by Fresh8 on Thu Sep 28, 2006 12:19 am
Chapter 27
Sit and Mark watched the game intently as it played out on the small screen in front of them. With beers in hand, the two cheered loudly as Kobe Bryant sunk a deep trey as time expired. The Lakers stayed ahead of the Pistons by 2 points with the fourth quarter just under way.
“I’m back!” yelled a voice at the front door.
Flo ran and opened the door for Marquis; a friend of Flo’s from Lithuania.
“Marquis,” Flo gasped, “Come in quickly, the game is getting exciting!”
Marquis and Flo joined Sit and Mark in front of the TV just in time to see Rip Hamilton come off a screen and spot up for a jumper.
“That’s in baby!” Mark called out, “Suck on that Sit!”
Sit hit Mark on the back of the head and then pushed him to the ground. Mark just lay on the ground rolling around and laughing. Flo and Marquis just sat back and laughed at the Wolves head coach.
“So what’s the story of the game so far?” Marquis asked as he opened a beer of his own.
Flo waited for the commentator to announce a time out and the game went into an ad break, “The Lakers were winning by about 12 or 13 but the pistons fought back after halftime and now they are tied as you can see. Great game.”
Sit butted in, “And my man Kobe has 28 points!”
Flo laughed, “He also has 8 boards and 9 assists.”
“Damn, good game by Kobe,” Marquis was impressed.
“First game he’s been the leader during the playoffs actually.”
Marquis, Flo and Sit looked around and saw Andrew Watson and Srbija.
“Kobe’s been averaging just 25 points a game this playoffs so it’s good that he’s stepping up against the Pistons this series,” Watson told them all before he sat down in front of the TV and grabbed a beer out of the esky.
Srbija preferred to stand, “Man, someone should get a bigger TV next time!”
Marquis sipped a bit of his drink and noticved that Mark wasn’t moving, “Is that dude ok?”
Everyone laughed and Srbija answered, “He’s an alco. Don’t worry about him.”
The ad break finished and the game was back on.
The Lakers and Pistons kept it close by trading baskets for the next few minutes. Even without Chauncey Billups on the floor, LA just couldn’t find a way to beat the Pistons.
Kobe shouted out to Odom who was cutting down near the baseline, “Get open!”
He looked up at the shot clock and it displayed 7, someone needed to get open.
Lamar then changed direction quickly and pushed of his left foot and darted to his right and towards the sideline. Kobe spotted him and passed the ball.
“No!” Kobe then cursed loudly.
Odom was on the floor and hit his fist against the hardwood. The ball was out of bounds.
“What was that?” Kobe angrily scorned Odom who had picked himself off the floor.
“Man…”
Kobe cut Odom off and glared at him before getting back down the court quickly. Things got worse as Kwame Brown let Lindsay Hunter seemingly walk into the paint and score. It was getting out of hand as Bryant shouted and tapped Kwame on the back of his head.
“Do you have a brain man?” Kobe furiously taunted his team mate, “Why did you let him walk in?”
Phil Jackson shook his head and signalled for a time out. The players formed a huddle at their bench and Kobe took a seat. He sat down and cursed again before throwing his bottle in front of him.
“Kobe,” Phil announced, “You’re off until you learn to control your temper.”
Sit threw his arms in the air when Kobe didn’t return onto the court.
“Man, what’s Phil thinking?” Sit protested.
Jing walked into the room, “It’s because Kobe sucks.”
“No he doesn’t!” Sit threw the remote control at him.
The glass cabinet door was hit by the remote and it shattered near Jing.
“What was that for?” Jing watched his step.
Sit started to watch the game again and ignored Jing who had sat down near Mark. Mark was still asleep on the carpet and mumbling in his slumber.
“Lamar Odom scores the two point bucket,” the commentator announced.
Odom gave Kwame a high five as the two players ran back down to start playing defence, “The Lakers are behind by just 1 with a handful of minutes left!”
“You think Kobe will be back on?” Flo asked Watson.
Watson shrugged, “I don’t know, what you think?”
Marquis looked clueless, “What?”
Rasheed Wallace had just hit a fade away over Kwame’s outstretched arms to the roar of the Place crowd. The scoreboard showed there were only 37 seconds left in the game. The Lakers were winning 99-97. Smush Parker took the ball and passed it to Lamar. Lamar dribbled the ball up past the Lakers bench where Kobe was seated. Bryant had a towel wrapped around his head. He watched on then suddenly put both his hands on the top of his head and grimaced.
“No,” he muttered under his breath.
Odom had lost the ball and Prince was on the fast break. Prince dunked the ball hard and the clock stopped at 29 seconds. Smush got the ball again and passed it to Odom. This time the Lakers forward made no mistake and protected the ball. His team mates scrambled on offence to set up a play and Chris Mihm suddenly found himself open under the hoop. Odom whipped a pass in and Mihm went up for the shot.
“Come on!” Phil Jackson yelled out and threw his arms in the air.
Ben Wallace grabbed the rebound and called a timeout. The Pistons took it quickly as there were only 7 ticks left on the clock. The players set up on the court quickly for the last play of the game.
“No shot!” called out Phil Jackson to his players.
The Lakers bench was on its feet but Kobe wasn’t. Kobe had been told by Phil that he was to stay stuck on the pine for the rest of the game.
Rip Hamilton was on the opposite side of the court and signalled for a screen. The two Wallaces stepped in Devean George’s way and set a double screen. Rip got open and ran to the top of the key. Prince threw the ball to his running team mate who was now wide open. With 3 seconds left, Rip let the ball go and it sailed right through the middle of the hoop.
“Too good!” someone screamed out.
Rip Hamilton had his shooting hand in the air and skipped backwards as his team mates hugged him. There was only 1.9 seconds left in the game and the Lakers used their final time out.
“We’re going for the win,” Jackson said.
Jackson looked towards Kobe and Bryant thought he was finally going back into the game, “Sasha, get in there.”
Kobe shook his head and hid beneath his towel as Sasha excitedly got out of his seat.
“Odom, you’re the decoy,” Phil said.
“What?”
Phil repeated, “You’re going to be double teamed, you are going to be the decoy and hit Sasha with the pass. He’s going to go for a three.”
Odom wasn’t impressed, “I’m not down with that coach. He’s only a rookie.”
Sasha looked at Odom, “I’m not a rookie.”
Odom sat down next to Bryant, “I ain’t going back in unless I’m shooting.”
Phil pointed at George, “Then you will be going in then.”
Sit was going crazy when he saw who was going onto the court for the Lakers, “No Kobe. No Lamar. What’s going on here?”
Everyone was silent as the game was about to be restarted. The players on the screen kept running around the court, trying to get open. Hard cuts towards the hoop and the ball still failed to get anybody free for a shot. Then George hastily threw the pass into Mihm. George took a step in and got the ball back quickly before throwing it to the other side of the court to an open Vujacic.
“He scores!” Sit shouted.
Vujacic had nailed the shot on the buzzer, the final second of the game seemed like 10.
“Holy cow!” Flo was jumping up and down.
Everyone in the room was cheering as Vujacic was celebrating with his team mates in Detroit. Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom were seen walking with their heads down towards the team changing room. The other Lakers were now carrying the skinny Vujacic on their shoulders.
“Lakers win Game 1 baby!” Sit was now shaking up his beer, “We going for the win!”
Mark woke up dude to the noise and tried to open his eyes, “Man, what’s going on?”
No one took notice of Mark who then got up and tried to leave the room.
“Drinks on me!” Jing shouted before someone’s high pitched yelp made everyone be quiet.
It was Mark Moore, “Ouch, my foot!”
- - -
Reshawn Tyson and Alex Sotirov sat at the table negotiating with Detective Vince Thompson.
“My client has a busy schedule and with all due respect, he has medical papers to prove he was in an unstable state of mind on the day of the incident,” Sotirov explained to Thompson, “I believe that you should drop all charges.”
Thompson didn’t seem to hear what he said, “Tyson is going to be charged with a few counts of assault. Nothing you can do about it apart from maybe paying for the damages of the things he damaged.”
Sotirov took out his cheque book, “How much?”
Thompson wagged his finger in his face, “Even if you pay, he still faces charges of resisting arrest.”
“Stop playing with us man.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” Thompson laughed.
Sotirov got up and pointed at Thompson, “We will see you in court.”
Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom and Phil Jackson were having a bit of a talk after their final training before Game 2.
“Look Kobe, I can do without your attitude problem,” Phil lectured them, “Lamar, it wasn’t appropriate to throw a hissy-fit. You’re my two best players and I need both of you on the floor to play well.”
Bryant and Odom were still frowning.
“It’s been a long road and I just want to finish this series tonight,” Jackson begged them, “We’re close to proving everyone wrong. We are so close to winning that title; I know you two want it too. I beg you to play good basketball tomorrow night. I will start the two of you but if anything goes wrong, you’re both off.”
And with that, Phil Jackson walked away from the duo and left the training centre. Bryant and Odom would dwell on what was said to them.
- - -
It was just like their loss against the Spurs; the Staples Centre was buzzing and Kobe Bryant was on the bench waving his arms in the air.
“That’s what I’m talking about!”
Jack Nicholson was next to him, “Kobe, this is great.”
Kobe was a bit confused, “I thought you didn’t like me dawg.”
Nicholson smiled, “I’m a fan now. Never too late.”
“Shouldn’t you be talking to the Pistons?” Kobe pointed at Nicholson’s usual seat behind the visitor’s bench.
“I don’t want my head ripped off by Ben.”
Kobe and Nicholson then cheered louder for the Lakers as Aaron McKie scored a three to put LA ahead for good.
“We’ve won baby!” Kobe said to Lamar as the two gave each other high fives.
The crowd was calling for Kobe to get back onto the court but the game was done. With the Lakers up 104-82, it was hard to think that they needed Kobe on the court anymore. As time winded down, the Lakers ended up winning 105-87. Confetti rained from the ceiling after the buzzer sounded. The Pistons filed towards the Lakers bench and shook their opponent’s hands. It was a blow out tonight and after the Pistons had finished congratulating the Lakers, Kobe hugged Phil.
“I knew you had it in you son,” Phil whispered to Kobe.
Kobe was beaming, “I owe you so much coach. Thanks for saving me.”
Phil then patted Kobe on the shoulder, “You are truly great, I’m glad that you have matured so much.”
Kobe then turned around and jumped onto the scorer’s table and waved his arms in the air. The fans were cheering ‘MVP’ over and over again. Bryant had played a truly great game as he finished with 38 points, 9 rebounds and 11 assists. Odom had joined Kobe on top of the scorer’s table and the two happily waved to their adoring fans. Odom was no slouch either as he put in a huge 18 points, 17 rebound and 5 assist performance.
“Your championship winning Los Angeles Lakers!” the PA man called into the system.
His voice blasted all over the Staples Centre and the fans and players were having a ball. It was a while before the trophy presentation was undertaken. Each Laker had their name called out and Kobe was awarded Finals MVP. Then David Stern came onto mid court and presented the Lakers with the Larry O’Brien trophy. It was a moment Kobe Bryant would never forget.
“The 2006 NBA Champions,” the PA man announced, “Your Los Angeles Lakers!”