When the Los Angeles Lakers donated Lamar Odom to the defending champions and the Nets emerged as the frontrunners to acquire Dwight Howard, I wondered:

Are the curtains being brought down on the Kobe Bryant era in L.A.?

In spite of the fact that Byrant had publicly lobbied for both his former teammate Brian Shaw to receive the head coaching job and for keeping the championship nucleus together, the Lakers hired head coach Mike Brown without consulting the Mamba and attempted to blow up the team, twice.

Then, Los Angeles shipped a gift-wrapped Sixth Man of the Year to the Dallas Mavericks, and we all knew Kobe would be furious.

To put Kobe Bryant’s frustration into perspective, he actually joked recently that he’d like to be traded to the Miami Heat and said of the Lakers: “I think we’re terrible … we’re going to be worse [than last year].”

Jokes aside, almost every comment out of Kobe lately is negative. His remarks range from sarcastic to fatalistic and his friend and ESPN insider Stephen A. Smith appeared on SportsCenter and predicted that “Kobe Bryant will demand a trade, and I am not budging from that. He’s livid. I’ve known Kobe too long. He is ticked off.”

Smith added that: “It’s not just because [the Clippers] got Chris Paul, which is a guy that he expected to have. It’s because Jim Buss seems to be doing the inexplicable. … It makes no sense. It’s one thing for the team not to have improved [after losing to the Mavericks], it’s another thing entirely for them to regress. If you know anything about Kobe, that is the last thing that he wants to do.”

Now, it should be noted that in a recent interview with Yahoo’s Marc Spears, Kobe dismissed this notion. When asked if he wanted to stay a Laker, Kobe said: “Of course. No question. Why not? I’ve been here for 16 years. I’m going to up and leave now? … I’ve been with this organization. I like being here. I like playing for the purple and gold. This is where I want to finish up.”

That said, I agree with Stephen A.’s prediction, anyway. I remember back during the Shaq years and even a few years after, Kobe always maintained that he wanted to retire a Laker. Saying that—and even genuinely believing it—didn’t stop a disgruntled Kobe from demanding a trade in 2007, however.

Now, with Pau offended by recent events, Bynum saying he doesn’t really care where he plays and Kobe habitually usurped and disregarded by the Lakers’ front office, I see this situation unfolding similarly.

Unless Los Angeles can trade for Dwight Howard or make other significant moves that make the team a legitimate contender, expect Kobe to demand a trade as soon as he starts feeling helpless again.

More from the Yahoo! Contributor Network:

Top 5 Reasons Dwight Howard will join the Los Angeles Lakers

Why Dwyane Wade is better than Kobe Bryant

Top 5 Most Likely Trades for the Los Angeles Lakers

Interview: Shaq threatened to kill Kobe

How the Los Angeles Lakers can land Dwight Howard

Follow Charles on Twitter and visit his Yahoo! Archive here.

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The Los Angeles Lakers began the 2010-2011 season as the two-time defending NBA champions. It was not too much of a stretch to imagine this team winning a third straight title as they did from 2000 to 2002. While the Lakers fell short of that goal these five moments illustrate that the squad was a good team and by most standards they had a good year. After all, 57 wins against 25 losses and a division title in the regular season is a good year.

SEASON OPENER

The season opener is also a high moment for a team, especially when the team is the defending NBA champions. That means ring ceremony; the players receive their championship rings from the 2009-2010 season and the team hangs the championship banner. October 26, 2010 marked opening night in Los Angeles and the Houston Rockets provided the opposition. In the first half Houston made it clear it was not going to give the game to the champs. The teams went into the locker room with Houston leading 62-51. The Lakers came out strong in the third quarter and cut the lead to 5 going into the final quarter. In the end the Lakers prevailed 112 to 110 in a fitting tribute to the prior season. Pau Gasol lead the way with 29 points and Kobe Bryant chipped in 27.

OPENING WIN STREAK

It is always good to get any season off to a strong start and the Lakers started 2010-2011 like they were not going to lose. They ran off seven straight wins and on Tuesday November 9th the Minnesota Timberwolves arrived in Los Angeles with the Lakers looking for their eighth straight win. The Lakers were up to the challenge and carried the day with a 99 to 94 victory. Kobe Bryant lead the Lakers with 33 points. The Lakers would lose game 9 in Denver and the next game at home but then respond with 5 straight wins to run their record to 13-2.

ANDREW BYNUM RETURNS

The Lakers had been playing without its big center Andrew Bynum for the first 24 games. So it naturally was a high point in the season when he returned for game 25 on December 14th against the Washington Wizards. Although Bynum did not start and played only 17 minutes scoring 7 points, his return was huge. The Lakers needed his size and talent if they were to challenge again for the championship. The Lakers won the game 103-89 to extend the season’s record to 18-7.

RECORD WIN

On January 11 2011 the Cleveland Cavaliers with a record of 7-30 arrived in Los Angeles to meet the Lakers who were 27-11. No one expected the Cavaliers to win but the margin of victory exceeded anyone’s expectations. The first quarter ended with the Lakers up 27-12 and that turned out to be just the beginning. At halftime the Lakers lead 57-25 and fans wondered if this could be a record; one for the fewest points scored against the Lakers since the shot clock went into effect. The Cavaliers did improve slightly in the second half but still could only manage 57 points for the entire game, a figure which matched the Laker output in the first half. The final was 112-57 and it is unlikely a team will match that low figure anytime soon. LakersUnivere.com noted the 57 to be indeed a record low against the Lakers since the advent of the shot clock. Seven Lakers scored in double figures and 11 of the 12 players on the team scored. Nine players played at least 16 minutes so the Lakers took advantage of the big win to hand out playing time all around.

KOBE’S RECORD SCORING

One continuing theme of the season has been the movement up the list of all-time scorers in NBA history by Kobe Bryant. He started the season in 12th place and on March 8th in Atlanta against the Hawks he scored 26 points to reach 27,423 for his career according to LakersUniverse.com. This put Kobe at number six and any further movement will have to wait until the 2011-2012 season. The team won the game 101-87 to improve to 46-19 on the season.

NOTE: I have followed the Lakers my whole life. From Jerry West to Magic Johnson to Kobe Bryant with all the other great players they have been and continue to be a truly great franchise. The Lakers have won sixteen titles; five as the Minneapolis Lakers and eleven in Los Angeles

Sources:

The Official Site of the Los Angeles Lakers http://www.nba.com/lakers/

Basketball-Reference.com Los Angeles Lakers http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAL/2011.html

LakersUniverse.com Season Details 2010-2011 http://www.lakersuniverse.com/seasondetails/2010_2011_season.htm

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

After rumors cropped up Friday, Oct. 21, that the Los Angeles Lakers were looking to add former NBA player and D-League coach Darvin Ham to the coaching staff, the deal has finally come to fruition.

On Monday, Oct. 24, the Lakers officially hired Ham to join the team as one of the pawns in head coach Mike Brown’s army of assistants.

Despite the questionable future of a 2011-2012 NBA season that may never begin, the Lakers and Brown have already added five assistant coaches to the roster. Ham will now join the likes of John Kuester, Ettore Messina, Chuck Person and Quin Synder as Lakers assistants who will work as Brown’s wingmen on the sidelines.

With this latest move, Brown has already surpassed the number of assistants that former Lakers head coach Phil Jackson had during his reign.

“I’m very happy to have Darvin join our coaching staff,” Brown said. “I’ve known Darvin since his rookie year in Denver and have watched him make the transition from player to coach. He has put in the hard work that is necessary to have success at this level and I look forward to having him on our staff.”

As Brown mentioned, him and Ham go way back to the new assistant’s 1996 NBA rookie season. After going undrafted out of Texas Tech, he was picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Denver Nuggets. At the same time, Brown was working on Denver’s basketball operations staff.

To go along with his ties to Brown, Ham also has numerous connections with other Lakers staff members. He played under Kuester when he was a member of the Detroit Pistons from 2003 to 2005. As a member of the D-League Austin Toros in 2008, he played under Synder. Although it doesn’t have as much meaning, he did also compete against Person a few times during the three years that they were both playing in the NBA.

“I’m truly honored and grateful for Mike Brown, Mitch Kupchak and the entire Lakers organization for presenting me with this amazing opportunity,” Ham said. “I look forward to making my contribution in sustaining the championship tradition that the Lakers have established throughout their history in the NBA. I’m very excited about our staff and players, and am ready to get to work to help bring another championship to this prestigious franchise.”

Whether there will be a 2011-2012 NBA season has yet to be seen. If and when it does begin, though, the Los Angeles Lakers will be more than ready to bring the best out in each and every one of their players with the tremendous versatility that this coaching staff possesses.

For a more in-depth look at Ham’s NBA background, read my previous article on the Lakers’ newest assistant coach.

Gil Alcaraz IV is a Los Angeles native who was born into a family of diehard Lakers fans. For more Lakers coverage, follow him on Twitter @GilAlcarazIV.

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Read More: brian shaw lakers, brian shaw mike brown, Brian Shaw (A – LAL), Phil Jackson (H – LAL), Mike Brown (H – CLE), Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers hired Mike Brown as their new head coach in late May as Phil Jackson’s replacement, passing over longtime assistant — and Triangle offense disciple — Brian Shaw in the process. Unfortunately, the front office didn’t tell Shaw about this until he watched Brown’s introductory interview on ESPN.

Shaw doesn’t appear to be pleased by this, either, according to an interview he did on ESPN Radio.

“I wasn’t really told anything,” said Shaw, who had the public backing of players Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher, among others, to take over for Jackson. “Unfortunately, I found about not getting the job and who was hired for the job on ESPN. I didn’t really talk to anyone for about three weeks after that.”

He had good reason to not talk to his former team, too, considering the way they passed him over despite his credentials and familiarity with the team.

“At that point, all the speculation and what I’ve heard, the powers making those decisions felt like the team needed a change of culture and a new voice, and head in a new direction,” Shaw said. “I thought that was kind of peculiar because in the 12 years I’d been there, all we had done was gone to the championship seven times and won five championships. I felt like there were 29 other teams in the league that would love to have that kind of culture and that kind of direction. … But I didn’t expect anything to be handed to me.”

Shaw has since found himself as the associate head coach of the Indiana Pacers under Frank Vogel, but it sounds like he thinks he deserved to stay in LA. In all reality, he may have been right, though it’s clearly too soon to tell.