Lakers win 15th NBA Title, Bryant MVP

Kobe Bryant has finally done it. An NBA Title achieved in the absence of Shaquille O'Neal, and possibly he's gotten those nasty critics off his back that it couldn't be done. On Sunday night, a week before Father's day, Kobe held up his two daughters after the game as his wife Vanessa came onto the court to congratulate her hubby. The Lakers won it 99-83, and despite playing the Magic at home, managed to make big statements in the first and last games of the series.

The Lakers pieced together the key components of this team starting last season with the acquisition of Pau Gasol. However, they ran into the Celtics green featuring the Big 3, and KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce won their first championship rings. This season was a different story, and while it looked like LA would be clashing with Cleveland, D-Howard and the Magic made it a different story. Howard tied a playoff record for double doubles with Duncan and Charles Barkley, an impressive feat in and of itself, but the big man was unable to will his team to win with the likes of Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom playing down low. Meanwhile Kobe shot and scored at will, as he usually does, and Derek Fisher continued hitting big shots.

The Lakers outscored the Magic in the middle two quarters, with a 30-18 performance in the 2nd quarter. Interestingly enough, the Lakers didn't dominate the paint, or outdo the Magic in overall fast break points. While the Magic were worthy opponents keeping the games close throughout the series, they were no match for the superior team and a man destined to win title #4. Kobe Bryant you may now take your MVP award for this NBA Finals victory....now both he and Shaq have 4 titles. More Game info at NBA.com.

Funny enough, immediately following the win, The Real Shaq was going Twitter crazy:

# Congrats in spanish pau gasol, muchas gracias pappacito10 minutes ago from TwitterBerry

# Congrats to u to d fish, big shots the other day. Enjoy my man enjoy10 minutes ago from TwitterBerry

Congrats to you to phil jackson. When the general doesn't panic the troops don't panic. You are the greatest now.13 minutes ago from TwitterBerry

and probably the funniest Tweet of the night went out to #24:

Congratualtions kobe, u deserve it. You played great . Enjoy it my man enjoy it. And I know what yur sayin rt now "Shaq how my ass taste "15 minutes ago from TwitterBerry

All's well in Twitter and Tinseltown, and this concludes our broadcast of the 2008-09 NBA season. Stay tuned for the 2009 NBA Draft, coming soon....

Celtics & Lakers prepare for Game 7's

The two teams in last year's finals both find themselves on the ropes this Sunday as Boston and Los Angeles have both been taken to their limit. Houston & Orlando have both managed to stretch the series to the fullest, and now we will see two enjoyable Game 7 matchups.

Orlando's Dwight Howard has guaranteed his team will beat Boston, and he just may be right. Boston's glaring weakness is the lack of KG's inside presence, while Orlando's strength is Dwight Howard. Howard had a monster Game 6 in Orlando with over 20 points and over 20 rebounds. Meanwhile, Ray Allen struggled to find his sharpshooting touch from the 3 point line. If Boston wants to win, it's going to need Paul Pierce to step it up once again in Game7 and be the hero. Regardless of who wins this one, Lebron James and the Cavs are sitting back, relaxing and awaiting the winner. Game 7 between Boston and Orlando will start at 8PM EST on TNT.

Meanwhile, Houston and Los Angeles have had some tense moments, including a game that featured over 5 players getting technical fouls. Artest seems to be doing his best to jaw with Kobe Bryant and get under his skin, but Kobe's a tough act to stop. Expect the Lakers to bounce back under the leadership skills of Phil Jackson, en route to the next round matchup with the Denver Nuggets. The Rockets try to bounce Kobe and the Lakers from the playoffs at 3:30PM EST on ABC.

When all's said and done it should be a Lakers-Cavs finals, and seeing Kobe vs. Lebron for a potential 7 game series may be many fans' dream. Any of the final teams matched up would be great, including Carmelo vs Lebron with the Nuggets taking on Cleveland. Play on!

LA's Hopes Rest with Kobe's Knee

With the 2008-09 NBA Season just around the corner (next week), the biggest question mark is on the reigning MVP, Kobe Bryant. This past Tuesday, Kobe collided with teammate Josh Powell in a preseason game against the Charlotte Bobcats, hyper-extending his knee. The injury forced him to sit out a Thursday night exhibition game, also against Charlotte. According to LA Times, Kobe feels the injury doesn't require an MRI:

"I've got a little bit of puffiness in the back of the knee, which was just from the trauma of landing the way I landed," Bryant said. "So we're just going to knock that out, make sure the swelling is out of there, which it should be soon, then I'm OK."

Bryant still hasn't had an MRI exam on the knee to determine the severity of it and sounded as if he won't get one.

"If I can run, if I can jump, if I can do lunges, if I can do leg curls, if I can do leg extensions, chances are there probably is no structural damage," Bryant said. "If I don't have to walk with more of a bop than I normally walk with, it's fine. So, I'm good. No need of wasting their money."

Coach Phil Jackson seems to want more caution taken regarding the injury and for good reason: Kobe's the team leader that brought them on a 2008 NBA Finals run. Similar injuries have forced other sports mega stars out of action. The Patriots' QB Tom Brady suffered a knee injury during the 1st week of the NFL season. The reconstructive surgery occurred too soon after the injury, and now Brady is dealing with a severe infection. In golf, the biggest start on the planet, Tiger Woods also left for a remainder of his season to get surgery. Will Kobe be following suit? Luckily, it seems like Kobe will be ready for the start of the season, but he definitely needs to guard against a season-ending injury.

Read the full story on Kobe at the LA Times.

Power of Powe in Game 2

Once again, it was the Celtics bench coming to the rescue in Game 2. The LA Lakers nearly stormed back from being down about 20 points, and in the fourth LA made it respectable. The Celtics held on to win by just 4, behind the Power of an unlikely star, Leon Powe.

According to analysts, Powe was able to study the Laker's defense while riding the bench, then came in and really took it to them. Powe ended up with about 21 points total, and that's far from his season average. Analysts also remarked that possibly Kobe and the Lakers took notes on what allowed them to get back into this game. Paul Pierce admitted the Celts became complacent with their huge lead, allowing for the comeback. Phil Jackson was also complaining about the refs giving way more foul shots to Powe, than his Lakers team during a 15 minute stretch.

Come Game 3 the Lakers may have an entirely different game plan. Phil Jackson is a mastermind and should have the squad ready for battle, but will they be able to overcome the Celtics bench? With homecourt now in their favor, it's do or die time for the Lakers. Another LA loss will put things heavily in favor of the Celtics, bringing a title back to Boston. It's starting to look more like the Big 3 are hungry and may take the title in 6, but a 7 game series would be a great way to cap off this NBA season.

Mr. Jackson, are you for real?

Phil Jackson is not one who holds back when making statements to the media about his teams and players. But he decided to take things a bit too far with his comments following the Lakers loss to the San Antonio Spurs last night. The Lakers suffered a 107-92 loss in San Antonio despite poor play from team leader Tim Duncan (5 points). Jackson compared the way his team lost to the award-winning movie, "Brokeback Mountain", saying that there was a lot of "penetration and kickout". Members of the media had a chuckle after his comment, but a day later there's not as many people laughing.

David Stern was most likely not amused and may be handing out a fine for the post game comments. Jackson will probably make a public apology for his comments, as he is a Hall of Fame coach. Hopefully Phil understands that his remarks went just a bit too far and he recoils on the statement.

The Lakers will play the red-hot Houston Rockets Wednesday night at 9PM on ESPN.

In other news, the Stephon Marbury MIA story continues. The Knicks guard has been fined a whopping 195 grand for missing the Suns game and rumor is he won't be a part of the next game versus the Clippers. Please donate that money to the deserving NBA fans, or a charity for this holiday season.

Phil Jackson a 2007 HOF Inductee

Phil Jackson and Roy Williams were among seven inductees for the Basketball Hall of Fame this past Friday.

From sportsnetwork.com:

"Jackson, a coach of nine NBA championship teams with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, and Williams, who guided North Carolina to the 2005 NCAA crown, were joined in this year's class by the 1966 NCAA champion Texas Western team, four-time WNBA championship coach Van Chancellor, referee Mendy Rudolph and international coaches Pedro Ferrandiz and Mirko Novosel.

Jackson won six NBA titles with the Bulls and three with the Lakers, tying him with Red Auerbach for the most NBA crowns as a coach. The North Dakota native was also the fastest coach to win 900 games following a professional career that saw him play for the Knicks and Nets. He was a member of New York's NBA title team in 1973."

Congratulations to legendary NBA coach, Phil Jackson, as well as all the other recent inductees. Read the full story here.