If You Can't Beat 'em...Join 'em

Kobe really seems to have the world in the palm of his hands.

First, he finally gets that Shaq-monkey off of his back, and grabs his fourth NBA Title with the Lakers. He did it his way, and took another step closer to MJ in the all-time greatness category.

As if that weren't enough, it now appears that Kobe will no longer have those much anticipated Kobe VS Ron Ron games during the season. That is because unrestricted free agent Ron Artest has decided to become a teammate of Kobe.

Not a bad decision, especially since the Rockets are going to be without T-Mac and Yao next season. Joining the defending NBA Champions isn't bad either.

Artest and Kobe have always been friends off the court, and they have a true respect for one another's game. The intensity at the Laker's practices will definitely be picking up this upcoming season.

With the loss of Trevor Ariza (and possibly Lamar Odom), this is great news for any Laker fan. The team defense just got kicked up about 8 notches, and they have also added another big time scorer.

With Kobe and Artest joining forces out west, look for them to challenge everyone's darlings in the West next year, the San Antonio Spurs. Those could be the only team's vying for the title out West next year (possibly Portland).

All the attention has been on Shaq and LeBron, The Detroit Huskies, and Vinsanity in Orlando. The Eastern conference has been all the buzz this offseason, that is until now.

The top five or six teams in the NBA have officially just widened the gap between themselves and the rest of the league.