Los Angeles Lakers tickets are on sale to enjoy as Kobe Bryant leads the beloved and celebrated franchise on the road to the NBA finals. If Bryant can prove victorious, then he will give the fanbase at the Staples Center their 17th franchise championship. TheSeats has the Lakers playoff tickets to enjoy this trip in 2012.

Los Angeles Lakers Tickets on Sale

The Lakers have survived a surprising struggle in the first round in the Denver Nuggets. Los Angeles hopes that is not a sign of the demise of the Kobe-centric roster. It certainly helps when Andrew Bynum has finally developed into the franchise center they imagined so many seasons ago. He is young too, so he might use this postseason to position himself as the cornerstone of the franchise in the next few years.

This postseason - since it is all that really matters - he is putting up 17 and 12 while swatting 3.63 shots per game. Bynum is even keeping his fouls to less than two a game along with his turnovers. While Bynum is on the rise, power forward Pau Gasol is on the decline. Gasol is only shooting 43 percent and is averaging 12.5 points. He is contributing far more as a rebounder and defensive player, with 8.9 boards and 2.13 blocks a game respectively.

The key to the series with the Oklahoma City Thunder may very well be Metta World Peace. Not only did the last regular season meeting result in a huge suspension for the controversial personality, but it set up a huge storyline for this second round series. World Peace has enjoyed a rejuvenation as a defender and is one of the few Lakers capable of guarding Durant.

Los Angeles Lakers History

Los Angeles is not on a Lake, so some might wonder how this legendary NBA franchise came about the body of water as a name. The basketball team actually began playing as the Minneapolis Lakers. There they began their championship pedigree. George Mikan became the first superstar in the league and the basketball team won an NBL championship in 1948 and five NBA championships before moving to Los Angeles in 1960.

Jerry West and Elgin Baylor became the next batch of stars. They took the Lakers to the NBA Finals six times in the 1960s, but the Celtics beat them every time. The Lakers finally added another championship in 1972. Wilt Chamberlain had joined the team and Los Angeles went a then-record 69-13 and beat the New York Knicks in the finals. The Chamberlain Lakers would not become a dynasty. The franchise would have to wait until Magic Johnson arrived in 1979.

Los Angeles Lakers games took on a whole new level of excitement as Magic ushered in Showtime. He, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, and a cast of many other explosive basketball players won five NBA championships from 1980 to 1990. The 1990s proved to be a difficult fall from grace, but Kobe Bryant and Shaq started the 21st century with a three peat. Now Kobe is paired with Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom and has already delivered a repeat as NBA Finals. TheSeats has the Lakers tickets for the new schedule to see if Kobe and company can deliver another postseason run and championship ending.