Cody's Blog

Fueled by a comeback led by Kobe Byrant and Ron Artest, the Los Angeles Lakers captured the 16th title in franchise history, while Laker standouts Bryant and Derek Fisher grabbed their fifth NBA titles, and first against the Celtics. Bryant shot a dismal 6 of 24 from the field, but his 23 points, coupled with Artest’s 20 and Gasol’s quiet 19 point, 18 rebound performance led the Lakers out from their early first half deficit and on to victory for the second time in as many years. For Laker head coach Phil Jackson, it was titled number 11 in his career, tying him for the most titles as a coach with longtime USC baseball coach Rod Dedeaux. The Lakers also turned the tide on what had been a lopsided NBA finals series favoring the Celtics, as they had taken 9 of their 12 meetings from L.A. in the finals, but the kicker was that they did it the Celtic way. The Lakers played a tough defensive minded, low scoring affair Friday night in game seven, which is usually the Celtics fortay. For coach Phil, this title may well have been his last, as the grind of an NBA season is wearing on his 65 year old body, and a pay cut looms in the extremely near future. However, the Lakers may still be able to sell Phil the idea to stick around to try and chase down and capture and unprecedented fourth threepeat next year in what would most likely be his final season if he does not retire this year.