One of television's longest-running hits is professional basketball. The concept is one of the most brilliant ever conceived. There are 30 teams, and they can be divided into two categories: "The Lakers" and "Other". The main question each season is whether the Lakers can play together, deal with injuries and get past the villainous "Other" teams to win the championship. It makes for compelling drama and it's all filmed in front of a live audience.

The ensemble cast of characters is part of this show's appeal. There's head coach Phil Jackson, who's constantly trying to uphold his reputation as a genius. He's a good character study, as it's not always clear whether he's as arrogant as he acts or if he's insecure about the fact that he's clearly not invincible, as he was once thought to be. There's star player Kobe Bryant, who's constantly trying to prove that he's the best in the league. He's had trouble with Jackson in the past, so the question of how long they can peacefully co-exist adds some tension to the mix. There's Derek Fisher, a cast member who left the series for a while to do some untelevised roles. He returned this season, much to the delight of longtime fans who like the chemistry he brings. There's also Lamar Odom. He was one of the guys brought in four seasons ago to replace the top-billed Shaquille O'Neal. While some fans had a hard time accepting him at first, he's established himself as a key element to the show's success.

As the Lakers are the focal point of the entire program, it always seems wrong when the protagonists get eliminated from the Playoffs and one of those "Other" teams succeeds. Part of the show's genius is that they sometimes televise a game where the Lakers aren't one of the two teams playing. The reason for this is to give the viewer an idea of how tough the competition will be when the Lakers play those teams. You can't fully appreciate the antagonist without proper background, and this show cares about character development. As is common knowledge, almost nobody actually roots for those "Other" teams except a few contrarians. Just look at the front page of the FoxSports Blogs. Every post in the pro basketball section is usually related to the Lakers. You occasionally get those intellectual types that want to analyze the bad guys, but most people just want to talk about the success of the good guys.

There are several notable villains on this series. First and foremost, there is LeBron James, the supervillain who plays for the Cleveland team. Kobe and LeBron are always competing for the title of "Best Player in the League". While Kobe is the hero, some believe that LeBron could defeat him if it came down to just the two of them. It's a scary thought, but so far we have yet to see it reach that point. Until it does the debate will continue and the threat of it happening will be an undercurrent to each season. Another villain is the aforementioned Shaquille O'Neal. He used to be one of the good guys, but he eventually went to the dark side. Fans have had to watch bitterly as he won a championship playing for the Miami team two years ago, and more recently as he joined the Phoenix team that has eliminated the Lakers from the Playoffs the past two seasons. You also have the San Antonio team that wins with machine-like efficiency and the Boston team that used to be an annual rival back in the 80's. The Boston team has been getting many of its games televised this season, so perhaps the producers are trying to foreshadow an NBA Finals matchup between them and the Lakers. Of course, you have to watch, because you never know when they'll flip the script on you.

There have been a few cases where one of the "Other" teams got its own spinoff. Back in the 90's the Chicago team developed sort of a cult following and even got more media attention than the Lakers. Some even thought that they could supplant the Lakers in terms of overall fan popularity (similar to the way "Family Matters" went on to be much more popular than "Perfect Strangers"). Still, people eventually lost interest in the Chicago team (mainly due to excessive cast changes) and once again the Lakers had the spotlight all to themselves.

The Lakers are looking like a threat to win the championship this season, but the race is so close right now that there's no telling what will happen in the Playoffs. If the Lakers should lose in the postseason, it's a safe bet that 99% of pro basketball fans will be disappointed. The remainder of the Playoffs, which will only be televised for curiosity's sake, will most likely be a total bore. If this program's decision-makers know what they're doing, they'll cheer the fans up this year and let the Lakers capture the title. If they're not careful, the villains might become more popular than the heroes again.




(Note: I realize it's somewhat subtle, but this is a satirical piece. I am not a Lakers fan. At all.)