WE LOVE LA!!!

It's official! The Los Angeles Lakers are back on top of the basketball world, winning their 15th championship in franchise history. This latest edition was the 4th of Kobe Bryant's career, the first without Shaquille O'Neal, and the 10th of Phil Jackson's coaching career (which makes him the first coach in NBA history to win double digit championships). What do these accomplishments mean for these two individuals?
Well, for Kobe, it means no more living under the massive shadow of Shaquille O'Neal. It validates his career in a sense, proving he can win a title on his own as the alpha dog, as opposed to playing second fiddle to the monstrous maestro known as Shaq. It also shows his resiliency and his hunger and his determination, qualities that really separate Kobe from his contemporaries. After tasting so much success so early in a career (3 titles by age 23), most players would be content and play out the rest of their careers for money and accolades. Not so for Bryant. He worked his rear end off to climb back up to the top of the mountain, and while he caused controversy and alienated many people in the process, he was able to mature in his own right and capture his first career NBA Finals MVP award, a staple in the collections of the greatest players in NBA history. He will forever be compared to Michael Jordan for their similar games, personalities, positions, and coach, but it's really unfair to comapre anybody to His Airness. People should appreciate Kobe Bryant for being Kobe Bryant, the greatest wing player of his generation and arguably the second greatest wing of all time, as well as now moving into the top 10 best NBA players of all time. That's what winning number 4 means to number 24.
For Phil, it means Red Auerbach can stick his patented victory cigars you know where. Jackson is hands down the greatest coach in NBA history after a record 10th title and 12th Finals appearance in 19 years. Many people like to make the argument that he won with great players such as Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kobe Bryant, so his job was always easy. Not so. In fact, it may have been even harder. How do you get some of the greatest indivdual talents in the history of basketball to buy into the team concept of the triangle offense? How do you tame Dennis Rodman long enough to win a couple of championships? How do you take Kobe Bryant from an uncoachable selfish accused rapist to an NBA MVP and born-again leader and champion? How do you get Luke Walton to make a halfway decent play every now and then? It is anything but an easy task. The 4 all-time great players mentioned above have 20 combined NBA championships between them. All but one of them have come with Phil Jackson as coach. (The only exception being Shaq, who won his last title under Pat Riley, not a bad coach himself, and with Dwyane Wade leading the way) Other coaches have had those players under their command as well, yet have not been able to turn them into consistent champions. Jackson's calming demeanor and eccentric mind games all go into what makes him an excellent coach. His penchant for bringing diverse super-egos together and getting his teams to play as a unit, in addition to the 10 chanpionships that speak for themselves (he's got his own freaking hat!!!) that makes him the greatest coach of all time.
And what about the fans? This title is meaningful to Lakers fans everywhere. All the things we've had to endure these 7 long years. From Kobe's Colorado indulgence to the embarrassment in '04 at the hands of the Pistons (with 4 Hall of Famers in our starting lineup no less) to the messy break-up of the Kobe-Shaq-Phil triangle to the worst season in my lifetime in '05 to the horrendous Caron Butler (2-time all star) for Kwame Brown (second worst #1 pick ever) swap to the heartbreaking '06 come from ahead loss to the Suns in the first round to the subsequent beatdown at the hands of those Suns in '07 to Kobe's "I want out" tirade to the Lakers' mass improvement in '08 to the Trevor Ariza and Pau Gasol robberies to the 39 point annhilation at the hands of the Celtics in the '08 Finals to all the inconsistencies and rough patches of this season to be crowned champs once more in '09. It's been quite a journey. And it ends this Wednesday at the LA Colisseum. Let's get out there and show the fellas some love!!