A journalist from SINA, a Chinese news network, made the mistake of asking Kobe Bryant what his "lowest acceptable expectations" were for the upcoming season. In honest fashion, as only Kobe can give, he disregarded the negative aspects of the question and flipped his answer to focus on the positives.

"Championship. Championship. That's all there is winning a championship," Bryant said. "The lowest? I don't even think about [that] because it's not an option. You focus on what the end goal is, you know that's where you want to get to and now, every single day, you do what's necessary to get you there."

 Someone obviously forgot to tell Kobe that he only played six games during the 2013-14 season, and his tattered Laker team finished 14^th in the Western Conference. Part of the brilliance of Kobe Bryant is his ability to forget the past and work towards the "end goal." Kobe's end goal is championship or bust; a feat which will be difficult, but his confidence and work ethic are admirable.

NBA analysts and even most Laker fans aren't expecting much out of the team this season. Jeremy Lin, Carlos Boozer and Ed Davis are hardly the free agent cast members that fans were hoping to see. There were speculations that the Lakers were merely playing it cool, and waiting to make their move after nextseason. Well, that may not work now because Kevin Love is gone, Carmelo Anthony gone and so is LeBron James. With Kevin Durant rumored to be going home to Washington D.C. after his contract expires in Oklahoma, who's left for the Lakers to pursue?

The greats of the NBA are not looking to play for the Los Angeles Lakers. Naturally the Laker's could throw a ton of cash at Durant, but it's doubtful he'd want play in LA in the shadow of Kobe's monster career.

The Lakers need to abandon hopes of scoring an all-star free agent line up. The big names aren't coming, and so its time to move on. A San Antonio Spurs approach, though not atheistically pleasing, is what the Lakers should be shooting for.

While they may not have picked up the big names, the Lakers did acquire pieces that when put together, could gel into a decent playoff team. Jeremy Lin and Carlos Boozer might return to their former glory. Kobe and Nash are 100 percent healthy, while 'Swaggy P' is coming off of his best season. The Lakers aren't star-stacked but they have are players who once showed a flare of greatness. It's up to Kobe to guide them, and if all goes well, fans would rejoice at the chance to be back in the playoffs.