Having been at the Staples Center once (for a Lakers game btw) when I lived in Santa Clarita, I must say that the Lakers' fans are hardcore, real fans. A Lakers game at the Staple Center is not just something to see, it's really something to experience. It's the fans who make that place alive. The team feeds off its fans. I've never been a Kobe Bryant fan, or a Lakers fan (do I really need to say that?), but while seeing him play that day, it was simply obvious that his level of game was way superior than everybody else's on the court. And on that day (warning! confession!) I joined the crowd and cheered for the Lakers. LA fans are proud, but I don't blame them. It was going to be tough to beat their team in their home court. Their team will go to bed - or to party, it's LA after all - tonight with a champion's ring in their finger. If it had been the Celtics, we wouldn't have been any less proud.
The Teams' Historic Legacy and The NBA Finals
One of the special aspects of this final series is that it happened between two of the teams with the most celebrated legacies in NBA history. The Lakers and the Celtics have historically been at each others necks during many regular seasons, but moreover during the finals. Their combined record of championships is impressive. They didn't dissappoint tonight with a breathtaking final game that could've been any team's even to the very last minute.
The Players and Their Injuries
It is beside the point to say that these players are elite basketball players. In combined 2009-10 regular and post-regular season games both teams played more than two hundred games. Basketball is a contact sport, which means that the risk of injury is higher than in non contact sports. The level of exhaustion as well. These guys must really be in shape or else they wouldn't be athletes or playing basketball at the level they do. Some of them love the game so much they are willing to play injured. Case in point, the same Kobe Bryant.
The Pay
I personally think these pro basketball players are seriously overpayed. The amount of money they receive for dribbling and shooting a ball is sickening. Granted, they're really good at dribbling and shooting the ball, but it's still unjustifiable to get a million dollars let alone 10 for doing that. However, I can assure you that they were not thinking about their paychecks during the finals much less the game tonight. They had one thing in mind for which they both had an equal shot at winning and that was the championship. The best one of two incredibly outstanding teams came out on top.
The Coaches
As the players so the coaches. The best two coaches in the NBA today brought their love of the game, their knowledge and strategy to the floor to face the other. I wanted Doc Rivers to win, but it happens he was facing the great Phil Jackson. If I recall correctly he used to coached a guy named Michael Jordan sometime back.
The Referees
Thank God for the referees tonight! They let the best teams in the game really play against each other. They didn't call fouls when they should've and that shows they knew these guys were ready to play and give their best against each other and still keep it "cool". I believe the refs were ready to bring the game under control had it gotten out of hand. They never had to and allowed us to watch one of the best games ever in NBA history. It was a low scoring game in which every point was hard fought, every rebound the same. A nail biter till the end. Thank you, refs, for giving us a game to remember! You were the heroes tonight!
God
So what does God have to do with any of this? The rock band Kiss has a song that says "God gave rock and roll..." Well, I don't know about that, but I do tell you, God gave basketball! Yes, he did! And he loves this game so much he didn't even care about letting a buddhist coach win all those championships, including tonight's. "I might as well give it to someone who really, really believes that this game is a spiritual game," we can imagine God saying. If God had consulted me, I would have told him that it's discriminatory to give so many championships to the same person. I think he would have said, "Discriminatory against whom?" And I would have told him, "Against every other religion!" He would have told me, "Nobody takes his religion as seriously as Phil Jackson!" It's a good thing he didn't consult me. I tell you, God gave basketball to us all!
