Regardless of any lingering disappointment, the offseason for many NBA teams is an uplifting time. Young players are drafted. Veteran free agents are signed. Trades are made. New coaches are hired.
Teams with a strengthened core, like Brooklyn, are confident they have done everything possible to take the final step to win a title.
Teams such as Oklahoma City and Chicago, who were limited by injuries, are optimistic that if healthy, championship dreams are realistic.
Teams that have been building, like Cleveland, are thrilled with the young talent they have added and even though they know they are not championship contenders, they fantasize about that next step to the playoffs. And after that, dare to dream.
And then there are the Los Angeles Lakers, whose fans have had to deal with rejection in a way they have never experienced in their history. The Lakers have always been a destination franchise – a place where Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal and countless stars and role players wanted to play.
They have history, they have Hollywood, they have Showtime and they play in one of the few major cities – perhaps the only one – where the NBA is far and away the most popular sport.
Which, of course, results in the most irrational fans.
Because of those 16 banners, because of those legendary players, because the Lakers are a way of life, the decision of Dwight Howard – unquestionably the best center in the league – to leave 
the glamor of LA for the humidity and overall averageness of Houston has had an unnerving effect on the Laker populace.
So you know what has happened? Lakers fans aren’t dealing with it very well. And it does seem the front office has taken on characteristics of the fan base. The result is the Lakers are looking at the off-season in a way they never have before.
Which is to say they are excited about the 2014-15 season.
That is correct. They are excited about next offseason, not this one.
The dream – or delusion, perhaps – is for LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony to opt out of their contracts after next season and join a healthy Kobe Bryant with the Lakers.
That is an honorable goal for the team. It is somewhat like wanting to start a new business with 
aspirations of having Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Larry Ellison for partners. Who wouldn’t want that?
While the chances of a LeBron-Kobe-Melo troika are remote, it is fascinating to consider the story behind the story, which was broken by two reputable reporters for ESPN.com. The information obviously came from parties close to the players, the team or both, but it would seem that the entity with the most to gain would be the Lakers.
With Howard gone, Bryant recovering from surgery on his left Achilles tendon, ultra-talented teams in Oklahoma City, Houston, San Antonio and down the hallway, the Lakers do not have realistic expectations of adding that 17th banner to the rafters next year.
So how to deal with that? Easy. Sell the year after. Focus the fanatics on that 2015 championship parade and perhaps they will be a little less restless this season.
If LeBron and Carmelo were willing, of course, the Lakers would sign them quicker than you can say Phil Jackson, who, by the way, might even come out of retirement again to coach those two and Bryant. (And then he could write another book and mention how difficult it is to coach Bryant.)
But all the reasons that have already been stated and written on why James would not go to LA – if he wins a third straight title in Miami, why leave? If he wants to leave, why not go home and repair his relationship with Cleveland? – there is a larger reason.
Whose team would the Lakers be? And at this level with these personalities, don’t think for a second that it is not a major issue.
LeBron went through that in Miami. As much as he deferred to Dwyane Wade, when it became apparent that he was far superior, Wade announced publicly that James was better. When asked why he would say that, Wade replied, “I try to speak the truth. He is.”
Can anyone imagine Kobe saying the same thing?
El quieran emplear Joomla! no es resolución de cada uno. Yo creo que lo malo” que tiene Joomla!.
Why does Sheridan constantly write negative articles about the Lakers? There are more free agents besides the 2 you listed. You are obviously biased in your writing. You should probably stop writing. If you actually had any idea and listened to local sports radio in LA and knew people in the community, people initially weren’t happy Dwight left, no one with a rational mind set would be, but to say we still aren’t handling it well? common….please stop making yourself look like a D- quality writer. No one really is bothered anymore about his decision to leave. He couldnt even win a playoff game for us and thats supposed to build up enough equity for us to care that much? Don’t be such a joke in life Chris.
First thing to do when you comment is address your disdain to the proper person. Chris did not write the piece. It is clearly indicated that the piece way written BY JAN HUBBARD.
Secondly there are not more FA(s) as you suggested. There are possible restricted FA(s) such as Paul George, John Wall, and DeMarcus Cousins who are young players to build your franchise around. The Lakers will never get a chance to speak to them because they are going to sign extensions with their current teams this October or next July. No Bron, no Melo means goodbye Laker relevancy until their next superstar is either drafted by Buss Jr/Kuptchak or gifted to them by some silly GM from one of the other 29 teams.
PS: And no, Kevin Love is not a superstar. Prepare for the likes of Luol Deng, Danny Granger, Brandon Jennings, or Greg Monroe to eat up that $55 million cap space Lakers management keeps bragging about.
Link you need to read: http://www.hoopsworld.com/2014-nba-free-agents
Everything has changed because of the new CBA. Howard would have been S&T in the old CBA. Artest would not have been amnestied in the old CBA.
The false hope that the Lakers front office may have started, should have been ignored by the Main Stream Sports Media. The OTHER problem not being discussed in this article, is that ESPN and the rest of the Media give 5x too much attention to the Lakers, because of the large national fan base. That fan base will be declining in coming years because I don’t see the Lakers making the playoffs for another 5 years. The Clippers are the new team in LA, just as the Nets will be the new team in NYC.
Lakers likely won’t get Kevin Love or LMA either, because those teams will trade their stars before free agency. Lakers will re-build next year much as Mavs are doing This year (mediocrity).
And finally, Kobe is a Negative for Lakers, because no star will want to risk going to LA if Kobe is going to retire, without any reason to believe there would be cap space to replace him. Steve Nash is likely to retire too, but who is going to be the point guard? Melo+Bron aren’t compatible anyway.
The Lakers aren’t a “new” business. This analogy is idiotic, as are you.
Respectfully, it’s obvious to me when a writer who doesn’t cover the Lakers writes about them. Our fans are irrational; how will the Lakers brand survive the “unquestionably the best center in the league” leaving the team, the Lakers are spinning next season with hopes of more superstars joining the team.
It’s true, many of our fans are irrational–that’s the case for any team. But what you’ll find in So Cal are very intelligent fans who understand the Lakers can’t win it every year, and that rebuilding is necessary. However, we hold out hope that the Lakers will pull off another quick rebuilding cycle with more superstars to come. Don’t call that irrational. Call it being spoiled. The Lakers have done it before, more than once. Personally, I don’t think LeBron will end up in LA, but maybe Carmelo. Who knows at this point?
Finally, I wish the national press would wait and see just how much of a loss it is with Howard leaving the Lakers. Time will tell. At this point Lakers fans understand it would have been better to keep him, but we’ve moved on without emotion because we observed Howard closely over the last year, and his performance and attitude didn’t measure up with what we’ve come to expect of our superstars (e.g., Kobe, Shaq, Kareem, Magic, Worthy, West, Baylor, etc.). And how does a player whose brand is flailing have a devastating effect on the Lakers–the most solid brand in the NBA? I’ll put my confidence in the Lakers, not Dwight Howard.
@Rick: Well said. Thank you.