Seven years after their last championship, five years after a series of humbling losses in Detroit, and 362 days after a futile Finals effort against Boston, the Lakers were back, in a big way.
A victory parade will proceed through Los Angeles on Wednesday, the celebration becoming official after the Lakers thumped the Orlando Magic on Sunday, 99-86, to win the NBA Finals, four games to one.
I was about eight, in the second grade at Verdugo Woodlands Elementary School in Glendale, when the Lakers came from Minneapolis to L.A., and as a tall, skinny kid who loved shooting baskets in our backyard, I knew that if my primary vocational direction–winning a World Series as starting third baseman for our then brand-new L.A. Dodgers–didn’t pan out, I could always make my way as a forward on the hardwood . . . . When I was about twelve I met Jerry West and Elgin Baylor at a school event. They were friendly and very generous with their time, and autographs, in a circle of excited fans.
In any case, the years have rolled along, and if my favorite baseball, football, and hockey (!) teams now all play here at the headwaters of the Ohio, my “basketball heart” still lives out in Inglewood . . . .
Congrats to Kobe and all the team. A great series, a great season.
Bruce Robison
I am glad that Lakers make it again after so many years of lose games. Though Lakers lose several times in the NBA games, the team was still famous not only to the American, but also to the people around the globe who are fond of basketball. By the way, have you heard the news about [url=http:// personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/08/11/alex-von-furstenberg-feud-reggie-miller-escalates/]Reggie Miller[/url]? Recently, there was a buzz about Miller and Ali Kay (who was a fiancé’ of Alex von Furstenberg). Alex von Furstenberg, besides having a somewhat funny sounding last name, doesn’t deserve attention. However, to indulge the gossip rags, apparently, Reggie Miller, a former NBA player, has been attempting to woo the fiancé of Alex von Furstenberg, Ali Kay. Von Furstenberg apparently found some racy pictures that Kay sent to Miller over her phone, and then commissioned a plane to fly over Malibu flying the sign “Reggie Miller Stop Pursuing Married Women.” Rumors are that the former NBA player has a habit of this. Regardless of whatever happened, Alex von Furstenberg won’t ever need an installment loan, and that trust fund baby needs to get a job and a hobby.