SESSIONS ON COURT

Seventh Heaven.

By TIM DAVID HARVEY

Kobe always gets his man and the Lakers have finally made their point. Sure a David Stern nixed Chris Paul trade this preseason still resembles a taste of something bitter in Laker fans mouths. Besides the cancelled trade deemed "unfair" left the Lakers in a state of despair and disrepair as Lamar Odom took his hurt feeling to Dallas for nothing and gutted the Lakers depth and spread of the floor. Coincidentally Lamar wants back, but won't be brought out by Dallas and couldn't resign with the Lake Show like he and Kobe would like. Coincidentally also CP3 ended up at L.A. anyway but for the rejuvenated, Blake Griffin led Clippers. A team that's taking the battle for L.A. supremacy to the STAPLES Centre floor in an effort to claim it as their own..."unfair" indeed.

It's clear the Lakers needed a fresh start to meet the trade deadline. The dangling of the Dwight Howard carrot had gotten real old the month before last and many Laker die-hards knew a Rajon Rondo move was too good or "Celtic" to be true. Still despite the talents of veteran Steve Blake and rookie Darius Morris the Lakers needed a fresh changing of the guard and they've got that now in Ramon Sessions.

Many analysts and fans alike are praising what some term as the Lakers first real point since...well Magic Johnson's return in 1996. Then again Earvin wasn't up to his old tricks then and the Lakers had the talented Nick Van Exel running the quick guard spot. Also these fans forget the Lakers had a future famer for one term in the Hollywood hall with Gary Payton. Plus all due respect must be given to clutch king and playoff legend Derek Fisher. He was a real guard and a real threat. Some may have not considered him a real Point Guard but he was a real player. Besides the reality is without him the Lakers wouldn't have had a real chance at winning all those championships. The number 2 should be retired in "the Fish that saved L.A.'s" honor...period.

It's a shame that the collective bargaining agreement that player association president Fisher helped develop means that Derek couldn't return to the Laker yet anyway to come off the bench and shoot teams down despite Houston's buyout. The problem is LeBron and the Miami Heat may be waiting for the Lakers legend at airports again. Like Odom a fond member of the Lakers family will only be part of the photo albums now. Still it's time for a different take.

The Lakers current Point Guard and number 7 is Ramon Sessions. The future of this ballclub. 7 points and 5 assists in a rousing 19 minute debut showed that Ramon was legit and you can expect more from his sessions on court soon. Laker favourite Luke Walton and three-point gun for hire Jason Kapono where worth giving up for this money player. Ramon Sessions sees it as a "dream come true" to be donning gold and purple, while Laker legend Kobe is getting over losing his career best-friend Fisher by praising Ramon's "crafty" play and high basketball I.Q. It sure does sound like the troubled Lakers are making a new point and case for themselves. Happy days are coming back to Hollywood and Ramon Sessions is sitting on it.

The only reason Sessions didn't break out to an even bigger star in Cleveland, whilst showing everyone more of the potential and promise that he was poised to show is because he shared a backcourt with sure-thing 'Rookie Of The Year' Kyle Irving. Still Ramon has shined and even in the same backcourt as the greatest ever not named "Mike", Sess' looks to gleam even more in the gold Hollywood shine of the celebrity laden L.A. fan base. Ramon's career high of 44 points and last seasons career-leading 13.3 point average proves he can score but his career 4.8 assists and his career dime-high of 24 shows he's a real P.G. too. His steals and rebounding performances also show he's an all-round player.

An all-round player who can join Kobe, the trade-safe Pau Gasol, the Dwight Howard rivalling and ascending Andrew Bynum and the defensive star Metta World Peace to give the Lakers a new famous five that can keep up with the rest of the celebrity ballclubs in the league. Plus with Blake, Barnes, new boys Jordan Hill, Christian Eyenga and Troy Murphy and many more this triple-double player can help triple the chances and future investments of a team more known for making three-peats than third seeds in the playoffs. Sure right now the Lakers are a long way from the team they where a season back, but this and next season are looking better. The Lakers wont have to follow the leader for much longer with their new floor general taking them up the ranks. This years been hard but it's a new day and game now and the Ramon season is in session.