Los Angeles Lakers Basketball Team

You're thinking it. The rest of the NBA is thinking it. I bet deep down, some folks who show up for work in purple and gold sweats are even thinking it. Andrew Bynum's right knee may have just cost the Lakers a championship. It's a nutty thought, but then so was the notion that, when he injured his knee at this same time last year, Bynum might miss the rest of the season. He did.

Sasha Vujacic grabbed. Adam Morrison screamed. Vujacic grabbed harder, playing defense with handfuls of jersey. Morrison screamed louder, warning Vujacic to keep his hands to himself. Vujacic shrugged. Morrison surged. The team converged. The men were separated. During this final scrimmage of a Friday afternoon practice at EnergySolutions Arena, some Lakers were wincing. Sitting on the baseline, Kobe Bryant was smiling. "I wasn't even going to move," he said later.

Luke Walton knows his time on the court might decrease now that the Lakers have Ron Artest . Walton is aware that Artest likes to play heavy minutes. Still, Walton said he hopes he can continue to get quality minutes this season as the backup small forward behind Artest. "I want to play," Walton said after practice Saturday. "There's no way to tell right now until the season gets going. But I'm going to work my tail off to try and earn as many minutes as I can get."

The education of Andrew Bynum continues on many fronts near the midpoint of his fourth NBA season. For Lakers special assistant coach Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, it's a chance to emphasize the importance of the big picture. When they go over game video, often at Bynum's home, the league's all-time leading scorer details the significance of the other nine players on the court besides Bynum.

Jeff Van Gundy knows that Lakers fans will parse his every spoken noun, verb, adjective, pronoun, descriptive phrase, opinion, suggestion. If the score is 12-10 in the first quarter tonight night and Van Gundy says the Lakers are leading the Orlando Magic, 12-10, Lakers fans will search for hidden meaning in his tone. Did he emphasize the 12 or the 10, the word "Lakers" or the word "Magic?" And Lakers fans won't be wrong.

Seven years after their last championship, five years after a series of humbling losses in Detroit, and 362 days after a futile Finals effort against Boston, the Lakers were back, in a big way. A victory parade will proceed through Los Angeles on Wednesday, the celebration becoming official after the Lakers thumped the Orlando Magic on Sunday, 99-86, to win the NBA Finals, four games to one. Undeniably, it was Kobe Bryant's night.

The "beast" is 6 feet 11, 265 pounds, his physique like that of a Greek god. The beast is quick, athletic, powerful and dominant, a force unlike any other in the NBA. The beast is Dwight Howard -- also known in many circles as "Superman" -- who now has become a target the Lakers must contend with and contain. The beast and his Orlando Magic teammates will be here Thursday to play the Lakers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals at Staples Center.

No Steve Nash, no Amare Stoudemire, no doubt what would happen. The Lakers and Phoenix Suns used to have fun, frothy games, flying past each other while their coaches lobbed barbs back and forth, sometimes even in behind-the-scenes books. But the Lakers have risen, leaving the Suns behind, the latest evidence a dominant 132-106 victory Thursday at Staples Center. Lamar Odom had an incredibly efficient night, scoring 23 points on 11-for-12 shooting.

In a season of redemption, where the Lakers decided from day one to finish off what they couldn't a year ago, another authoritative step was taken toward an NBA championship. Those who questioned the Lakers' resolve were quieted. Those who wondered if they were too fatigued now know the answer.

Is the table being set again? A week after the Lakers pulled a pair of contract offers to Lamar Odom off the table, the sides resumed talks Wednesday. The discussions were labeled productive, but there was nothing to report "at the moment," according to a source familiar with negotiations who was not authorized to comment publicly.