Laker Fans

The path the Oklahoma City Thunder has taken in the last three seasons convinces Coach Scott Brooks that they're putting down the necessary foundation for an NBA championship. They progressed from a first-round exit against the Lakers in the 2010 NBA playoffs to the Western Conference Finals the following year against the Dallas Mavericks. The Thunder then made its first NBA Finals appearance last season and fell to the Miami Heat. In an hourlong meeting Tuesday night at the Pelican Hill Golf Club with a handful of the news media, Brooks also expressed optimism about his team heading into the 2012-13 season.

At a time of partisan squabbling, here's one thing Laker fans believe will mark a show of unity. Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Steve Nash, Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace will all get along. At a time of economic uncertainty, here's one thing that leaves Lakers fans unconcerned about money. Despite harsher luxury taxes and revenue sharing on the horizons, the Lakers still devoted $100 million to payroll. At a time of skepticism over our nation's future, here's one thing leaving Laker fans optimistic.

Do the Lakers have the most talented NBA team? That's the most brewing question surrounding the purple and gold entering the 2012-13 season. Oklahoma Cith guard Kevin Durant believes the Lakers have the most talent "on paper. " Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh said the same thing. Clippers forward Blake Griffin and guard Chris Paul have emphasized that the Lakers need to play the game first. And most Laker fans are too excited about the Dwight Howard and Steve Nash acquisitions to worry too much at this point.

Whenever the Lakers don't win a championship, change takes place. The front office makes trades. Fans assign blame to whoever they deem responsible. The cycle continues until the Lakers hoist another Larry O'Brien trophy. The Lakers and their fans aren't worried about that now. They're too excited about having Dwight Howard, Steve Nashand a reasonable bench. Oh yeah, the Lakers have Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol too. But should the team fail to collect its 17th NBAchampionship in the 2012-13 season, the general public will find a scapegoat.

It may be the dog days of the NBA offseason, but that just leaves Laker fans even more time to discuss persisting topics. The pressing question, of course, involves whether the Lakers will an NBA championship in the 2012-13 season. That's the only standard the Lakers and their fans live by. And with the purple & gold acquiring Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, it's left plenty of pundits and fans alike optimistic the Lakers will collect their 17th Larry O'Brien trophy next June. What will be the keys to make that happen?

Dwight Howard's arrival to the Lakers doesn't just bring promise of collecting his first NBA championship. It also gives him an opportunity to join the organization's esteemed fraternity of centers. That includes one of the pioneers of pro basketball (George Mikan), the highest scorer in a single game (Wilt Chamberlain), the NBA's all-time leading scorer (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and one of the NBA's most physical big men (Shaquille O'Neal). One notable member of this group believes Howard can join the club, assuming he stays with the Lakers beyond next season.

A long time awaits before the Lakers even begin playing basketball. But if Laker fans don't already have their tickets by then, they may need to hand over a few bills to secure seats. That's always been the case for Laker games, but Dwight Howard's arrival just put ticket demand into overdrive. Fansnap.com , a ticket search engine that compiles results from major ticket marketplaces and ticket agencies, said the average ticket price rests between $270 and $323 per seat since last week when the Lakers acquired Howard.

At a time when they felt the extra financial pinch stemmed from the new labor deal, the Lakers still understood the value it takes to build a championship roster.  At a time when they could've gone for  cheaper, the Lakers went better. At a time when they could've walked away with their chips to save for a long-term future, they put all their chips in to hit the jackpot. With the Lakers acquiring Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic, they followed through on Mitch Kupchak's vow that "we'll try to hit a home run. " The Lakers didn't just belt one out of the park.

It may be the dog days of the NBA offseason, but there's still plenty of things to monitor. First of all, Laker fans can still get their hoops fix by watching the 2012 London Olympics. Among the notable subplots: Kobe Bryant has played an elder statesman role with Team USA where he's providing leadership, deferring teammates and playing defense. Pau Gasol remains Spain's No. 1 option, became the country's flag bearer and hopes he can rectify his native country's gold-medal match loss to Team USA in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In what he considers to be "one of the happiest moments of his career," Lakers forward Pau Gasol will carry the Spanish flag next Friday during opening ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics. Spain's Olympic federation said in a statement that Gasol represents "the best values in sport and competition. " But it also comes on the heels of Spanish tennis star Rafeal Nadal withdrawing from competition because of a knee injury.  "All my support to my friend @ RafaelNadal in this tough moment as an athlete," Gasol tweeted.