It’s the beginning of the NBA season, which has fans lining up their fantasy teams and spending quality time with their television, celebrating their team’s victories and wallowing in their defeats.

Many had high expectations for the Los Angeles Lakers this season, as their roster features some of the biggest names in the NBA. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol return from last year’s squad, which made the Western Conference semis, while the team added legendary point guard Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, the league’s best center.

However, the team’s 0-8 preseason record and their 0-2 start to the regular season has many shaking their heads in disbelief. The first loss came against the Dallas Mavericks, 99-91. The second came against the Portland Trail Blazers with a final score of 116-106. The Lakers trailed by as many as 19 points in the game.

They gave up 25 turnovers in the second game of the season. Defense is lacking, and the team couldn’t seem to handle the energy level the Blazers brought out to the court that night.

Clearly, just simply having so much star power on one team does not automatically make the team great. The team needs to learn to work together more, and the players are still getting used to playing with one another. The team’s chemistry is clearly not in mid-season form just yet.

Although the Lakers have been reassuring fans everywhere that they will improve, the team has critics wondering if they’ll even be able to make it through the season with the aging Nash and Howard suffering injuries, not to mention Kobe Bryant’s recent penchant for getting hurt.

Things are not looking good for head coach Mike Brown, who joined the team in 2011, and many are calling for coach Phil Jackson’s return, who led the team to five championships and seven Finals appearances during his time with the Lakers.

Either way you look at it, the Lakers have much need for improvement in all areas.

Whether they can turn the season around depends on them, but they have a lot to prove in the next couple of weeks.