Watch out NBA, because Big Daddy is back!

So far in this bizarre NBA season the Los Angeles Lakers have looked like anything but a three time defending champ.  Kobe Bryant has learnt that this is not his team after all as the team has started out with an embarrassing three wins from twelve games, a win loss record which is good enough to land them in last place in the Pacific.

?yet the cockyness remains.  "We're going for a four-peat,? said Bryant, iced and taped as though he had just gone 15 rounds with Mike Tyson.  ? It's only right that we make the story really, really difficult and complex. It has to happen."

Tonight they take on the Chicago Bulls, a team that has arguably been the worst in the NBA over the last four season and thus far has a better record than the ?champs?.  The Bulls might be riding a two game winning streak against the Lakers, having swept them last season, but L.A. has a nice surprise in store.  Enter Shaquille O?Neal.

O?Neal?s timing could not have been better.  Steve Dilbeck of the L.A. Daily News reports that the Lakers have approached the season with a business type mentality.  Players have simply been going through the motions, and without O?Neal teams do not appear to be intimidated by the ?champ? tag.

So how is the toe?  "[The doctor] said everything looks OK," O'Neal said. "I played (yesterday), felt pretty good. We'll just see (today). That's all I'm going to say."

The plan, according to Jackson and assuming O'Neal is ready, is to play O'Neal about half the game. And he's leaning toward bringing the center off the bench.

Having lost seven of their last eight, suddenly the regular season holds meaning for a team which has considered it to be nothing more than a formality ? a warm up to the big dance.  The Lakers currently sit in the 12th seed of the Western Conference ? only the top eight go through.

While injuries and the six game suspension to Rick Fox no doubt play a part in the Lakers poor early season form, Dilbeck reports that it cannot be used as an excuse.  The Sacramento Kings, second to only Dallas along with the surprising Seattle Supersonics,  have been without injured star Mike Bibby and started out without superstar Chris Webber, and they have a 9-4 record for their efforts.

"We've had our injuries, too," Kings center Vlade Divac said.

But the return of the NBA?s premier player removes any excuses for the Lakers ? the Kings are still missing Bibby ? so it will be interesting to see if the supporting cast continues to play the game with a casual attitude now Shaq?s back, or if the team will come out and play like they are the champions.