future opportunities. Both will be able to dress for the game, unless there in an injury on the front line and rookie Robert Sacre needs to fill a hole.

Guards Andrew Goudelock and Darius Morris, as well as aforementioned rookie 7-footer that was drafted this past April out of Gonzaga, Robert Sacre, look to begin this season as the 13th, 14th and 15th men. Joining them on the practice squad could be Darius Johnson-Odom, Reeves Nelson and an injured Earl Clark, who they also acquired in the Dwight Howard trade.

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All opinions considered, detractors will point to a preseason that is without a win for the Lakers. Are we actually giving credence to a preseason record, and are we willing to speak it in the same sentence with postseason chances 6 months down the road?

Since when did what happens in October have anything to do with what happens in April and June given a roster loaded with playoff veterans such as this? One thing I can say about preseason Lakers talk – I’m utterly amazed at the naivete of the notion that a preseason record of a team that is made up like this one matters.

Given the infancy of the group as a new team, this new offense, the feeling-out process that needs to take place, and how the elite talent this team possesses played literally a fraction of the minutes in the preseason that they are going to play in the regular season and playoffs makes the idea that the preseason record matters down right silly and fundamentally empty. You’d think the Lakers were the Charlotte Bobcats! They must be in for a season in which their win total will tally only in the teens!

These things are for sure – for this loaded group, zero preseason wins equals exactly this: 50-55-plus wins, a Pacific Division title, a top 3 playoff seed or higher, and a barometer of the Western Conference Finals. Anyone who reads more into a preseason record in the NBA, where the final score means close to ultimately nothing, is only fancying him or herself as a glass-half-empty contrarian.

As far as the Lakers on-television issue is unfolding, the whole Time Warner Sportsnet dilemma on the precipice of the regular season is now partly resolved for San Luis Obispo-County fans. Those of us that are Charter subscribers now have access to the network that will carry every single one of the Lakers’ non-nationally televised games. Those of us that are Direct TV subscribers are still unfortunately out of luck at this time – but keep the faith, these two sides will ultimately come to a compromise and the Lakers will be live and in color for all local fans in the very near future.

As the excitement builds, the story of the 2012-2013 NBA season will be a must-see, be you Laker-fan or Laker-hater. And that is the beauty of a team like the Los Angeles Lakers – the polarization. You either love them or hate them. There is no in-between. They are always a topic of conversation no matter what side of the fence you may dig your heels into, because the majority of NBA fans strongly stand on one side of the barbed wire or the other.

Talking time is over. Watching time is now!

Third year Grizzlies player Pau Gasol jumps center against the 2003-04 Lakers. Teamed up with Shaq and Kobe, Gary Payton and Karl Malone still could not get over the championship hump. By Rob from Galapagar (Madrid), Spain (Lakers vs Grizzlies #2003 Uploaded by JoeJohnson2) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Thousands, perhaps millions of Lakers fans hoping to get pumped about the upcoming season were left out in the cold when the new Time Warner SportsNet was not available to lots of Lakers fans during the preseason. This meant that, for all the work the Lakers had done to enhance their star-power and keep themselves relevant, their fans could do little to get excited. I have yet to see Steve Nash or Dwight Howard play in a Lakers uniform and the season starts Tuesday. For anticipation’s sake, this is not a good thing.

The purple and gold didn’t win a single preseason game.

You’ll hear a lot about how the Lakers’ 0-8 record in the preseason was meaningless. Stephen A. Smith and Chis Broussard will tell you that nobody on the Lakers really cares about that and that Kobe’s team will be fine. But you would think that a team ready to make a championship run would win at least one game. One would posit that a team with championship depth would have some of their substitutes able to will them to at least a single victory. An 0-8 preseason is not a good thing and it does matter, despite what people say.

The Lakers are old — and brittle.

In his 17th season, Kobe Bryant has racked up 1,161 regular season games and 220 playoff games, not to mention any Olympic teams he has been on. He seems to have a nagging injury during every recent year and this year doesn’t promise to be any different. That being said, he may be the most dependable of the Lakers’ “Big-4” when it comes to health. He wills himself through his nagging injuries better than any player ever has. He has lost a step and, while he’ll probably miss 5-10 games this season due to injury, Kobe will be there when it counts, doing what he does.

Let’s look at the other three guys for a moment. Pau Gasol is not getting any younger, or more physical. Losing Phil Jackson as a mentor really hurt Pau last year, when he never quite figured out his role. While that may get a little better this season with Nash at his side, he still isn’t a great fit in Mike Brown’s system. He will play a lot of games, but he’s not nearly as effective as he was 3 years ago.

Dwight Howard is exciting, but his back has not been right for over a year. A player who relies on his athleticism needs to have a strong back. Lakers fans are hoping Howard will play over 75 games this year, but I would put the over/under at about 50.

Steve Nash is amazing. He is 4 years older than Kobe Bryant and has been playing in the league just as long. Nash does not have the tenacity of playing through injuries as Kobe does, but he takes care of his body very well. Lakers fans should expect Nash to play 70 or so games and to have limited minutes in games. His time on the floor will be effective, but fans have to wonder whether Steve Blake can give good point-guard minutes off the bench and hold down the fort until Nash returns.

So, if we add that up, that is quite a few games that I’m expecting those players to miss. People say that all you have to do is get in the playoffs, but without a full team for much of the year, I expect the Lakers to be trying to find themselves all season, which will cause them to be found wanting once the playoffs come around. For a “championship or bust” team, it could be a very loud bust.

The Bench

Who did the Lakers pick up to come off the bench? Well, you can find guys like Antawn Jamison — who can still score a little but plays no defense. Jodie Meeks can also provide some offense. If the reserves were going to be a solid group though, it seems like the team would have won a game in the preseason.

Ghosts of 2003-04

In 2003-04, the Lakers still had the nucleus of their three-peat championship roster intact. In a move that preceded the Celtics “Big 3” coming together, Mitch Kupchak added Hall-of-Famers Karl Malone and Gary Payton. Living in Florida at the time, it was the only year I’ve ever invested in NBA League Pass. The Lakers were compelling and should have won the title that year but injuries to Shaq and Malone, combined with poor chemistry, foiled the “Big 4’s” title hopes.

This year, the Lakers added Nash and Howard and I’m reminded of 2003-04. This team is compelling, intriguing, and makes me want to watch. If I had cable or satellite, I would probably think about getting League Pass again this year.

Oh, and the preseason record of that 2003-04 team that went to the finals: (6-2).

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Health will be the story for the Lakers. The odds of their key players staying healthy all year and the team gelling to win a title in their first year together are long. The Lakers will end up competitive and compelling, but probably won’t be championship material. Unless they stay healthy and end up winning the championship, which is possible. After all, I am a Lakers fan.