subject: Lakers 2010 Schedule - Things Are Looking Good The New Year [print this page] The Los Angeles Lakers 2010 schedule kicked off back in late October and things are looking very good for the new year, as the team currently stands with 25 wins and only 6 losses thus far in the season. One of the high points of this season is some of the new faces on the team's current roster, as well as keeping others from getting away. The team's franchise player, Kobe Bryant, had an option in his contract to terminate the deal during the offseason and still earn $23 million for the season and $24.8 million for the next. Bryant decided to not carry out the option, staying with the team instead. In fact, he will sign a 3 year extension to his contract, worth $80-85 million.
As for the new faces on the team for the Lakers 2010 schedule, Ron Artest, formerly of the Houston Rockets, was the first NBA player to sign with a different team in the offseason. In July, Artest signed a 5 year contract with the Lakers worth $33 million after deciding to not go after a better deal with his former team. Artest changed his jersey number from 96 to 37 once he came to the Lakers. He said the change was to honor Michael Jackson, who died only 2 weeks earlier. Jackson's Thriller album sat atop the sales charts at #1 for a total of 37 weeks.
Lamar Odom, who has been with team since 2004, was the last free agent of the team's players to sign a new deal with them for the Lakers 2010 schedule. At the end of the previous season, he said he would accept less payment than what he earned that year, which was $11.4 million. The Lakers put to different options on the table for him. The first option was for a 4 year contract that would pay him $9 million per season, for a total of $36 million, with on 3 years, or $27 million of that, guaranteed. The fourth year could be bought out for $3 million. The other option was a 3 year contract worth $30 million. He ultimately signed a deal for a 4 year contract, supposedly worth $33 million.
For the Lakers 2010 schedule, they will be attempting to defend their title, coming off of their championship win in the previous season. The Lakers currently have the highest paid team salary of any NBA team, which totals $112 million ($91 million for player salaries and $21 million for their luxury tax.
