I buried the Lakers, I thought that after Game 5 they appeared uninspired and a lack of willingness to play. But like many other things written on this blog, it was wrong. Kobe Bryant's ferocity somehow fed into the rest of his teammates and he made them be better. The Lakers fought like warriors to win this series and now they have back-to-back crowns.
Although what happened was Kobe realize that there were other players than himself in those last two ball games therefore making the team better around him. I thought that Pau Gasol's play was excellent and probably shakes off the whole thing about him being 'soft' or Europeans not named Tony Parker 'not stepping up when it matters.' Bury that topic for 1st and 10 since Gasol took control of Game 6 and 7 being the catalyst to victory. He took full advantage of Kendrick Perkins getting injured in the early part of Game 6 and dominated Rasheed Wallace down low.
Even though, it didn't feel like Kobe deserved the MVP honors especially after an ugly 6/24 performance in Game 7 (can't forget he grabbed 15 boards), he still ended up averaging 28.6 40% 8.0 rebs 3.3 assts. I would consider those numbers to be MVP-like and as one person put it on Twitter, "If the Lakers didn't have Gasol, they lose but if they don't have Kobe, they get swept." An obvious response, but if you follow the award by the 'most valuable' no one in the NBA Finals were more valuable than Kobe Bryant. Another guy who deserves credit for the comeback is Ron Artest.
Offensively, Artest compared to my freshman year of high school with how poor he shot the ball plus his horrid shot selection. Two things single-handily saved Artest's season for him, 1.) His buzzer-beater against the Phoenix Suns and 2.) Gutting the Celts in Game 7 knocking down the three with only a minute left. He also had 15 and 20 in the last two games. Artest shook off people who claimed he couldn't step up in big game and then he became Artest, we all know and love. First off, he delivered an excellent press conference and probably ranks higher than Brian Scalabrine in 2008 who was awesome as well. List of great things about Artest press conference
-Making the people with the laptops in his words "ACKNOWLEDGE ME!"
-His family brought out some champagne, he goes "David won't like that." After all the meetings with Stern, he is on David status
-He then thanks his psychiatrist for keeping him level headed. It actually didn't sound as crazy as people made it seemed, a guy like Artest needs that shit and honestly, can't blame him
-"Hey Jeff Van Gundy, say Queensbridge next time." From now on when I win a game of beer pong or any drinking activity, I am going "SAY QUEENSBRIDGE!"
-Weirdly, Artest recognizes that he has been inconsistent throughout the year, Lamar Odom thinking "Well I am glad one of us talked about our inconsistency, looks like I am out of the woods back to Khole."
- Ron acts like a third grader when he claims "Kobe passed me the ball! Kobe passed me the ball!" and then goes "He can hear Phil Jackson in his head."
Basically, it sums up why Artest is one of the goofiest guys in the NBA but at the same time, I think he really is a genuinely good guy. I mean he apologized to his teammates in Indiana for giving up on them, what player would do that right after winning an NBA Championship? Two other Artest links: Getting a Goose Shower, and his new single "Champions." Enjoy both of those.
Now comes the question can the Lakers three-peat? I would say the chances are even, I think they need to bring in a replacement for Derek Fisher who can start, and bring Fisher off the bench. There has been the presistent rumor that the Chris Bosh-Andrew Bynum trade and if that happens, holy shit. The Lakers will be an unreal team with Bosh. Who knows after the most exciting summer but I do know the Lakeshow will contend.
-Charlie.
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