The Lakers post-season wrapup

It was too late for the Lakers to turn the series around last night. The cold hard reality is that Detroit was the better team, more athletic, more hungry, and praise goes to Coach Brown, Joe Dumars, and the rest of the Pistons team. As a Laker fan, it's tough seeing them lose, but as a basketball fan, I do appreciate this Pistons team. They do represent playing basketball "the right way", as Larry Brown puts it. That means working as a team, hustling on every play, muscling for every rebound, diving for every loose ball, contesting every shot, putting pressure the entire 94 feet hunk of wood, and working hard for a common goal. I'm really happy for them. They throughly deserved it.



On the other end, this season will go down as one of the most intense Laker seasons in my mind. Even though they didn't win the championship, they provided one of the most nail-biting playoff runs I've seen recently. There were no gimmes. The battled hard against the rockets, had one heck of a series against the Spurs, with the memorable Fisher's oh-point-four, Kobe's fadaway 3 against...portland, detroit, san antonio, took care of business against the wolves, but at the end, compared to the Laker teams of the 80's, there was just too much drama this year. Kobe's court troubles, constant infighting, Karl Malone's injuries, and aging players lead to the end of this rollercoaster ride.

One player that gained more of my respect this year was Karl Malone. We hated him back in the 90's when he was with the Jazz, he was like a bully, elbowing and kneeing his way to the basket. But this year, I really respect him because he played liked a true warrior. He worked hard everytime he's on the floor, he never gives up, even when he might have had a torn ligament, he still gave his all. There's no way you can cap on that. He was like the Last Samurai out there, giving his all, and when I watch him play, I feel bad that he didn't get a championship ring, cuz you know even through the infightings between shaq and kobe, you knew that Karl gave his best to win everytime he suited up. I'm proud that he was a Laker, if only for one season.

So maybe this series will have a humbling effect on the Lakers, who had the sense of arrogance throughout the championship years from 2000-2002. They had the talent to back it up also. If your team had won three championships in a row, I guess you would want to use that sense of confidence towards your advantage. It gets into other people's minds mentally. Everyone tooled their roster to beat the Lakers, just look at Sacramento. During those years everyone wanted to call themselves Kobe Stoppers. Each year the Lakers won, more people jumped onto the LakerHater bandwagon. Everyone hates us, San Antonio hates us, Sac hates us even more. We're a nation of underdogs and who wouldn't want them to go down? If you look at sports champions, first year they like you, cuz you're the new thing, you just won. Second year they congratulate you, but they're getting a little tired of you. The third year they want you out. The King is dead. Long live the King.

Now, it seems like Phil Jackson will not be back next year, Karl might retire, I hope GP won't pick up his option, Shaq's still around, and I hope Fisher re-signs with the Lakers. The biggest question is whether Kobe will bolt for NY or the Clippers. I think it depends on his outlook. If he is humbled by this series and realized that even Jordan could not win without involving his teammates and making them better, and that his best chance of winning championships in the near future would involve Shaq, then we could see a more mature Kobe who will put his youthful individuality behind him and truly become a team leader, one who is not just playing for himself, but one who realizes that his talent in leading a team is more important than making death-defying jumpshots. Jordan made that switch after 7 seasons and went on to win 6 championships. Kobe has to change also. Or, if Kobe is still headstrong, then I say let him go to another team and make him realize his mere mortality. Teach him a lesson. Personally, I think this loss is as close of an opportunity to changing Kobe's selfish ways. If he stays, matures, have it in him to become a leader, much like Garnett or Duncan has, then Kobe will become one of the greats. If he decides to quit, go to another team and continue to be selfish, well, good luck to him. Say hi to Mr. Sterling for us.

So like life, everything goes in a circle. Lakers had their time and now it's detroit's. Crumple back down to reality. We've been there before though. During the mid 90's I remember we lost to Phoenix Suns in the first round even though we were up 2 games. That was painful. We had teams when our leading scorer was Cedric Ceballos. That's what it means to be a Laker fan, follow them for the good times, but stick with them when it's not. (And yes, if you're one of the few warriors fan who didn't jump on the Kings bandwagon, I know... I feel your pain. Go ahead and comment that you've waited all your life for the warriors to win the title. I'm sorry about that. Yes, we Laker fans have not suffered as much as you. Just be thankful that St. Jean is no longer around.)

Gotta say though, this year has been the most intense anti-Laker atmosphere in a long while. I remember watching the Lakers beat the Spurs at my own home and everyone was against the Lakers. I should have told them all to leave. Too bad I wasn't in LA, where people gather around on lazy sunday afternoons, drinking sodas, wearing shaq or kobe jerseys, all slouched on the couch, listening to Chick announce the games. Heck, some of us would even turn the volume down on the tv set to hear Chick. What a difference in the bay area. No cheering for the warriors, only bitter whines about the Lakers.

Yesterday was the end of the Laker season, but today, it's the start of a new one. Mitch Kupchak will have to make some tough decisions. Walton, Fisher, Cook, Rush, will all have to work on their games. It's gonna be a long summer without basketball games to watch, I guess we can cancel our cable until october rolls around again. That's the beauty in basketball and in life though. You can fail, but you have to get back up and try again.