Coming into this shortened NBA season which should get underway on Christmas Day, the Miami Heat have been favored to win it all at +250. Just behind the Heat are the Los Angeles Lakers at +550 followed by the Chicago Bulls (+550), Oklahoma City Thunder (+800) and the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks (+900).

If you aren't much of a sports bettor or believe that the shortened season is unpredictable, there are other ways to earn some extra money like online cash bingo games. Personally, I believe taking the Lakers to get back on track and win it all would be a great bet! With Kobe Bryant all healed up and motivated to get back to form and Pau Gasol looking to prove that he is one of the best forwards in the game, the Lakeshow should be fun to watch this season and incredibly tough to stop if things go right in the Mike Brown era in Los Angeles.

With that being said, I believe the Lakers will surprise some people this season as they could be much better than anticipated and run the table in the Western Conference.

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It seems as though the day has finally come with the NBA owners and players seeing eye-to-eye on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). After meeting for 15 hours on Friday and into Saturday morning, the league can say goodbye to a very long and drawn out NBA lockout as it appears that we will see NBA games get started this season on Christmas Day.

Remember, this is nothing more than a tentative deal which basically means a handshake on a agreement with nothing signed, but everyone seems to be in agreement that this new CBA will get signed in the coming days. The players and owners must take a vote on the new CBA and it will almost certainly pass.

With that being said, the NBA is officially back in action and NBA camps and free agency will begin on Dec. 9. Now that we can put the NBA lockout behind us, the speculation about the upcoming season begins and you can start considering NBA futures betting.

As of right now, the Los Angeles Lakers aren't favored to win it all, but they are pretty close and it might be a bet worth taking!

In the meantime, avid Lakers fans should get ready for what will be an extremely fast free agency period in which the team could make a few changes. There has been plenty of talk of what potential free agents could be coming to town like Jamal Crawford (Atlanta Hawks), Baron Davis (Cleveland Cavaliers), Jason Richardson (Orlando Magic) and Mike Bibby (Miami Heat), but it is uncertain what direction the Lakers will go in.

It will be interesting to see all the player movement starting Dec. 9.

Despite Magic being one of the greatest NBA players of all-time and arguably the greatest Lakers of all-time (Kobe Bryant might disagree), the end of Magic's prime in the NBA was tragic to say the least after being diagnosed with HIV and having to retire from the game.

Even though he made a short-lived comeback in 1996 and gave coaching a shot, Magic's career in the NBA as an elite player finished when he was named the MVP of the 1992 All-Star game where he put on one last show for his NBA fans.

Check out Magic Johnson's amazing performance against the likes of Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan:

Recently, Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant made an appearance on the show, but probably not the way he would've wanted to.

Check out the video clip below with Kobe Bryant on "The Simpsons":

Photo from JingDaily.com

During the NBA off-season and the current NBA lockout, Kobe Bryant has been one of the busiest members of the Los Angeles Lakers along with Metta World Peace who appeared on Dancing With the Stars and NBPA president Derek Fisher. Obviously, Fisher has had the toughest job this off-season trying to negotiate with stubborn NBA owners on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), but Kobe has been keeping busy on the road by hosting youth camps around the world and making cars to help save environment.

Reportedly, the "Black Mamba" edition Smart car will be limited to just 500 units, sold only in China and priced around $19,412 (124,000 yuan).

Check out the new Kobe Bryant edition Smart car in his new commercial:

Photo by Noah Graham, Associated Press

With the NBA lockout still underway, there is no telling how much basketball will be missed during the upcoming NBA regular season, but in the meantime here is a little flashback from Kobe Bryant's greatest game when he lit up the Toronto Raptors for an unbelievable career-high 81 points.

Not only was Michael Jordan never able to score more than 69 points during his prime with the Chicago Bulls, but scoring 80+ points was something that no one thought could be done in today's game. The only player to score more was none other than the Los Angeles Lakers legendary center Wilt Chamberlain who scored 100 points back in 1962 with the Philadelphia Warriors.

Checkout Kobe Bryant scoring all 81 points in just three minutes:

Here is a video of Derek Fisher giving an update on The Jim Rome Show about the current negotiations:

Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

The NBPA (National Basketball Player's Association) doesn't seem to be any closer to agreeing upon a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the NBA owners that would end the NBA lockout and get things back on track in the league. With the NBA regular season just around, the pressure is on the NBPA to come to a compromise with the NBA owners or the league could be in serious danger of missing games and seeing a lot of players going overseas to earn some paychecks.

With the recent news of the lucrative contract offered to Kobe Bryant from Italian team Virtus Bologna and the cancellation of all 43 preseason games, the negotiations between the two sides have to come to an agreement within the next few weeks to avoid what could be a repeat of the 1998-1999 NBA season where only 50 games were played.

The one guy that has a lot on his plate right now is none other than five-time NBA champion and Los Angeles Lakers point guard Derek Fisher. Not only is Fisher a Lakers legend, but he is a very busy man off the court as the NBPA president. Fisher's task during this off-season has been a tough one as he has been the voice of the NBA players in this negotiation and at this point there is a good chance that he is regretting taking this job.

Something that seems to be an ongoing theme in these talks is the NBA owners not willing to budge. Not only are the owners are the owners being stubborn about their stance in the current negotiation on a new CBA, but reportedly there has been some problems between a few owners on the new deal which makes things even more complicated than they already are.

In my opinion, Derek Fisher is made for these kind of situations and he will definitely have a future after basketball in the political arena, but whether or not he has what it takes to convince these owners to come to an agreement remains to be seen. Fisher definitely has the confidence of the fans and players around the league, but he will have a tough task ahead if he wants to end this NBA lockout and get back to business as usual.

It will be interesting to see what goes down in the coming weeks with big-name players like Kobe Bryant considering playing overseas and the scheduled start of the NBA regular season rapidly approaching.

Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

The NBA regular season is supposed to be right around the corner with teams around the league starting training camps and getting ready for the NBA preseason, but recently the NBA decided to cancel all 43 preseason games and postpone training camps until further notice. With that being said, the consensus is that the regular will not start on time which might force players to start to seriously consider signing with teams overseas.

One NBA star that has already signed with a team in Turkey and begun his season is perennial All-Star Deron Williams (New Jersey Nets). It didn't take long for Williams to be convinced to sign with Turkish club Besiktas as he was the first to do so, but now the plot has thicken with NBA superstar Kobe Bryant getting an extremely lucrative offer from Italian team Virtus Bologna.

This new contract offer given to Kobe Bryant is one of the most aggressive moves yet by a team overseas to lock up an NBA star. With four different options, Kobe can pick and choose how long he wants to stay in Italy with Bologna and will be paid handsomely for it.

Reportedly, the one-year deal that Virtus Bologna is offering Kobe Bryant is worth up to $6.7 million. Even though that might be enticing for Kobe if the NBA lockout continues, the other options might be even more appealing as the team is willing to pay the Lakers star about $740,000 per-game. This is option that I believe Kobe will go for, but there also options of one to two months.

Perhaps the best part about this contract offer and all four options is the fact that Kobe Bryant can come back to the Los Angeles Lakers immediately after the NBA lockout ends. This might be enough to convince the Black Mamba to head to Italy until the NBA owners and NBPA can come to an agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).