The Boston Globe   Lakers in a Hollywood disaster story  Dwight
Howard is the latest in an imposing line of 7-footers to be
acquired by the Lakers, and he has struggled this season
(averaging 16.5 points and 11.9 rebounds, both below his career
numbers). However, there is still hope — none of his
predecessors won the NBA title in their first season in LA, but
they all won at least one championship down the road.   Wilt
Chamberlain  From 76ers  Malcolm W. Emmons/Getty Images  First
season (1968-69)  20.5 ppg, 21.1 rpg, lost NBA Finals  Rest of
stay (four years)  16.7 ppg, 18.7 rpg, won 1 NBA title  Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar  From Bucks  George Gojkovich/Getty Images  First
season (1975-76)  27.7 ppg, 16.9 rpg, 6th in Western Conf.  Rest
of stay (13 years)  21.7 ppg, 8.8 rpg, won 5 NBA titles
Shaquille O'Neal  From Magic  Lucy Nicholson/Getty Images  First
season (1996-97)  26.2 ppg, 12.5 rpg, lost in West semis  Rest
of stay (seven years)  27.1 ppg, 11.8 rpg, won 3 NBA titles  Pau
Gasol  From Grizzlies  Stephen Dun