Lakers: Can the Other Guys Get Some Love?

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The Lakers win the NBA championship, and all anyone can talk about is how it's Kobe's fourth and first without Shaq, and Phil's 10th overall, surpassing Red, and where it ranks them all-time.

Well, can a single coach and a single player win a championship by themselves? Of course not—it's a group effort, and so if no one else is going to do it, then allow me this opportunity to thank assistant coaches Brian Shaw and Kurt Rambis, who will be heading their own squadrons in the near future, as well as longtime Zenmaster bench aids Frank Hamblen and Jim Cleamons.

Tex Winter, wherever you are, get well soon, so you can enjoy this also. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, we salute you as well, you deserve much better than a job as a tutor and a seat behind the bench.

And the front office, I mean, how can Mitch Kupchak not get more praise? He built this team—he had a vision and the patience and fortitude to see it through despite great pressure to do otherwise. This guy knew what he was doing.

And Dr. Buss...in a league in which few owners are willing to put winning above all else, you are one of the exceptions, okaying the Gasol trade even though you knew it would put the team over the luxury tax threshold for years to come. Finances don't matter to you as much as championships and the tradition of great Lakers basketball, and for that we salute you. That's why Los Angeles now has a ninth banner under your keep.

But now we must get to the men on the court. After all, that is where the games are won and lost. Kobe will get most of the credit for this, and indeed he deserves the lion's share, but he couldn't have done it without these guys. Most notably...

...Pau Gasol, who, as Jeff Van Gundy likes to put, is the NBA's best second-best player. This season, and especially in the postseason, he went from a very good player to a great one. Not only does he score on anyone and possess a sky-high basketball IQ, but his defense has become much improved.

Last season it was mock-worthy, then it became adequate, to above-average, to damned good in the Finals, as evidenced by the job he did on Dwight Howard. Gasol held Howard to 15 points a game on a mere 49 percent shooting, 11 percent south of his overall postseason effort. Of course he couldn't have done it without a little help from...

...Lamar Odom

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