J.A. Adande of ESPN.com: “It came with 8:19 left in the fourth quarter of Game 5, right after Bryant hit a 3-pointer that put he Lakers ahead by 16 points, forcing yet another Orlando Magic timeout. Bryant stopped just before he got to the bench, bent over and held his clenched fists in front of his face, looking like a ski jumper about to head down the ramp. Finally the moment was at hand. The particulars, such as the final score of this 99-86 victory that brought the Lakers their 15th championship, were a mere formality. The Magic were done. Bryant had released his final arrow, a strike to the heart. He had completed his journey from the tears he shed when the San Antonio Spurs ended the Lakers’ run of championships in 2003 … to the stunned expression when he confessed to adultery but claimed innocence when he was accused of sexually assaulting a Colorado hotel worker later that summer … to the poor Finals performance in 2004 … the breakup of the Kobe-Shaq-Phil triangle that followed … the only playoff absence of his career in 2005 … first-round exits at the hands of the Phoenix Suns the next two years … a humbling loss to the Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals that dimmed his still-shiny Most Valuable Player trophy … a gold medal in the Beijing Olympics … and now his first Finals MVP award.”
Ian Thomsen of SI.com: “The young Kobe used to seem very much alone, especially in victory. But the Kobe Bryant who rules his sport today finds himself encircled by respect and gratitude. As the last seconds of the long seven years ticked away, he was embraced by teammates and coaches who appreciated all that he had done for them. There was a point when we sat together and watched tape,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson recalled of a film session they shared eight or nine years ago, after the young Kobe had been drawn into a needless one-on-one scoring duel against Vince Carter in Toronto. So I talked to him about leadership and his ability to be a leader, and he said, ‘I’m ready to be a captain right now.’ And I said, ‘But no one is ready to follow you.’ He was 22 at the time. He was a young guy. In those years that have ensued, he’s learned how to become a leader in a way in which people want to follow him. And I think that’s really important for him to have learned that, because he knew that he had to give to get back in return. He’s become a giver rather than just a guy that’s a demanding leader, and that’s been great for him and great to watch.’”
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports: “Jackson had good fortune, good timing and a good time chasing an unimpressed Auerbach. ‘I expect a cigar,’ Jackson suggested on the cusp of his ninth NBA championship seven years ago in the Jersey swamps. ‘I’m going to send him a congratulatory wire,’ Auerbach grumbled over the phone later that day. Close, but no cigar. Red Auerbach could barely utter a gracious word on Jackson, who still speaks reverently of his elder. Those days are over now, because the Lakers’ 99-86 Game 5 victory over the Orlando Magic on Sunday changed the course of history. Roll over Red. Phil Jackson is the greatest coach ever. He passed Auerbach with his 10th NBA title Sunday night and he will go down as the greatest coach in NBA history. For everyone who says they would’ve won with Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal(notes) and Kobe Bryant(notes), understand this: There are few coaches alive who could’ve commanded the respect of those players for all those years, all those championships. Maybe just one, just Jackson. As much as anyone, he understands that the genius of coaching isn’t in the X’s and O’s but the humanity of it all.”
Ramona Shelburne of the Los Angeles Daily News: “He has always believed himself to be a facilitator for individual greatness, helping men become greater than themselves and teams come together as more than their parts. Before their series-clinching Game 5, Jackson brought the team in together for a quiet moment, so they could center themselves and block out the noise around them. In his younger days, Bryant could rarely do that. Sublimate or sacrifice his own talent for the betterment of the team. Quiet his id, and let others help him rise. By accepting Jackson, even after the coach’s honest but hurtful words in his memoir, ‘The Last Season,’ Bryant accepted that despite all his individual brilliance, he could not win another championship alone. ‘I think it’s his ability to bring people together,’ Bryant said of Jackson. ‘He continues to coach the group, continues to coach unity and chemistry and togetherness, and that’s the biggest thing. Because when you’re together, you can withstand adversity. If you’re not, you can easily break apart and become a team of individuals.’ As a teacher, there is no prouder moment than when a student has learned to teach himself.”
Johnny Ludden of Yahoo! Sports: “‘If it was a movie, I couldn’t have ended it any better,’ Ariza said. He laughed. He was thinking the same thing everyone was thinking. ‘Hopefully, there will be a sequel.’ That’s the question, isn’t it? Can the Lakers repeat? Even three-peat? They’re talented enough, young enough, to make sure this season isn’t a one-and-done celebration, provided enough of them stay together. Ariza and Odom become free agents in a couple weeks, and for Lakers owner Jerry Buss, that means one thing: It’s time to pay. Not at any cost, of course. Everyone has limits, even the owner of the league’s most marketable franchise. Odom still floats through some games, if not weeks, and Ariza has had a nifty six-month run, which is about six months more than he’s previously enjoyed. But, luxury tax be damned, the Lakers also should now have greater incentive to bring both back. Ariza and Odom proved their value during these playoffs, and that included Sunday. Then, they combined for 32 points, 15 rebounds and three steals to help the Lakers secure their 15th title. Yes, this was their moment, too.”
Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News: “Derek Fisher sat in a quiet corner of the visitors’ locker room Sunday night at Amway Arena, drenched in sweat and champagne after the Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic to win the NBA championship. He spoke quietly and earnestly about winning for the fourth time in his career. He later climbed a podium inside a dank room deep within the arena and attempted to put into words what it meant to win with a new cast of characters. His first three titles were won with veteran teams; the latest was with a less experienced roster. Fisher said this team was closer than the teams that won from 2000-02. ‘With these guys, everybody being in their early- to mid-20 s, guys that are still trying to make their spot in this league, earn their contract situation, there was a willingness to learn and be around me, to be around Kobe (Bryant),’ Fisher said. ‘It’s just a special group. I think that’s why you saw the emotion that you saw tonight. We didn’t act like we expected this to happen. I mean, we really celebrated like we didn’t know this was coming.’”
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “The Lakers won two overtime games, one in each city, but they ended this series the way they began it — with a convincing victory. They held the Magic to 75 points in a 25-point win in the series opener, and their defense was just as solid in the close-out game. The Magic shot just 41.5 percent and were a horrendous 8-of-27 (29.6 percent) from the 3-point line. Their ‘Big Three’ — Howard (11 points, 10 rebounds), Hedo Turkoglu (12 points) and Rashard Lewis (18 points on an icy 6-of-19 shooting) — fizzled in a game they needed to make a return trip to L.A. The Magic’s point-guard saga, complicated by Nelson’s return, was a washout. Rafer Alston (12 points on 5-of-15 shooting) and Nelson (five points) combined to miss 15-of-22 shots. Trailing the Magic by as many as nine points, the game turned for the Lakers in the second quarter, thanks to a former Magic player.”
John Schuhmann of NBA.com: “Bookending three games where they were on the same level as the Lakers, were two games where they just fell flat. In their 99-86 loss in Game 5, the Magic had no answer for a 16-0 Lakers run that turned the game around in the second quarter. ‘I did not think we handled the frustration really well,’ Van Gundy said afterward. ‘And that’s what I think one mistake, one bad play in that stretch, kept leading to another.’ The Magic committed four turnovers as they went scoreless for eight straight possessions in the middle of the second period, and their four-point lead quickly became a 12-point deficit. They had come back from bigger halftime holes in the postseason than the 10 points they were down at the break on Sunday, but they just didn’t have the spirit to come back and extend their season this time. The game was lost with that second-quarter collapse. ‘I think we still had a little energy, but we weren’t mentally tough,’ Rafer Alston said. It wasn’t a matter of the Lakers wearing the Magic down after Orlando’s quick start. It was if they stuck a needle in the Magic’s balloon and let all the air out.”
Ben Q Rock of Third Quarter Collapse: “Be it the cloudy skies or the unusual number of Lakers fans in attendance, but this game had a certain ominous feeling to it, as though Orlando was simply fated not to fare so well. Even after the first quarter, one got the sense it would not be the Magic’s night. The Lakers were quicker to every loose ball and enjoyed a heathy, 16-11 advantage on the glass. Dwight Howard couldn’t buy a free-throw attempt no matter how hard he got hit–this is not a dig at the officials, who ‘let the players play,’ so to speak, on both ends of the floor throughout the game–Lewis couldn’t find the range, and Hedo Turkoglu didn’t have any room to shoot as former Magic forward Trevor Ariza blanketed him better than anyone else I’ve ever seen; and yes, that includes noted Magic-killer Tayshaun Prince of the Detroit Pistons. As has been their wont, the Lakers left the Magic’s iffy backcourt of Courtney Lee and Rafer Alston tee-off, a decision that worked out well for L.A. Lee had his finest game of the Finals offensively (12 points, 5-of-11 shooting, mostly good choices), but Alston clanked his fair share of open jumpers, doing his part to help the Lakers’ defense and transition game.”
Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “It’s too bad such a delirious Magic season has to come to such a disappointing climax. What a shame this joyous pleasure cruise ended like a boat mired in the muck of Lake Apopka. The Magic were never in the game after the Lakers went on a 16-0 in the second quarter. Where was their deadly 3-point shooting (only 8-of-27 from beyond the arc)? And what happened to their Big Three of Howard (11 points), Hedo Turkoglu (12 points) and Rashard Lewis (6-of-19 from the floor)? Should Magic fans be disappointed today? Absolutely. Should Magic fans be despondent today? Absolutely not. Oh, sure, there will always be second-guessing when you get to the Finals and don’t win. There will always be questions about what might have been if Courtney Lee had hit the alley-oop layup at the end of Game 2. Or if Howard had hit a free throw at the end of Game 4. Or, if seconds later, Stan Van Gundy had chosen to foul instead of allowing Derek Fisher to hit the game-tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation. But this is not the end of the Magic.”
Zach McCann of Orlando Magic Daily: “At this point, I don’t feel any sense of disappointment, frustration or regret. How can you? The Lakers easily mulled through the Magic to capture their 15th championship, and they did so in dominating fashion it. There’s not a person in the world who can say the Magic are better than the Lakers. And when you can say that, losing hurts a lot less. The sting especially softens when your team didn’t fail because of dumb turnovers, poor coaching or lack of effort. None of that was the problem. The Lakers were simply better than the Magic. If the Magic are a heavyweight, the Lakers are a super heavyweight. The Magic simply couldn’t trade punches with the Lakers, who are too good, too deep and too versatile. They’re built with the ability to counter anything the Magic could throw at them. And they’re killers — when they see blood, they attack. The Magic’s only hope was to shoot 62 percent like they did in their only win of this series. That wasn’t happening tonight.”
Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com: “At the end of the night, there was just one team still standing — and two guys on the other bench who were sitting and staring. That moment will sit with Nelson and Howard and percolate in their brains in the days, months and perhaps even years ahead. For all the success they achieved, the final night of their season was a failure. ‘What I told Jameer is just look at it, just see how they’re celebrating, and it should motivate us to want to get in the gym and get better, just to see those guys celebrating,’ Howard said. ‘It’s like what I told Jameer: We were right there at our goal. Our goal was within reach. We were three games away from having the NBA title. So I told him next year we’ve got to be even more hungrier to be champions. It does hurt, but I’d rather sit there and watch it than go in the locker room and feel sorry for myself. It hurts, it hurts a lot, but you can learn a lot from losing. Sometimes you’ve got to lose to win,’ Howard said. Those types of thoughts were what drove the Lakers after that beatdown they took in Beantown a year ago. Only time will tell if it drives the Magic in a similar way.”
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
