True champions never pack it in.· When the Boston Celtics won their seventeenth championship in 2008, the series was completed by an absolute undressing of the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6.· It was the second biggest rout in NBA Finals history, an utter domination in which the Lakers totally laid down.· I do not like the Lakers and I heard Jon Barry call them the best franchise in the NBA the other day?· Um, really Jon?· By my count the Celtics have seventeen championships while the Lakers have sixteen.· The Boston Celtics would never lay down like Los Angeles did three years ago and they DEFINITELY would not have pulled what the Lakers did in Sunday’s embarrassing ending to Phil Jackson’s coaching career.· He deserved better and surely the many people he has needled around the league will be feeling no sympathy for him.· The fact remains that what the Lakers did at the end of their blowout loss to the Mavericks was weak and pathetic, especially Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom taking cheap shots.· It is almost amazing that those two chose to act so carelessly in light of Phil Jackson’s imminent departure and his contributions to the Lakers.· Right now, that departure seems to be a well timed one.
The Lakers clearly need to retool.· This could be it for Derek Fisher and the Lakers have no one in the pipeline to take his place.· Kobe Bryant looked like a different player in these playoffs and there is little reason to NOT think that that is a sign of things to come for him.· He has played at an elite level for almost fifteen years now and played multiple SEASONS worth of playoff games on top of that.· That dynamic alone makes this transition period extremely dicey for Los Angeles.· Yes, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol are all tradable commodities but how much so?· Pau Gasol will be thirty-one when next season begins and looked like a player on the decline in these playoffs.· Lamar Odom will be thirty-two and surely will be looked at the same way by potential trade partners.· Finally, Bynum may be their most tradable piece.· However, he is also a total enigma and certainly did not help his reputation around the NBA with his classless foul in yesterday’s game.· On the one hand, he is just twenty-three years old and a true center who could easily be the best at his position in a couple of years.· However, he is clearly their most tradable piece and also has ticking time bombs for knees.· Finally, the biggest thing LA needs is a bench.· Their team is too top heavy, meaning that they are far too reliant on their star players.· The same cannot be said for Dallas whose bench output in the final massacre that was Game 4 equaled the Lakers ENTIRE day, eight-six points.·
In the big picture, even larger changes could be on the horizon for the Lakers.· Laker owner Jerry Buss is also getting up there in age and will be seventy-eight years old next season.· He has been among the best owners in sports over the past thirty years and few would argue against him being the best.· Ownership is SO important in sports and Buss has shown why during his tenure.· While some owners (see Phoenix) tighten the purse strings even when they are close to winning, Buss’s credibility has drawn a slew of superstars to LA over the years and he has never been afraid to spend when he has to.· His decision to build around Kobe instead of Shaq seven years ago was widely questioned around the league but he has had the last laugh with two more titles since.· In any case, he is not going to be around forever and it remains to be seen what will happen between now and then.
Finally, the tables have turned in the west.· San Antonio and Los Angeles appear to be after thoughts going forward.· Oklahoma City, Memphis and Dallas are all clearly on the way up with a slew of other teams out west being one or two moves away from contention.· The Lakers can probably go in a number of directions this off season and it will be interesting to see who gets to coach this team next year.· Phil Jackson is gone.· The Laker mystique may have left with him.