NBA First Quarter Report: The Lakers and the Best of the Rest

The Los Angeles Lakers are right on track. They kept Lamar Odom and upgraded from Trevor Ariza to Ron Artest in the offseason. Meanwhile,  Kobe Bryant is still the leader of this team on the court and Phil Jackson is pushing all of the right buttons as the coach.

Andrew Bynum has not been hurt yet, but Kobe does have a broken finger. And while the Lakers have not played a lot of road games yet, there are only a few negatives so far in what has been a dominant first quarter of the season.

Only the Lakers can stop the Lakers this season.

The Nuggets, Suns, and Mavericks round out the top four in the West. The Spurs have struggled with their rotation and are the eighth place team, a half game ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder, led by Kevin Durant.

The intrigue in the West might be in who plays the Lakers in the first round, as once again, the Lakers are the team to beat in the West.

It looks like they will play the Boston Celtics in the NBA's dream scenario. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen are still productive and the Celtics have youth in Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins. Glenn Davis will be a big addition when he returns from his injury.

Meanwhile, Cleveland is struggling with their rotation, as they added Shaquille O'Neal, Jamario Moon, and Anthony Parker in the offseason. The Cavs' biggest problem is they are too predictable in crunch time. LeBron James left, LeBron James right, and when he is hitting his shots it's all good. But when he is off, the Cavs struggle.

The Magic are loaded again, as Vince Carter has adjusted to his role with his new team. Otherwise, Dwight Howard is the best center in the game and Stan Van Gundy is trying to be nicer.

The Hawks have been a nice surprise, as it looks like Jamal Crawford might actually play in a playoff game this season.

In Philadelphia, Allen Iverson has returned and the Sixers finally won a game. 

What the first quarter has shown NBA fans more than anything else, is that the league as a whole is playing for next year. There are really only five teams that have a chance to win the title this year. 

The free agent class of 2010 has cast such a long shadow over the league. Attendance is down in many cities because fans say that if their team is playing for next year, then they will come and watch next year.

As a fan of the NBA, there is no parity in the league right now. Once the looming transactions take form in the offseason, maybe the league will be more competitive.