Kobe Bryant's weariness should make Lakers fans wary

FROM ORLANDO, FLA. — As Pau Gasol lay sprawled on his belly in a cramped and jeering gym late Tuesday, gasping, sweating, needing a hand, a teammate walked past.

Kobe Bryant never even slowed down.

He wouldn't pick him up. He couldn't pick him up. He couldn't pick any of them up.

The Laker who can run through walls has suddenly hit one, hard, and an entire team has been left with a bloody nose and splitting headache.

The Lakers gave away an NBA Finals game they could have stolen Tuesday, losing to the Orlando Magic, 108-104, as painfully as Bryant was losing his breath.

The Lakers endured swish after swish against what became the hottest-shooting team in NBA Finals history, yet still tied it up in the final three minutes.

Then Bryant gasped.

The Lakers still had a chance in the final minute, trailing by a basket with their best player dribbling the ball.

Then Bryant coughed.

The ending was remarkable in that, this being the first Finals win in Magic franchise history, Amway Arena was filled with falling confetti and the incessant wail of a foghorn.

It was also remarkable in that the game's best closer was just too darn exhausted to do anything about it.

After scoring 17 points in the first quarter, Bryant scored just 14 the rest of the game. That's a lack of energy.

He missed half of his 10 free throws, clanking one in the final minute that could have pulled the Lakers to within a point. That's a lack of legs.

He then committed a costly mistake with the Lakers trailing by two, losing the ball while trying to dribble through a double team. That's just pure weariness.

It was that play, with 28.7 seconds left, that ended with Gasol on the floor and Bryant too worn to even bend over and lift him.

It was that play that led to two Mickael Pietrus free throws that clinched it.

Well, OK, as a last sign of sluggishness, there was also Bryant's wildly missed three-point attempt in the final seconds, one of 14 misses in 25 attempts that led to his worst 31-point game of the season.

Bryant was whipped, and I wasn't the only one who thought so, as Coach Phil Jackson sat him on the bench for nearly the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.

"I wanted to move it even farther," Jackson said of the benching, which probably drew cries of protest from everyone but Bryant. "Seven-minute mark is what I wanted to move it to, but it looked like we were going to have to get back."