FROM ORLANDO, FLA. — The Lakers won. Yippee, hooray for them and all that stuff.
Phil now has more rings than Red, like any of us could sleep waiting for this moment, while Jeanie continues searching for her ring, but then that's tweet for another day.
Kobe did it without Shaq, because he had Pau.
Sasha did it without ever making a shot in the Finals.
And the Lakers did it without Jerry, Jeanie, John and Jim here, leaving it to the three unknowns, Joey, Jesse and Janie, to introduce themselves to David Stern and accept the trophy -- the economy apparently affecting even championship organizations.
Good for the Lakers, and who cares whether Orlando proved to be a championship fraud under the glare of pressure?
Congrats to Sun Yue on winning his first championship ring, and could Jerry West have done any better putting this team together than Mitch Kupchak?
Enjoy it while you can, everyone, because Councilman Bernard Parks is already predicting there will be no Lakers dynasty, no back-to-back championships in his argument to have the city pay for a parade.
"I don't think we have a choice," Parks recently told The Times. "This is one of those things that happen once a decade."
And so much for Parks' faith in the Dodgers' chances of winning the World Series in a few months.
As civic pride dictates in these things, of course, everyone is supposed to be a Lakers lover now, giddy and overcome with affection for their heroes, but excuse me if I sit this one out.
At the risk of being blasted as a hater, so much anger out there and everything in sports today taken to the extreme, a victory doesn't suddenly make unlikable athletes likable.
It has never been about winning and losing here, as much as the way athletes and coaches go about their business, so no time now to fake it.
The Lakers were good, all right, and gritty when they had to be, Kobe brilliant as almost always, while Trevor and Lamar added spice to the championship mix.
But winning it all makes them no more appealing, Kobe still over the top absurd in his mood swings, Pau still carrying on like someone swiped his rattle, Phil so above it all it's surprising he doesn't demand to be carried off the court like Cleopatra.
The Lakers are champions, but they did little to cozy up to the folks of L.A. beyond being good -- Kobe and Phil, the two leaders of this outfit, just as removed as always.
