Most Disappointing Team: Lakers or Knicks?

Have you taken a look at the NBA Eastern and Western Conference standings lately? If you have, you'll see some unfamiliar teams in high places. At press time, the top Eastern Conference teams from No. 1 to 8 are Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Orlando, Miami, Indiana, Boston, and New York--the last of which is 7-10.

In the Western Conference you have Oklahoma City, Denver, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Utah, Portland, Dallas, and Memphis. By the way...That LA team at No. 3? The Clippers. That's right, the L.A. Lakers, who have made the playoffs almost every year in their existence, currently sit at 10th place in the Western Conference with a subpar record of 10-8.

The Knicks have Amar'e Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, and Tyson Chandler -- a big three that should at the very at least be competing for a middle-to-high playoff seed in the East. Instead they're 4-6, barely above Cleveland (6-10), Milwaukee (6-10), and even New Jersey and Toronto (both 5-13) for the eighth and final playoff spot. The Lakers, on the other hand, still have Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and the young, ever-improving Andrew Bynum. Not being in the playoff picture, even this early in this season, is a huge disappointment for the Lakers.

The Knicks snapped their six-game winning streak and look to get back on track, but if this start is any indication, it's gonna be a long season for their fans. Not to be outdone, the Lakers have lost three straight games under new head coach Mike Brown, who is filling in the gigantic shoes of 11-time championship-winning coach Phil Jackson.

It's still early in the season for these two historic franchises, so there's plenty of room for improvement. But don't tell that to their respective fan bases and season ticket holders.