Lakers finally get their taste of redemption

Reporting from Orlando, Fla. — Kobe Bryant scratched at it until it bled. Derek Fisher clawed at it until it hurt. The rest of them dug and dug until it finally, willfully, wonderfully disappeared.

The Lakers' seven-year itch is gone.

Awash in relief and redemption, Los Angeles' cornerstone sports franchise is once again champion of the NBA.

For the 15th time in franchise history, the fourth time this decade and the first time since 2002, the Lakers celebrated Sunday night with a title that was a tribute to reinvention and resilience.

Not to mention calisthenics, with Kobe Bryant leaping and pumping his right arm four times -- one for each ring -- before being mobbed by teammates after his team's clinching 99-86 victory over the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals.

"This feels like a dream," said Bryant, his eyes wide with wonder, smiling for the first time in a week. "This doesn't feel real."

The four-games-to-one victory dripped not only of champagne, but history.

Phil Jackson becomes the greatest championship coach in NBA history, his 10th title surpassing the nine titles won by the Boston Celtics' Red Auerbach.

"It's surreal," said Jackson, wearing a gold cap adorned with X, the Roman numeral for 10.

Bryant, the Finals MVP, becomes possibly the most unburdened player in NBA history as he finally wins a title without former teammate and nemesis Shaquille O'Neal, who had earlier won one without Bryant.

"I just don't have to hear that criticism, that idiotic criticism, anymore," said Bryant, who ended a week of growling intensity by literally gnawing at his fingernails in anticipation of Sunday's final horn.

Sitting with a Moet-soaked T-shirt in the interview room underneath Amway Arena, Bryant shook his head, grinning and chuckling, the taut and tough leader finally admitting that the Shaq rap ripped him.

"It was like Chinese water torture . . . it was just annoying . . . I would cringe every time," he said. "I was just like, it's a challenge I'm just going to have to accept because there's no way I'm going to argue it."

There was also a milestone of sorts reached by owner Jerry Buss, who becomes the best sports owner of the 21st century.

The Lakers' fourth title since 2000 is more during that span than any other franchise in any other major sport, with this latest occurring after a reinvention that only Hollywood could love.