The NBA Season starts tonight, so here are the five most intriguing storylines to look out for.

1- The Lakers are the best reality show on television

I believe that the post championship Lakers are a much more interesting team than the pre-championship Lakers. We no longer have to listen to the tired storylines of “Can Kobe win without Shaq?” or “Is Kobe a leader?” anymore. We have much more interesting storylines like.

A- Ron Artest

Artest is a bit of a strange dude, but that is why I think LA is the perfect place for him because it is filled with strange people. This is the best possible situation for him because if he wants to walk to the team bus in just his underwear no one will bat an eye. Actions like that may have caused problems in Houston or Indiana, but in LA it just gets a shrug. I would not be shocked if him and Phil Jackson will be smoking weed together after games. Speaking of Phil he had to deal with Dennis Rodman, who makes Artest look like Tim Duncan in comparison. I am more interested to see how Artest plays on the court. I really liked Trevor Ariza, so we will see if Ron Ron is an upgrade.

B- Lamar Odom

Most people agree that Khole is the third best Kardashian, but how sure are we that Odom is the third best Laker? You know Gasol and Kobe are one and two, but there people who believe that Bynum when healthy and Artest are better third options.

Is it possible that Khole downgraded?

I personally think she should have married Artest and cameras should had followed them throughout the season. It would have been the highest rated reality show ever.

As long as she brings Kim Kardashian to the game I approve of the marriage, but as soon as he goes 2-14 one game don’t be shocked if she gets the “Jessica Simpson” treatment.

C- Bean

Now that Kobe has won his ring without Shaq things get more interesting. In my opinion he is the 6th greatest player of all time behind (Jordan, Wilt, Magic, Russell and Bird). Even if you don’t have him at 6th you are an idiot if you don’t have him somewhere in your Top 10.

Kobe is now playing for history. He is sitting at four rings. If he gets five that puts him in the top 5 and if he gets six you have to seriously start to considering him in the top 3 and if by some chance he got seven he would be staring down at Jordan’s spot.

That’s his motivation now. I figure he has about 3-4 prime years left so he doesn’t have much time, but it possible and he has the type of team in place to make a mini run.

2- Shaq & Lebron

I am on record as saying I don’t believe the Shaq and Lebron experiment will work. Even when D Wade was carrying Shaq to his 4th title he still deferred to Shaq. Lebron is not deferring to anyone (ask Braylon Edwards about the power of Lebron) and no matter what Shaq says he still considers himself an Alpha Dog.

With that being said the Cavs have attached their hopes of keeping Lebron in Cleveland to Shaq and that was a very risky proposition. I think Lebron staying in Cleveland sans a title this year is 50/50. One of the things I am going to investigate is where is Lebron’s head during the season because no on really knows what he is going to do.

Shaq came into camp out of shape and professes not know the Cleveland playbook even though it only consist of two plays (Lebron iso top of key and Lebron pick and roll on wing) so it isn’t getting off to a good start.

3- KG will never be the same but will it matter?

When the knees start to go on a basketball player it is just a matter of time before it is all over. Kevin Garnett will never be the same Kevin Garnett again, but doesn’t have to be he just needs to be effective and smart.

Boston is deep and loaded this year, but they need KG on the court even if it is only 75% of the KG we are use to.

As long as Rasheed can keep his head on straight Boston should be right in the thick of things.

4- Don’t sleep on the Spurs

Yes, Tim Duncan is still sporting a bad haircut for the twenty year in a row, but bad hair or not the Spurs have a great shot at the title this year.. Manu is healthy, Tony Parker still world class point guard and they added Richard Jefferson who is a reliable scorer.

Yeah the Spurs are boring and don’t bring the “sex sells” factor like Lakers or Cavs, but all they do is win games and don’t be shocked if they are the ones holding the championship at the end of the year.

5- Five Team Race

Not to crush the hopes of the rest of the teams in the NBA, but there are only five teams capable of winning a championship this year. Lakers, Cavs, Celtics, Magic and Spurs sorry that is it.

One or two surprise teams may emerge (Bulls, Blazers or Nuggets), but it is highly unlikely. So if you are a bandwagon fan just hop aboard one of those teams and ride the train.