Mitch Kupchak

The cameras didn't catch him. The champagne never touched him. The team partied far from him. Late Sunday night here in Amway Arena's loud visitors' locker room, a tall, paternal figure stood with his family in a distant corner. He watched the Lakers pour champagne on one another with the satisfied smile of a father watching his children play in a sandbox. He listened to the Lakers howling and screeching with the satisfied silence of a father who knows there is nothing he needs to say. The Lakers acted as if they didn't need him. The Lakers know they would not be NBA champions without him. Another night, another title for Mitch Kupchak, the unassuming architect of a team that has brought him three rings yet few plaudits in his years as general manager.

The Lakers saved Trevor Ariza's nowhere career and gave him an NBA life and a ring, not to mention a very generous offer to stay with his "home" team. In seemingly a quick decision on both sides, we get Ron Artest, who's coming to his fifth team in about 10 seasons, and Ariza goes to a team with many uncertainties. The Lakers' dream season was built around talent, hard work and chemistry, and they just messed up the last one for next season. Then I read Trevor's agent quoted in the paper saying that it's not about the money and that Trevor wants to go somewhere where he's appreciated.

The guy from the gas company is in my living room, cleaning out a pipe, handing me a pamphlet, walking out the door after another routine repair. When, suddenly, he stops. "So," he says, completely out of nowhere. "What are they saying about Mitch Kupchak now?" This is how it happens in this town. One minute, two strangers are conducting ordinary business. The next minute, one of them is screaming about the Lakers general manager.

WASHINGTON -- Tracked down at home late Friday night, Mitch Kupchak sounded relaxed and hopeful after pulling off the biggest NBA trade so far this season. A few hours after the landscape of the Western Conference shifted and shook, the Lakers' general manager discussed the inner workings of the Pau Gasol trade and what he expected from the newest acquisition. He also provided closing thoughts on Kwame Brown.

Something seemed really strange about Pau Gasol in his Los Angeles debut as a Laker, but I just couldn't put my finger on it. Then I realized not a tattoo was to be found on his 7-foot frame, at least as far as the TV cameras could show. Are you sure he's really an NBA player? Donald Bentley La Puente -- Ever since the Pau Gasol trade I have a new favorite column in The Times sports section: the out-of-town NBA box scores. Every time Memphis plays, I love reading the paper the next morning to see Kwame Brown's stat line.

In assessing the Lakers' dramatic turnaround, it's time to give credit where credit is due: to everyone. Kobe was right for sending strong messages saying he wanted to be a Laker but only if they got one solid player to bring them a championship. Mitch Kupchak was right in believing in the evolving talents of Bynum, Farmar and Vujacic. Also for getting a great player (Gasol), losing little in the short term, and for not trading Kobe because he couldn't get equal value. Buss was right in telling Kobe he was still just an employee and that Buss would do what's best for his Lakers franchise.

The first time Mitch Kupchak was mentioned for one of the most glamorous jobs in sports, general manager of the Lakers, he was standing at a urinal. An All-American at North Carolina who became a starting power forward for the Showtime-era Lakers, Kupchak's career was cut short after an injury in 1981 that shattered his left knee. After a limited comeback, Kupchak agreed to move over to the front office in 1986 to serve an apprenticeship under then-general manager Jerry West.

Since it now appears Jerry Buss would like Mitch Kupchak to share credit for the Pau Gasol trade [April 28], how about having Jerry share some credit for obtaining Kwame Brown? Or Smush Parker? Or Vlad Radmanovic? Or is that not in the management handbook? Will Wennerberg Los Angeles According to Steve Springer's article, Jim Buss equally drafted Andrew Bynum, while Jerry Buss initiated the trade with Memphis and all Mitch had to do was make the call. What has Mitch done that he deserves an "A" from Kobe?

The best of times were a memory and the worst of times had just begun in the spring of 2005 when the Lakers drafted 17-year-old Andrew Bynum out of high school in what seemed the maraschino cherry on the sundae of their dysfunction. Dysfunction was a popular word around them after eight years of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, but those now seemed like the good old days. O'Neal was gone. Jerry West was gone. Chick Hearn was gone.