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, much maligned and asked of for more, but finally arrived. This was his finest season: before the season began, he accepted a demotion to the bench in a contract year and after some brief discontent, he embraced his new role.

Then, when Andrew Bynum went down to a knee injury in January, he quietly and seamlessly filled in until Bynum's return in April, at which point he quietly and seamlessly transitioned back to his position as sixth man. With Drew failing to recover his previous form and constantly plagued by foul trouble, he picked up the slack once again, averaging 13 points and eight rebounds in the Finals and 12 points and nine rebounds overall in 32 minutes a game in the postseason. Redemption and vindication at last.

I'm happy for Lamar—he's been here for a while now, through all of the post-Shaq angst, tons of scrutiny, and enough trade rumors that I'm almost shocked he lasted this long. He's a great guy, adored by his teammates and well-liked by reporters, and there's not a lot of guys unselfish enough to make the sacrifice he made, get jerked around and treated like an object all season, and remain such a positive team guy. Lesser men would have become the kind of cancer that can sabotage a championship dream. If Odom leaves this summer, he will leave a champion, and he didn't need a ring to prove it.

Derek Fisher - we already covered him, so let's move on to...

...Trevor Ariza

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