Brace Yourself...The Super Lakers Are Upon Us By Deron Butler

Well...After many months of speculating, analyzing, and making up several theories in our heads, Dwight Howard has finally, and I mean FINALLY come to Tinseltown, as he will join Steve Nash, Pau Gasol, Ron Artest Metta World Peace, Antwan Jamison and Kobe Bryant to form a super team unlike any other in the Los Angeles Lakers. What's that you say, another super team? Yes, Miami isn't the only team with superstar players wreaking havoc upon the NBA. Boston and San Antonio (as old as they may be) are still effective teams with big 3 players. Then there's Oklahoma City with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Serge Ibaka as well as The New Jersey Brooklyn Nets with their "Core Four" which consists of Joe Johnson, Deron Williams, Gerald Wallace, and Brook Lopez. You may be asking yourself, why am I listing all the names of such super teams within the NBA, when the main focus (aside from the Miami Heat) is the Los Angeles Lakers? Okay, what if I told you that there was another super team that had formed in L.A. No, not the Lob City Clippers, this was before that. Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone, and Gary Payton would join forces in Hollywood to play for the Lakers, instantly forming an all-star team of grand proportions. While the Lakers dominated the west, they reached the Finals in which they were devastatingly shocked by the Detroit Pistons, who had Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton, and Chauncey Billups. While it seemed like their could've been more potential for this Super Lakers team to continue, Shaq just couldn't take any more of Kobe and (stop me if you heard this before) took his talents to South Beach and joined the Miami Heat. A year after Shaq joined the Heat, Gary Payton would soon follow in The Big Aristotle's footsteps, resulting in Miami's first NBA Championship. Comparing the Super Lakers team of the 03-04 season to this Super Lakers team, one may find some similarities to Shaq and Dwight Howard (other than the Superman nickname) but this Super Lakers team have all the potential to be just as memorable as Magic Johnson's Showtime Lakers. But, if history repeats itself, with another failed campaign to win it all, then consider some options or just go back to the drawing board. One thing Miami should take into consideration, if any, is that this Lakers team is going to run the Princeton Offense, where either Kobe or Nash (let's just say Nash) brings up the ball and passes it out to either Pau, Kobe, or Dwight. The Lakers have several options as far as scorers go and how they can finish the play by having D.Howard or Pau set a pick for Kobe or have Dwight or Pau cut in the lane and make a layup or finish strong with a dunk. I can already see Miami facing the Lakers in a highly possible NBA Finals series next year. Just think about all the ratings (looking at you David Stern).  For homework (yes, it's back to school time!), I want you all to take the time to put Miami's starting five (Bosh,  Rashard Lewis, LeBron, Wade, and Ray Allen or Chalmers) against the Lakers' starting five (Howard, Gasol, Metta, Kobe, and Nash) and see how they stack up. As an added bonus or extra credit, simulate how these two teams would play against each other in NBA 2K11, NBA 2K12, and NBA2K13. I'm Deron Butler, telling you that it's going to be Miami vs. L.A. Lakers in the 2013 Finals.