| 24 June 2010
Enough time's gone by for me to be able to truly appreciate the season for what's happened. And it's really pretty special. It really is.
I guess with all the success that the Lakers enjoy, it becomes a bit of an expectation.
Don't. Don't 'expect it', because it lessens the experience when it happens.
True, it wasn't even a full calendar year be between winning titles (362 days), but every title should be experienced to it's fullest extent. Savor the moment, taste it's chocolately-smooth goodness.
And believe it: this one, was special.
In so many ways, this was a title that was a veritable pinnacle to be climbed. So many obstacles, so many impediments. From Kobe Bryant's litany of injuries to the bench crew's uncertainty. From Andrew Bynum's knees to Ron Artest's inner demons.
And of course, the Boston Celtics who had their own hot-tub-time-machine moment and decided that it was actually 2008 all over again. Just in time for the playoffs. But through it all, LA prevailed, and managed to slay a few dragons on the way.
The Los Angeles vs Boston rivalry is the biggest in the NBA. I understand that a lot of teams in the West consider themselves "LA's rival", and the same can be said of teams in the East in relation to Boston. But nothing, nothing comes even close. Every game against Boston means something... whether it does in the overall scheme of the season or not. It doesn't matter one iota if both teams are amongst the cream of the crop or not. It matters.
So to play against Boston in the Finals, and beat them... well, it's huge.
If anyone tells you that another title was just as important for this group of Lakers (for example, the 2009 Championship), they're either lying or they're unaware of the import of Lakers-vs-Celtics.
This was special.
For Kobe, this ring puts him on an entirely different plane of existence for the modern game. To win 4 Championships is definitely an amazing achievement... but of today's elite, Shaq has 4 and so does Tim Duncan.
5 rings separates Kobe from the pack in this generation of basketball players.
I'm not going to indulge in any of the "who-is-best" debate that runs rife pretty much every where you look - it's an undertaking that's fraught with disaster as it is reliant upon a very subjective perception, intensely coloured by opinion.
No matter what, it's something that's bound to fail.
But in terms of 'who-has-won-what', 5 Championship rings puts Kobe on the same amount of wins as Magic Johnson, and only one behind both Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Michael Jordan. In a day and age where winning a single championship is an amazing undertaking, for Kobe Bean Bryant to have just won his 5th is incredible. Whatever your opinions on the guy, that should be recognized.
LA has never beaten Boston in a game 7 of a Finals. Never.
Matter of fact, Boston has never lost a game 7 in a Finals.
Never.
Magic never did, neither did Kareem. Go back as far as you like with the multitude of stars that have donned the purple and gold, this has been LA's Everest... along with the rest of the NBA.
But given the intensity of the rivalry between LA and Boston, with no-one so much as the Lakers.
For the Lakers to be the ones to finally shrug off this millstone, it's enormous. For it to be Kobe Bryant's Lakers to do so... titanic. If nothing else, an appreciation for the historical aspects of this victory has to be acknowledged.
And finally... this Boston team. Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins... this Boston team. The team that put a beat down on Los Angeles on June 17th 2008 to the tune of 39 points, to win the 2008 NBA Finals... no win over Orlando the following season was going to excise those demons.
The doubts that followed Kobe, the ghosts that haunted both Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, the inevitable emasculation of the entire team. A team that whilst being the second best in the league, endured such a deconstruction that one thing and one thing only could erase the shame: to defeat those same Celtics.
And defeat them they did.
Two years to the day, LA avenged the massacre of June 17th 2008, holding on to defeat Boston 83-79. Beating Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins... this Boston team.
Winning game 7 of the NBA Finals - doing someone that not a single team in the NBA had ever been able to do.
