Man, life just couldn't be better out here in how-the-hell-is-it-still-sunny London. I spent the past two weeks banging out world-class sporting events and watching people realize their lifelong goals. I knocked Wimbledon and Wembley off my sports bucket list. I caught a do-or-die quadruple-header of men's hoops. I watched the USA women's gymnastics and soccer teams capture gold medals under especially tense conditions. I devoured more women's sports than I ever imagined: not just soccer and gymnastics but field hockey, volleyball, beach volleyball and (especially) handball. I lived vicariously through the Brits when Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah brought home golds on the same night. I saw five of the greatest athletes of their generation (and maybe ever): Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, LeBron James, Serena Williams and Timofey Mozgov.

You know what? I say we immortalize this experience with a mega-mailbag for old time's sake. As always, these are actual e-mails from actual readers.

Q. The Lakers got Howard without having to give up Gasol??? Seriously NBA GM's, what the hell? I'm very drunk and I have to work hardcore tomorrow. Is there a bright side or silver lining to this? — Jay, Chicago

SG: Wait … what?

Q: You went on record saying that the Lopez/Humphries/multiple first round picks deal for Howard was "unacceptable." If that deal was 30 cents on the dollar, this deal has to be 2 cents on the dollar, right? The Magic got family sized pupu platter deluxe in Afflalo, Harrington, Vukevic, Harkless and 3 protected picks in the 20s. — Matt Whitaker, Columbus, OH

SG: Is this some kind of joke? That was the whole trade? Hold on, I need to read up on this. Give me a second. Go to the bathroom or something.

(Frantically Googling "Dwight Howard Lakers.")

(Reading.)

(Getting mad.)

(Getting madder.)

(Throwing things.)

I'm just going to start typing. Here are my gut reactions …

WINNER: The Lakers Couldn't have played it any more perfectly these past six months: never biting on Orlando's "No, we need Gasol AND Bynum" power play, steadfastly refusing to assume Hedo Turkoglu's lousy contract in any Bynum deal, and pretending they weren't that interested in Howard (even though the league's third-best player was potentially falling into their laps). Once Howard's most likely suitor (Brooklyn) panicked about losing Deron Williams and guaranteed their non-Howard future, the Lakers responded by making their team a little more Howard-friendly with Steve Nash (one of a handful of NBA players that EVERYONE wants to play with), then hoped Howard's extended recovery stint in Los Angeles would nudge him toward saying, "Hey, you know what? Maybe playing in a celebrity-friendly, warm-weather market with Nash and Gasol would offset having to watch Kobe launch 23 shots a game for the next two years."

SUPERMAN'S LANDING More on the Dwight Howard Trade

Chuck Klosterman, Matthew Berry, and the Grantland staff break down the monster deal.

And as always with the Lakers, it worked out: They flipped the league's second-best center (a top-20 player) into the league's best center (and third-best player in the league) without sacrificing anything else of substance. I wrote this a few weeks ago and I'm writing it again: If scientists could create basketball-playing robots from scratch and were asked to create someone to play with Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant and Nash, basically, they would create Dwight Howard: a ridiculously strong shot blocker/rebounder who can run the floor and doesn't need the ball to be happy. In the span of 3.5 seconds, the Lakers went from "old, slow, can't defend anybody" to "who's stopping us?"

And if that's not enough, they went from "What the hell are we going to do these next two years with an aging team and no Plan B?" to "Hey, I know what we can do — we can try to win titles while also quietly retooling around the best center of this generation!" I'm gonna say this makes them a winner. Damn it all.

LOSER: Brooklyn If Howard's inexplicable February flip-flop never happened, the Nets would have launched their new stadium with a Howard/Williams duo. Instead, they're headed for a series of second-round playoff exits with one of the least charismatic playoff contenders ever assembled. Will anyone care? Not really. Did I mention the NBA is coming to Brooklyn? How much fun is that going to be?

WINNER: Dwight Howard When the Lakers are rolling and their fans are chugging the Howard Kool-Aid in a few months, nobody will remember that Howard disgraced himself with some of the wishy-washiest behavior in recent sports history. Remember what happened when LeBron won the 2012 title and played at a level that we hadn't seen since Jordan's prime? We forgave him for "The Decision." Really, really quickly. I don't remember anyone complaining about LeBron stacking his Miami team, or choosing to play with his biggest rival over trying to beat him, when we were watching him lay waste to Oklahoma City. We only care about what's happening in the moment.

That's professional sports in the 21st century — once you reach a certain level of quality, you can walk all over whomever you want without any real repercussions. Remember the Bridesmaids scene when they were trying on wedding dresses and everyone came down with violent diarrhea? Howard was all five bridesmaids and Orlando's fans were the wedding dresses. In April, after the Lakers win 65 games and everyone is getting psyched for a Heat-Lakers Finals, nobody will care that Howard acted like such a big baby. We'll be busy with crap like ranking him against the other great Lakers centers of all time. That's just how sports works.

(Well, unless the 2013 Lakers don't realize their potential. And then? Get ready for chaos.)

If you're not totally sold on the Bynum-to-Howard upgrade for the Lakers, watch Spain and Argentina attack the rim against Team USA during the medal round. Had Howard played in the Olympics, nobody would have touched this American team — we could have rolled out LeBron, Howard, Durant, Carmelo, Chris Paul and the cast of The Big Bang Theory and still won every game by double figures. Pull Howard out of there and suddenly we're playing small ball and relying on LeBron (never a bad thing) and our 3-point shooting (which, as you know, can come and go). There's nobody in the NBA like him. God, I'm pissed off.

WINNER: Steve Nash Went from playing with 11 bench guys on a lottery team to playing with Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant on a title favorite. Remember SNL's "Orgasm Guy" sketches with Rob Schneider? I think that was Steve Nash this morning when he woke up and found out about this trade.

WINNER: The Los Angeles area Remember the days when Howard wouldn't play for the Lakers...