It really seems like it was just yesterday; standing in a huddled mass at Gate 1 of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for the gates to open so that I could celebrate the Los Angeles Lakers’ 15th NBA Championship with 95,000 of my closest friends. There was waiting… lots of waiting. Then it finally happened; the moment I had dreamt about for the past two years. The team I had grown to love like no other Laker squad before them emerged from the peristyle end of the Coliseum, and written upon each of their fourteen faces was an overwhelming sense how big the moment actually was. One particular joyous Laker stood out to me: Sasha Vujacic. As he walked down the steps and gazed into the sea of close to 100,000, the look on his face was unmistakable. I saw etched deep in his eyes an immense sense of pride, yet he was ultimately unfulfilled.

What happened to Sasha Vujacic last season in the NBA Playoffs and Finals is ultimately unimportant. It is an amalgamation of facts and figures that we can all agree were disheartening and wholly disappointing. It was rough. We all know.

Last season is over.

As of today, none of it matters, because with the official opening of training camp this Tuesday, the disappointments of last season disappear.

The 2009-2010 NBA season offers a blank slate for Sasha Vujacic, starting with coach Phil Jackson’s request that Sasha shear his trademark locks for something more conducive to a full speed NBA game. Coach Jackson said of Sasha’s injury during the first day of training camp last year that, “He got off to a bad start and never recovered.” As 2009-2010 begins in earnest for Sasha, look for him to take full advantage of the coaching staff’s willingness to forgive and forget the underachievement of last year.

Aside from the lingering ghosts of last season, Sasha faces a possible position battle with fourth-year guard Shannon Brown, who showed remarkable athleticism and explosiveness in his short time with the Lakers last season. With the ever-present age of both Derek Fisher and Kobe Bryant, who are both entering their fourteenth NBA seasons, looming, the coaching staff certainly has many decisions to make about their guard rotations off the bench. With Bryant likely to average between 36-40 minutes per game and Derek from 24-27, minutes will be a commodity between the Laker backup guards, a collective that features three very different and capable dudes in Brown, Sasha, and Jordan Farmar.

Aside from that, there aren’t too many nagging questions hanging over the opening of Lakers training camp, as was the status quo in years past. It appears that all the minor issues are the kind that will fix themselves over time.

As far as Sasha is concerned, his main focus should be to be the first one to arrive at practice and the last to leave. He has an incredible opportunity to redeem himself and become the player that he knows he is. Redemption and second chances in this league are few and hard to come by, and Sasha is being given a tabula rasa, so to speak. Let’s just hope he has the wherewithal to achieve what he is destined to do and ascend to the greatness he strives for.