The Sunshine State, the place where the beaches meet the orange groves, where Parrot-heads and tourists were born, where retirees come to die. Right in the heart of this great state is the former home of Lakers star Dwight Howard. The place where basketball was left to die in the Florida heat. In the biggest basketball move of the offseason, Dwight was traded to the Lakers and so ended another reign of bask ...

[caption id="attachment_12848" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Photo Credit: Steve Dykes / EPA[/caption] On January 23rd the Los Angeles Lakers lost on the road to the Grizzlies 106-93 and dropped to 17-25 to 12th place in the Western Conference. Most experts by now had completely counted the Lakers out and gave them no shot at making the playoffs. The story of the Lakers’ ineffectiveness and futility head ...

The Los Angeles Lakers were expected to be among the NBA’s elite during the 2012-13 NBA season. Clearly, those expectations have all but evaporated now. Adding future Hall-of-Famers like Dwight Howard and Steve Nash along with solid players like Antawn Jamison and Jodie Meeks looked great on paper. However, it is apparent now that this combination does not work on the court. [caption id="attachment_12430" a ...

The other night while I was watching the Lakers take on the abysmal Washington Wizards, I became increasingly frustrated as the game went on watching Dwight Howard put up a measly 12 points. I became frustrated because the more and more I watched Howard, I realized he really lacked a post game. Now I know that Howard has been battling injuries and don’t get me wrong, he has unbelievable athletic ability, bu ...

…And here’s the grand finale, my top 20 players in the NBA heading into the 2012-2013 season. Some quick refreshers: Age and contract are not factored in—the question is simply how much do I like each player for this season To qualify, players must have played at least one game in the league last season (sorry Andrei Kirilenko) and be on a current NBA roster And, again, no rookies (Anthony Davis will not be ...

With the NBA season set to get underway at the end of the month, all eyes are on the new and hopefully improved Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers, which feature four future Hall of Famers and a strong supporting cast are the favorites to knock off the defending champion Miami Heat. Ever since Shaq’s departure, the Lakers have always, without a doubt, been Kobe’s team. In a recent interview, Bryant stated that ...

Now that Coach K - who has a breathtaking vertical leap by the way (via Bleacher Report) - and USA Basketball have completed the chase for gold, it’s time to get back to the NBA offseason. Here are a few of the leading storylines from the offseason thus far, along with nine of the most intriguing matchups to watch out for this upcoming season (all times ET). 2012 NBA Offseason: Leading Storylines [caption i ...