Christmas arrived in October, or so it seemed in a corner of the Los Angeles Lakers' practice facility where Dwight Howard sang Silent Night in a falsetto voice.
Sure, why not?
The Lakers reconvened Monday for their annual media day, during which they looked into TV cameras of high-paying sponsors and said how much they enjoyed being part of a historic franchise before being asked to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and other holiday felicitations for use in coming months.
The more gritty stuff begins today with the first day of training camp, followed by the season opener Oct. 30 against Dallas and then possibly an eightmonth trip to the NBA final.
Regardless of where they end, the players arrived from entirely different directions.
Howard showed up after a busy weekend, checking out of the luxury hotel he called home for several weeks and moving into an upscale rental in the hills north of UCLA.
Steve Nash got here after a six-hour car ride Sunday from Phoenix, leaving behind his three kids in the city he called home the last eight years.
Pau Gasol came from a charitable appearance in Africa, and though he hadn't done much on-court work since the London Olympics, he looked bigger and, undoubtedly, relieved to still be with the Lakers.
Kobe Bryant was also there in El Segundo, make no mistake, saying this was the best team he'd ever been part of "on paper," the catchphrase for managing expectations uttered by almost everybody of significance Monday.
"On its face, it's the best talent I've been around," said Bryant, entering his 17th NBA season. "Whether that translates into winning a championship, that remains to be seen. But just on paper, you're obviously talking about defensive players of the years, MVPs, All-Stars. You're talking about a myriad of things where guys are on top of their position and have been at the top of their position."
Metta World Peace managed to be in town as well, leaving behind the nightclubs and the city of Vancouver, where he spent most of his off-season and somehow looked leaner than last season amid whispers of an improved outside shot.
He had some ideas, as usual, including how to maximize the assembled talent.
"Playing together, loving each other, caring for each other. Kind of like the Care Bears," he said.
For what it's worth, Antawn Jamison was the friendliest of the group, the Lakers' new sixth man staying for every last interview with far too many reporters. He won't match the 17.2 points he averaged last season in Cleveland but will improve one of the NBA's worst benches last season.
The Lakers have an NBAhigh $100 million payroll, part of their good will toward fans after finishing a troublesome 41-25 last season, tied for third in the Western Conference with Memphis. They needed all seven games to get past Denver in the first round and then lost to Oklahoma City in five, the first and final games in the series telltale losses of 29 and 16 points.
The Lakers were tirelessly boring on offence, something that will change with Victoria's Nash, who somehow finished second in the league in assists last season while distributing the ball to Markieff Morris, Hakim Warrick and Robin Lopez.
"I believe in this group," Nash said. "I haven't even set foot on the court as a team yet but I believe we have some great pieces and we can find a way to build a championship-calibre team."
With Howard bringing a burst to the middle that Andrew Bynum simply couldn't match, the Lakers couldn't possibly have another stretch of sub-100 point games as they did last season, 13 in a row setting a team record in the shotclock era as fans groaned and Slowtime replaced Showtime.
