BOSTON -- The aches and aspirations have built up through the season, 97 games and counting for the Lakers, who hope to push through one final portal.
A decade's worth of drama was shrink-wrapped into one season -- a star player wanted to leave but didn't, an up-and-coming center arrived but went away, and Pau Gasol came on board, opening up another dimension for a holdover from the Shaquille O'Neal trade -- but the Lakers don't yet know whether this postscript will be unbelievable or unfathomable.
The first few paragraphs of the NBA Finals will be known after tonight's opener at TD Banknorth Garden, home of another franchise that had drifted inexorably toward the middle of the NBA pack, if not lower, the last few years.
The historical figures of the franchises have already had their say, but all eyes will be on the current-day players, starting tonight.
It's Lakers versus Celtics, finally.
That much was obvious after a heavily attended media day, in which players from both teams fielded questions at individual podiums and answered the bizarre (to Lamar Odom: "Do you have a driver's license yet?") and the biting (to Kobe Bryant: "Were there any discussions in specific with what team you would want to go to?").
Amid the media frenzy came an e-mail announcement that the Lakers had already won the championship, at least in the eyes of EA Sports, whose "NBA Live '09" video-game simulation had the Lakers defeating the Celtics after Bryant's 38-point, 11-assist effort in a 106-101 Game 7 victory in Boston.
What a relief for Lakers fans.
The real thing, however, wasn't quite as clear-cut.
The Lakers had been Western Conference champions for all of 15 minutes before their coach warned them about losing in the real Finals, emphasizing the importance of continuing the journey and finishing up their eight-month mission with aplomb.
Phil Jackson seemed satisfied with what he had seen so far this week.
"They haven't experienced the game until they're out there [tonight]," he said. "But the reality of coming through this [playoff] process and doing it the way we've done it so far gives me some hope that they're going to be responsive at that time."
Indeed, the players seem fine with it, thanks in part to the presence of Bryant and Derek Fisher, who were part of three championship teams this decade, along with another close call in 2004.
"I think that their poise and professionalism have rubbed off on us," Odom said.
