Laker are 2009 NBA Champions

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)—Kobe Bryant(notes) has the NBA title he needed most—the one without Shaq.

Bryant’s seven-year chase of a coveted championship is over. He’s got his fourth, and Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson his record 10th, a ring for each finger. One year after failing in the finals, Bryant and the Lakers have redemption, and all the rewards that go with it.

They earned their 15th title on Sunday night as Bryant scored 30 points and Pau Gasol(notes) added 14 and 15 rebounds in a 99-86 win in Game 5 over the Orlando Magic, who ran out of comebacks.

It took longer than Bryant expected, but he has stepped out of former teammate Shaquille O’Neal’s(notes) enormous shadow—at last. His fourth championship secured a strong case can be made for Bryant being the league’s best player since Michael Jordan hung up his sneakers.

His coach stands alone.

Jackson, the chilled-out, bow-legged Zen Master who won six league titles in the 1990s with Jordan in Chicago, now has won No. 4 with Los Angeles and broke a tie with legendary Boston coach Red Auerbach as the winningest coach in finals history.

Bryant and Jackson, whose relationship strained and briefly snapped under the weight of success, are again at the top of their games.

by the associated press

Lakers take game two in overtime

LOS ANGELES (AP) — History was there for the Orlando Magic, but Courtney Lee blew his shot at it.

A shot that couldn't have been much easier.

Lee missed a layup that would have won Game 2 of the NBA finals at the fourth-quarter buzzer, and the Magic lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 101-96 in overtime Sunday night, falling into a 2-0 hole.

A perfectly executed play should have given the Magic their first finals victory. Instead, it joins Nick Anderson's botched free throws from the 1995 finals as the biggest heartbreaking moments in franchise history.

The Magic had the ball on the sideline with the game tied at 88 and 0.6 seconds left. Rashard Lewis set a pick on Kobe Bryant that freed Lee to cut to the basket, and Hedo Turkoglu lofted a pass that led Lee right under the basket.

Lee leaped to catch it, but perhaps bothered by Pau Gasol rushing over, threw it off the glass too hard as time expired.

The rookie guard immediately put his hands over his head in disbelief and walked toward the bench in that same pose as teammates came onto the court to console him. Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy had a pained look on his face, perhaps aware his team had just blown the best chance it was going to get to seize home-court advantage before heading back to Florida.

The loss Sunday came on the 14th anniversary of Orlando's NBA finals debut — an equally painful one. Poised to beat the defending champion Houston Rockets in Game 1, the Magic watched Anderson brick four consecutive free throws and ended up losing 120-118 in overtime.

Same date, same painful June 7 ending for the Magic.


by the associated press

Three more wins and Kobe gets his 4th Ring

LOS ANGELES, June 5 -- A day after the best NBA Finals performance of his career, Kobe Bryant managed to crack a smile and laugh with his teammates during practice. But when he sat down to answer questions about scoring 40 points with eight rebounds and eight assists against the Orlando Magic in Game 1, Bryant was wearing an all-black jogging suit and steam was coming from his nostrils.

Asked about the serious, defiant approach he has taken to the Finals, Bryant said: "I'm just focused and just ready to go. The last two times we've been to the Finals, we came up short. This time around, we're really locked in."

In their championship run from 2000 to '02, the Lakers didn't always win the first game, but center Shaquille O'Neal set the tone for the series with intimidating outings. O'Neal had the previous two 40-point games in Finals openers: 43 points and 19 rebounds in a win over Indiana in 2000, and 44 points and 20 rebounds in a loss against Philadelphia in 2001. In the opening win against New Jersey in 2002, O'Neal had 36 points and 16 rebounds.

No Laker scored more than 34 in the Finals openers against Detroit or Boston, both losses, with Bryant only getting 24 last season against the Celtics.

Thursday night, Bryant became the tone setter.

"I think he just really took that aspect of it as a serious element of where you have to go with these playoffs," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. "You have to stay driven and motivated, and I think it's really important that he takes that leadership role for this team."

Magic Mixed Up at Point


Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy said he will continue to stick with Rafer Alston as the starting point guard, despite the return of all-star Jameer Nelson, who made his first appearance in more than four months on Thursday. Nelson injured his right shoulder on Feb. 2, but came back to score six points with four assists in 23 minutes.

Alston had six points and one assist in 25 minutes, but claimed that he was out of rhythm in the second half after sitting while Nelson played the entire second period. Van Gundy admitted that he made a mistake, and plans to use Nelson in six- to seven-minute spurts.

"I thought he played really well early in the second quarter, and so I continued to go with him. First game back in four months, it was too long," he said.



from the washington times

Lakers take Game 1

LOS ANGELES (AP) — One step toward redemption, one step toward a ring.

Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers began the NBA finals with power and purpose.

Bryant, playing like a man possessed, scored 40 points and the Lakers, who have waited nearly one year for a chance to erase bitter memories of a Boston beatdown and a championship they felt belonged to them, pounded the Orlando Magic 100-75 in Game 1 on Thursday night.

This year, nothing short of a 15th title will do for the Lakers.

And with the sensational Bryant out front, they may be on their way.

Game 2 is Sunday night at star-studded Staples Center, where actors Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and rapper Kanye West had front-row seats to see another virtuoso performance by Bryant, who scored 18 points in the third quarter as the Lakers opened a 26-point lead.

The last time the Lakers were seen in the finals, they were heading toward their locker room in Boston last June and summer break after being drubbed by 39 points in a series-ending Game 6 by the Celtics. The renewed rivalry between the league's superpowers never panned out.

Bryant and his teammates have used that humiliation to motivate them all season and throughout these playoffs.

They are on a mission.

The Magic, who went 2-0 against the Lakers in the regular season, appeared a touch overwhelmed in their first finals appearance since 1995. Not even the return of All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson from a four-month layoff following shoulder surgery could help the Eastern Conference champions.

Orlando center Dwight Howard was engulfed by two and three Lakers every time he touched the ball and scored 12 — 10 on free throws — on just 1-of-6 shooting. And the Magic's outside shooters, so deadly while eliminating MVP LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals, were off the mark.

The Magic went just 8-of-23 on 3s and shot only 30 percent overall. They are facing some long odds, too.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson, seeking a record 10th title, is 43-0 in series in which his team wins Game 1.



by the associated press

Kobe Bryant or LeBron James , who is the MVP for the NBA

Who is the MVP ? In the NBA , for 2008 ,2009 season .

Kobe Bryant or LeBron James ?

KoBe Bryant
Season Team G GS MPG FG% 3p% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG
08-09 LAL 69 69 36.4 0.470 0.342 0.863 1.1 4.3 5.4 4.9 1.4 0.5 2.68 2.30 27.7
Career 935 787 36.5 0.455 0.340 0.840 1.2 4.1 5.3 4.6 1.5 0.5 2.92 2.70 25.2

LeBron James
Season Team G GS MPG FG% 3p% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG
08-09 CLE 70 70 38.1 0.488 0.331 0.768 1.4 6.2 7.6 7.3 1.8 1.3 3.01 1.80 28.6
Career 461 460 40.7 0.470 0.325 0.735 1.3 5.7 7.0 6.7 1.8 0.8 3.28 2.00 27.5