Bryant in His Prime and in the Spotlight Once Again
BOS: 32 – 23 – 21 – 21 – 97
LAL: 21 – 33 – 28 – 34 – 116
Los Angeles Lakers 116 @ Boston Celtics 97
21-8 Los Angeles Lakers wins series against 15-14 Boston Celtics 3-1
ABOVE: The Los Angeles Lakers won the Larry O’Brien Trophy last night
Boston – Kobe Bryant has been through a lot of ups and downs throughout his career. His controversial rookie years where no one had faith in his capabilities, then his feud with Shaquille O’neal, his rape trial, disassembling the Lakers dynasty, his ego and then injuries have littered his reputation and transformed his image into basically nothing good. Last night was the breakthrough as he was awarded with Finals MVP and an NBA Championship.
Bryant averaged 33 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 9 apg and 3.5 spg throughout the 4 games which led to the crowning of the new NBA champions the LA Lakers. In Game 4, it was Bryant once again providing the scoring touch needed to close out the Boston Celtics at Fleet Center and clinch the title. This time though he received help from 5 players in double figures for scoring while his whole team got to get onto the floor.
Bryant was brilliant in all spectrums of the game of basketball as he finished with 29 points, a playoffs high 14 assists, 7 rebounds and 8 steals in 42 minutes of game time. He scored 11, 8 assists and 6 steals in the pivotal final quarter of game play and the final game of the 05-06 season. “Kobe has been magnificent,” Head Coach Magic Johnson said, “It’s his ring that he’s won for us. Even through all the injuries, he still prevailed as the best player on the court.”
Veteran big man who profited from Bryant’s presence on the court that lead to his 12 points in the final quarter was excited for Bryant, “Kobe deserves all the accolades and promotions that follows this. The kid’s been cut from all of his endorsement deals after that trial from 2 years ago. It’s good he will be getting some back.” Grant finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds in just 15 minutes of game time.
Kwame Brown supported Kobe well in the post as he scored 24 points and was glad that the Lakers had pitched form him last season in amid season trade. “I’m happy that I ended up here. The team is great and Kobe is a good guy; the media portrays many things very wrong these days.” Star players Ron Artest and Carlos Boozer both shared the same view after their win. Artest said, “Deferring to Kobe wasn’t such a big deal. We still got our rings and got to play.” Boozer agreed saying, “Sure, Kobe had the ball a lot but we didn’t complain and we still got our points and boards.” Artest finished with 17 while Boozer added 12 and 10.
Juan Dixon who had a breakout postseason finished with 12 points and 5 assists in the most important game of his career and said Kobe Bryant was the one to thank as the Lakers made their post game speeches to the Boston crowd. Michael Cooper who played in the 80’s version of the Lakers outfit said to the crowd, “It was a great series. I’m sure we could meet you next year back in this arena. Thanks for the support even though, I don’t see many Lakers fans in the crowd.”
Paul Pierce was once again the only significant player on the court for Boston and it could be his last game with the team. Pierce scored 34 points and said after game, “Boston’s got to make upgrades. The East is a weak conference and we can do well in it if we can get the support we need.”
The young and inexperienced Celtics were quick to take a lead in the first half but LA regained the advantage and blew Boston away in the third and fourth quarters. Al Jefferson showed promise as he scored 14, 6 and 4 while Ricky Davis showed up with 13 points.
“We tried our best this series,” Jefferson said, “To take one game from them (LA) was very good. We have the potential to improve.”
As LA ran down the clock, Pierce looked up painfully at the scoreboard to await the final buzzer and the Lakers ran off of their bench fanatically. Veteran basketball Shane Heal was playing in his final career basketball match and went away with the game ball. “This is something I’ve missed out on in my life,” the Australian said, “An NBA Championship has always been down as a goal. Now I can retire for good.”
Newly signed Clippers’ Head Coach Will Sit was courtside to watch his team win and stated to a courtside reporter, “I’m proud of the team I built. Can’t wait to play them in next season!”
This is Kobe Bryant’s fourth NBA ring and first without Shaquille O’Neal. "I told y'all that we would win it all," Lakers' reserve Kareem Rush said.
Boxscore:
Scenes Postgame: