Time to Smile

The Los Angeles Lakers closed out the Magic in five games and won their 15th NBA title. It was Kobe's fourth title, and first since Shaq left the Lakers. It was Phil Jackson's 10th (6 with the Bulls and 4 with LA), and for both of them it was clear that it had a special flavor. 

I wanted Orlando to win because I usually root for the underdog. I also predicted a Magic win, so it is the first time I was wrong in my Finals prediction in several years. However, as the game was coming to an end I had a moment in which I became very happy for the Lakers. I saw Kobe smiling. 

A lot of people who don't like the Lakers, don't like them because of Kobe. Even lots of Laker fans don't like Kobe. For me, I think he is the only thing I like about the Lakers. He was on a mission. He worked too hard and put too much effort into getting here to let it slip away again. He takes this game more seriously than anybody else in that arena, and that is why he was the one smiling at the end. 

The Lakers played well as a team, and everyone from Gasol to Odom provided solid contributions to get this title. They worked very hard for it. They also know that they would never be here without Kobe. He was their leader and most powerful weapon, and he was the one who demanded the most of them. It worked. 

The Magic lost but the future looks very promising. Of course it would have been nice for them to fight until the end, maybe come back to LA, but what was the point? They knew the Lakers were too good and consistent in these Finals to give them a chance. And Orlando survived too many battles already this season. This one was too much. 

Dwight Howard will only get better next year, and so will Courtney Lee. Turkoglu has to decide if he will become a free agent or renew with the Magic. The rest of the team is solid, and with a healthy Jameer Nelson the team has a good chance of going far next year. It was a great season for them and they defeated anyone's expectations, and the two biggest Conference rivals, and lost against the best team in the league. 

The Finals were not as great as the rest of the Playoffs. This was a great season. We had a good season as Heat fans and Dwyane Wade was unstoppable. The Heat will also be a better team next season. The Playoffs started with a historic Celtics-Bulls series, an exciting Magic-Celtics semi finals, an explosive and fun Conference Finals with both Lakers-Nuggets and Magic-Cavs, and it was really a year where the NBA topped everyone's expectations on how much fun and exciting this game can be. 

This will be an interesting off season. As everyone talks about the free-agency class of next season with LeBron, Dwyane, Bosh and others, we have yet to see what teams will make the bigger moves to compete right away. The Cavs know they need to get better quickly if they want LeBron to stay. Will they get Shaq? What will happen with the Lakers? Is Jackson going to stay one more year? Lots of questions to be answered in the next few months.

I know at least one person doesn't care. Kobe Bryant is finally smiling and he can rest because for once nobody can tell him that he has something to prove.

My Finals Prediction

For the record I must say that I was correct with the outcome of the Finals in the past three years. I predicted of course that the Heat would win (in six games too). I predicted that San Antonio would rip Cleveland a new one. I also predicted that Boston would win last year. 

This is probably the toughest matchup for me to decide though. Both teams have been superb, and even though both of them had some scary moments during the Playoffs, they managed to stay together, step up their game, get to the Finals. 

For Orlando, most people said that defeating Cleveland was something impossible a few weeks ago. Cleveland had won 66 games during the regular season and swept the Playoffs on their way to the Eastern Conference Finals. Yet, Orlando was way superior. If it wasn't for LeBron's heroic 3-pointer, they could have swept the Cavs in four games as well. 

Kobe and the Lakers had their share of problems. First with the Rockets, then Denver. The problem with the Lakers was that the role players, who were so important during the regular season, did not contribute enough. Luckily for them that changed in the past few games against the Nuggets, as Lamar Odom and others stepped up and helped the Lakers make it back to the Finals. 

So what now? Both teams have a dominating Superstar. We all probably agree that Kobe is a better, more complete player than Dwight Howard. But Howard has been a dominating force that automatically makes his players better. If Kobe has a bad game, he shoots too many jumpers, it is uncertain that other players besides Pau Gasol can pick up the slack scoring points. If Dwight has a bad game scoring, he can still create opportunities for Turkoglu, Lewis, Lee, Alston, etc. 

I think it will be a very physical and tough series. The games should go down to the wire. If the Lakers have the last shot, like Cleveland did, expect Kobe to knock them down. If Orlando plays smart basketball and moves the ball around, they will not wait until that last play to decide the outcome of the game.

The Lakers have the pressure here. Like Howard says, he is just happy to be here and will enjoy his first NBA finals. Of course that he and especially Van Gundy want to win, but nobody expected them to be there anyways. This was supposed to be the Year of LeBron, and it may now become the Year of Kobe. As much as he and everyone says that is not a big deal, winning a Championship without Shaq will be the ultimate highlight for Kobe's career and hard work over the past few seasons. This is his team, and with all the bumps in the road, he is the one that helped build it and develop his teammates into Championship contenders. 

Even though I am now living in Los Angeles, I would be very happy if Orlando wins this. Going back to my beginnings as a NBA fan, Orlando's Penny Hardaway jersey was the first one I ever owned (and still do). Shaq is and will probably be my favorite player of all time (I'm not saying that he is the best, but probably the most fun to watch and one I have followed his entire career in the league). Van Gundy is a great coach, and he did an amazing job with both Miami and Orlando. His first title would also be an amazing accomplishment.

Prediction: Magic in six. If Orlando can win one of the first two games in Los Angeles, they will be very tough to beat back home and I don't think Kobe will get the help he needs to win four games against a team that has so many weapons like the Magic.