Los Angeles Lakers Collect Rings and Win in 2009 Season Opener

Regardless of the outcome of this game, everybody knew that tonight was going to be a good night for Los Angeles.

The banner was raised, the crowd cheered and everybody on the Laker's squad received a shiny new championship ring. Everybody, except one.

Ron Artest had to watch from the locker room as he wasn't a part of the team that won the championship but he's on the team that will be defending it.

Artest had a rough game bringing in 10 points, five rebounds, and four assists on 30 percent shooting while taking half of his 10 shots from the three-point-line.

Should I add that he also had four turnovers?

Yes, he didn't have his best performance out there on his first official night as a Laker but it sure wasn't from a lack of effort.

He ran the lanes, and he defended his man but he just wasn't hitting his shots. It's a little hard to find a rhythm when your taking half of your shots from beyond the arc and yet it didn't stop him from trying.

It looks as though Artest is still trying to find his place on the Lakers and as the season progresses we'll see where he falls into place.

Kobe Bryant had a good game tonight putting up 33 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals on 42 percent shooting, but it wasn't his best. 

Shot selection is something Kobe has to continue to work on as the season progresses but this has been a weakness of his for his entire career and I don't expect him to start now.

Scoring 33 points is great but doing it while taking 26 shots isn't anything spectacular.

A rule of thumb for scoring is: if your point total is greater than your field goal attempts than you have had a good game. It's a good game but it can be better.

This is something that Michael Jordan was very good at during his career and was why he shot 50 percent for his entire career. He didn't just take shots, he picked and chose which shots to take.

This is one of many reasons why we can't compare Kobe to Jordan, yet.

The story of tonight was Andrew Bynum.

He scored 26 points and rebounded the ball 13 times on 60 percent shooting.

How about that?

Every season people predict that it will be his breakout season and every season we are left disappointed.

I doubt that will be the case this year because I'm telling you all tonight, that this is his year.

He can make the All-Star game. He has the talent. Let's watch him do it.

There's no doubt that Bynum is a presence in the middle and you can see Kareem's hard work on the floor when you watch him play.

He isn't a 17-year-old kid playing out of high school anymore. He's a man ready to take his place in the NBA.

He turned 22 today and he gave the fans quite a gift for what was already a very special night.

By the way, Happy Birthday Bynum.

Not everybody forgot it.

The Clippers shot better than the Lakers and they even out rebounded them but they lost to a final score of 99-92.

So what went wrong for the Clips tonight?

It's very simple actually. They sent the Lakers to the line 37 times where they converted 25 of them. The Clippers only got there 16 times.

That's your game right there.

The Lakers are a far more aggressive team and attack the rim. The Clippers had nobody to stop them and in turn, it resulted in a lot of fouls, as you can see when you compare the Clippers 27 personal fouls to the Lakers 15.

But a win is a win.

This is game one of 82 games and they have a lot of room for improvement. A lot of pressure is placed on them to beat the 72-10 record but as Kobe Bryant said tonight, "we're going to take it one game at a time."