Joint Contrast

Foreword by – J.C. Carnahan

The celebration began for the Los Angeles Lakers during a timeout with 40 seconds to go on Sunday night, but their 15th NBA title had already been wrapped up long before that though. It didn’t take much from there to make it official either, by way of a 99-86 Game 5 decision over the Orlando Magic at Amway Arena.

Despite the efforts of the Magic, who got off to a furious start in the opening quarter of the deciding game but deteriorated in the second half, the Lakers methodically dismantled Orlando on their home court to cap off a 4-1 series win. It was 11 points from Kobe Bryant in the first quarter, a go-ahead three-pointer from Trevor Ariza in the second quarter, big three-pointers drained by Lamar Odom in the third quarter, and the efforts of L.A.’s supporting cast down the stretch that ensured the closeout. Handshakes and hugs were then passed around as civilians from the dejected city of Orlando could only look on. Or away.

And with that, Bryant and Derek Fisher earn their fourth NBA titles and head coach Phil Jackson officially goes down as the greatest coach in NBA history. Or is it the greatest in sports history? Jackson now owns every possible career playoff coaching record and finally stands alone atop the championship mountain after having now won 10 titles in 12 trips. As amazing as it was for spectators to be a part of what Red Auerbach had accomplished, back when he guided the Boston Celtics to nine titles over 10 years, two decades worth of basketball fans from each coast have bared witness to the greatness that is the Zen Master.

Quote of the Night – ”I really don’t think people appreciate how great this guy is,” said Mark Jackson about Kobe Bryant after watching him knock down a tough shot. “I learned early on as a broadcaster that you don’t want to throw around the word “great.” Well, I’m going to go out on a limb and say this guy is great.”

Best Advertisement –  The lonely-LeBron puppet commercials, where he says “good luck buddy” while watching Kobe on TV and then counts down to next season while doing curls in Kobe’s gym, shows that Nike knows no limit to how far they’ll take their superstar marketing campaign. Check out more puppetry at Nike Basketball. And prepare for more, more, more Kobe and LeBron for years to come.

Makes Me Wonder – How many roster changes will take place between these two teams before the start of next season. If these teams can’t find a way to keep key ingredients such as Turkoglu, Gortat, Ariza and Odom, will they be able to replace them with the kind of talent that helps basketball teams advance to the Finals?

For Stats Sake – Bryant wrapped up this series by earning the NBA Finals MVP Trophy after going for 30 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks and 2 steals in Game 5. Lamar Odom recorded 17 points, 10 rebounds and hit 3 three’s, Pau Gasol had 14 points, 15 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 assists, and Trevor Ariza had 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 three-pointers for the champs. The Magic went 8-for-27 from long distance, were outrebounded by 11, and had 8 shots blocked by L.A.

Free Throws – Not counting foreign-born players, four players who entered the NBA straight out of high school were starters in the 2009 NBA Finals. Among them were Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard for Orlando and Bryant and Andrew Bynum for Los Angeles… What would have become of the Magic if Billy Donovan had not run back to the University of Florida a couple years ago and Stan Van Gundy had instead taken over as head coach of the Sacramento Kings?… Anybody know where I can get a highlight tape of NBA player Rafer Alston imitating those AND1 guys I see on TV, like when he passed the ball between his legs to Lewis as he trailed from behind in the first quarter or went behind-the-back in the post to avoid a defender a couple games ago? Oh wait, never mind…

 –– Further Analysis from the Joint Contrast Crew ––

== Says J.C. – As lopsided as a 4-1 series sounds, it looked much closer than that in the grand scheme of things. Not to say that the Lakers weren’t the better team, but think about it. Going into Game 5, this series easily could have been 3-1 the other way around had those two overtime games ended as planned for the Magic. But they didn’t. And just as what happened in Detroit two days earlier when Pittsburgh won the Stanley Cup on the road, Orlando fans had to watch the visiting team celebrate during the trophy presentation on their home floor. Again. The same sort of thing took place back in 1995 after the Houston Rockets swept through town. The one glaring similarity between this Magic team and the one that advanced to the Finals all those years ago is that a franchise-caliber center led the charge each time. It was Shaquille O’Neal back then. It’s Dwight Howard now. But will this version crumble from the inside out like that team did more than a decade ago? This summer will be an interesting one in Orlando.

== Says Ray-Ray – First off, I’d like to congratulate the Orlando Magic on a great season and an amazing playoff run that carried them to the Finals. On that note, hell of a job Lakers! That was a damn good closeout game. Defensive tenacity, attacking the rim, rebounding, shot blocking, steals and hitting the big shots. But, that double clutch pump-fake fadeaway shot, and the floater over Howard, were astounding plays by Finals MVP Kobe Bryant, aka The Black Mamba. This effort showed the work he has put in, and just how hard he played in this series to win it all and finally get out of Shaq’s shadow (whether he will admit it or not). The defense by Ariza (thanks for the trade, Orlando), the big three-pointers by Odom, an all-around great series for Gasol (thanks again, Memphis), combined with the leadership and some huge shots from Fisher, showed the all-around team effort it takes to win in the Finals. This series showed how size truly does matter, in the NBA that is. We saw how it worked for both teams. How having some of the best and most agile big men in the league being able to control the inside, as well as guard the outside, and how both teams utilized their size in each matchup on their way to this point were needed. And speaking of the Finals, do you realize that each time Phil Jackson has started a championship run he has three-peated? So lets see how L.A. does next year. In closing this series of thoughts, I would like to send a shout out to Jackson for getting No. 10 and becoming the winningest coach in NBA history. And by the way, badass hat he was wearing afterwards.

== Says TimS – The NBA Playoffs. Where amazing happens. Except in the Finals. The epic Bulls-Celtics series. The back and forth heroics in the Boston-Orlando series. Denver manhandling their way to the Conference Finals. Cleveland embarrassing the Pistons and the Hawks, then getting embarrassed by the Magic. It was all so exciting. And then we get this horseshit series. Even when it was close it was never competitive. Dwight’s underdeveloped post game was exposed. Pau Gasol got uglier with every possession and Kobe often displayed his Thug Poet face (seriously, am I the only one that remembers that shit?). After watching him make that ridiculous face over and over I’m wondering if he learned it from that Mormon girl he ass-raped a few years ago (she might not have said “no”, but I bet she said “no, not there”). They we may never know, we did find out that Odom loves Sour Patch Kids more than basketball and that Trevor Ariza is, well, we found out that Trevor Ariza is going to be a rich man. So as the season comes to a close I anticipate one thing happening next year at this same time. The greatest rap duet ever: “Kobe, Tell Us How Our Asses Taste“ by King James and Shaqfu.

–– Further Coverage from the Joint Contrast Crew ––

Check out our exclusive NBA Finals coverage of Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, and Game 4.