Lakers Win 2009 NBA Title
It's official, the Los Angeles Lakers are the 2009 NBA Champions. After making the NBA Finals one year ago and being embarrassed by the Boston Celtics, the Lakers returned to the Finals with a vengeance to be crowned champion.
The Lakers disposed of the Orlando Magic in game 5 of the Finals with a 99-86 win. The result was never in question after the first quarter. The Magic seemed shell shocked by the aggressiveness of L.A. and never seemed to pull it together.
"I thought our guys fought hard,'' Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "But they just had an answer for everything.''
"It hurts, it hurts a lot.'' Magic center Dwight Howard said.
You can't discuss the 2009 NBA Champions without discussing two men, Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson. Kobe Bryant led the way for the Lakers scoring 30 points and being named Finals MVP.
For Bryant, this was more than just his fourth championship. This NBA title was a message to the critics who said that Bryant could never win without Shaquille O'Neal.
"It was like Chinese water torture,'' Bryant said of the criticism. "I would cringe every time. I was just like, it's a challenge I'm just going to have to accept because there's no way I'm going to argue it. You can say it until you're blue in the face and rationalize it until you're blue in the face, but it's not going anywhere until you do something about it."
Bryant did something about it.
With the 2009 title win Phil Jackson won his 10th ring and has passed the late Red Auerbach as the head coach with the most NBA championships.
Like Kobe, Phil Jackson has also been the subject of criticism. The naysayers believe that Jackson was "given" 9 NBA Champions by having the likes of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, and Scottie Pippen at his disposal.
The beauty of Phil Jackson is his ability to bring men together for a common goal. The Jordan's and Bryant's of the world may not have needed the nurturing of Jackson, but the Paxson's, Fisher's, Kerr's, Longley's, and Fox's did.
The Bulls and Lakers were conference finals choke artists before Phil Jackson arrived on the scene. Somehow, this goes unnoticed.
Jackson was the only head coach besides the late Chuck Daly to harness the energy of Dennis Rodman and allow him to be one of the greatest defensive players of all time. Phil won three consecutive titles with Bryant and O'Neal constantly at each others throat. I imagine that was not easy to do.
Phil Jackson is a manager of men and the greatest NBA coach of all time--he has the rings to prove it. Debate over.
The Orlando Magic have nothing to be ashamed of. They did the unthinkable. Every NBA fan had the Cleveland Cavaliers penciled in as Eastern Conference Champions this season, yours truly included. The Magic beat the Cavaliers like a drum.
Orlando played with a sense of energy and togetherness that it takes to win an NBA title--they just ran into a better team. Stan Van Gundy is a very good coach and in a good position to duplicate this seasons success with Dwight Howard as his centerpiece.
Hedo Turkoglu will likely opt out of his contract for a bigger payday. The Magic would be wise to resign him. Rafer Alston should be traded in the off-season as Jameer Nelson returns to 100% health.
The fans in L.A. should be proud of their Lakers. This is not a team with a 3 headed monster like the Celtics of last season. This Laker team is the epitome of what a team should be. They are great on offense, good on defense, and selfless. It's the ultimate formula for success.
Many questions remain for Los Angeles. Will Phil Jackson return to coach the team? Can the Lakers afford to resign Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza? Only time will tell, for now just enjoy the ride.
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