(First of all, how damn good does it feel to have not only a man of color in the White House for the first time ever, but a man of character for the first time in a while? As a huge NBA fan, I obviously celebrate its culture and unparalleled diversity. It’s good to see that our Nation is catching up with NBA nation. Barack Obama is also a hooper (even though I think he’s a big Bulls fan). On to an entirely different story…)

My Los Angeles Lakers journey has been a long, strange trip (Luke Walton’s old man would appreciate that). Basically, it’s taken me a while to get back to where hoops began for me.

I was always a tall, lanky kid. Growing up (I was born in late ‘78), I played hoops until, to quote the great Beatles’ song, “I got blisters on my fingers.” I always have loved the game of basketball. The problem was that I grew up in the Missouri-Kansas area and didn’t have a team to call my own. After the Kansas City Kings bounced when I was basically young enough to not remember anything about them — definitely not complaining about that, by the way — the Show-Me/Sunflower region was teamless. But, hey, when you’re seeking the best entertainment this country has to offer, where do you look? Los Angeles. With all apologies to Broadway, Hollywood’s the answer. So going from Show-Me to Showtime was what I did.

When most hoops fans in my neck of the woods were either green (Celtics) or blue (Pistons), I was always feelin’ a little more golden (and purple). I loved watching the Showtime Lakers as a kid. My old man even nicknamed me Kareem Abdul-Adam. Nothing was more exciting to me than a Kareem skyhook, a Magic no-look pass, a Kurt Rambis hussle play or a James Worthy flush.

That’s when something unexpected happened. With my eyes fixated on Los Angeles during the 80s, I discovered a new hoops hero. This baller didn’t rock the Purple and Gold, but rather True Blue and Gold. He was a skinny sharpshooter who played with more moxie and guts than any player I’d ever seen lace up his sneakers and hit the hardwood. For roughly the next two decades, Reggie Miller would be my favorite athlete, and as long as he wore the Navy and Gold, the Indiana Pacers would be my favorite team.

The Jamaal Tinsley-Ron Artest-Stephen Jackson years took their toll on me, though. I went from loving the Pacers franchise to believing that the culture they allowed to cultivate directly prevented Reggie from becoming an NBA Champion. As good as the Pacers were from 2003-05, there was no excuse not to win it all. The era i call the “Artest Mess” all but turned me on the franchise. I still admire Danny Granger, Jeff Foster and some of the other Pacers, but times have changed. My twenty-year love affair with the Pacers is over. It kind of reminds me of my divorce from the Star Wars franchise after the Jar-Jar Binks tragedy. There was just no way to rekindle the flame after what I saw, and unfortunately there was no way to do The Phantom Edit for Uncle Reg’s final years either.

That was about the time I rolled out to L.A. to pursue a screenwriting career and all my other dreams (including sportswriting) after finishing up film school. I was very open to the Lakers at this point. Why? Because I always loathed Shaquille O’Neal and always loved Kobe Bryant.

Shaq was suddenly the ghost of the town, while Kobe was suddenly the toast of the town. Which is good, because, again, I’ve always preferred Black Mamba to Black Shrek. Kobe is exactly my age. While Shaq has a terrible work ethic and can’t even speak his own language, Kobe has a blue collar work ethic and speaks multiple languages. Shaq also has always wanted to be a cop — no offense, but yuck. I’ve always felt Kobe, and I especially gravitated towards him after his redunkulously overboard persecution following his affair (I refuse to call it anything but that — that chick was a starfucker and a habitual liar, folks). He’s the anti-Brett Favre of the sports world. He’s getting the Barry Bonds treatment without any of the Barry Bonds actions. He made one mistake, which he repented for, yet the sports world has never forgiven him. I still think he’s a much better person and teammate than Michael Jordan, but that’s just me. It’s ironic that Leonardo DiCaprio is a Lake Show fan, because KB24 gets straight DiCaprioed by a lot of dudes out there (aka “hated on”).

Because of Kobe’s presence, Shaq’s absence and how much I love the city of Los Angeles, I’ve been a born-again Lakers fan for a few years now. I’m also a big fan of the Kid, Pau Gasol (“Spaniard! Spaniard! Spaniard!”), D-Fish, the Machine, etc. One Laker I’m also really starting to love is Trevor Ariza. The versatile Venezuelan is turning out to be one bad M.F. I do miss Ronny Turiaf a little, however, but it’s good to see Chris Mihm back and looking like he can fill that role. I live in Austin now (moving back to L.A. soon!), so I can appreciate Mr. Mihm.

I now enjoy the team so much that I want to cover it on an everyday basis. I also haven’t seen a Lakers blog out there that consistently brings the best of the blogosphere — especially when it comes to humor and provocation. There are a lot of great Lakers news and views sites out there, but nothing real fun and edgy. I helped create that for my favorite NFL team, the Kansas City Chiefs, over at Arrowhead Addict, and plan to do that here as well. I also want this to be a community where all Lakers fans — critics, homers, and everyone in between — can have a voice. That being said, feel free to comment or e-mail me at any time as I will definitely respond. For more on me and the site, check out our about page. I have my dish fired up and will be watching and blogging, so enjoy and welcome to the Lake Show Life!