NBA Blogs  |  Flea's Blog  |  

Firstly and formostly, the Lakers rule. Out of the 32 or however many teams there are in the NBA only one team rules and that is the mighty Los Angeles Lakers. They whupped the Boston Celtics. They did it with half an Andrew Bynum too. I am so happy for those guys who deserve every ounce of whatever metallurgy makes up that trophy and all those gaudy rings they are gonna be handing out. When the going got rough in that Game 7, when the lakers were down by 13, when they were down a few in the fourth quarter, at a certain point one thing was crystal
clear: whoever had the bigger heart was gonna win that game. And the bigger heart won.

After the game was over, when the Staples Center center was gone bonkers in a state of ecstatic delirium, all I could think was DEREK FISHER HAS 5 RINGS!!!!!! THE BEAUTIFUL DEREK FISHER HAS 5 RINGS HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!! And then of course there were a multitude of celebratory thoughts, but man I felt so happy for Fish.

Everybody knows that Kobe Bryant is the leader of the Laker players, if you have half a brain you know he is the best player on earth (LeBron is not a winner) but man, Ron Artest in that Game 7 was one of the most thrilling things I have ever seen in my basketball watching life. I couldn't take my eyes off him, the intensity he was playing with, the way he stuck Paul Pierce, it was breathtaking. It was the only time I can remember watching a game and focusing on a guy who wasn't directly involved in a play, because he was channeling energy from the center of the earth and was on fire like nothing I have ever seen. Hats off to Ron Artest for willing the Lakers to victory in that Game 7.

And let it be known, in '08 the Lakers had no Bynum and no Trevor Ariza, two key pieces, and had they had them in '08 things would have turned out differently. All the Lakers stepped up, Sasha came in at crunch time and drained those freebies like the coolest man alive,  and even though Kobe had an off shooting night, he also was burning with an intensity that would not be denied, 14 boards! When was the last time a shooting guard got 14 boards? Even though he missed a lot of shots he still commanded as much energy from the green defense which freed up the others to make it happen. Kobe played smart .... He might have needed to relax a little bit for his offense to click better, but he played smart and the Lakers are repeat champs and rule the NBA.

Pau played with poise and intensity all through the series, never shaken by the dynamics of the series, he is so crucial to the Lakers success and is the best power forward in the game. Brains and skill and a heart in the right place, Pau Gasol is a champion. I could go on and on and on and on and on about the virtues of the laker players, all who played a crucial part of the repeat championship run.

Now that summer is upon us and all eyes are glued and all breath is bated as to where LeBron James might play next year (King? If he ever wins a championship then maybe he deserves some title in the pantheon of royalty, for now he's another good regular season player with astounding skills, I'd rather have 38 year old D Fish in crunch time when all the marbles are in play), let me ponder the most crucial issue facing the purple and gold grand champeens.
Phil Jackson.

To all my comrades in Laker fandom out there let me say this. Trust Phil. He can do whatever he wants to do. He is by no means hanging the Lakers or the city out to dry and killing the championship celebration while he decides whether or not to retire. He has earned our trust repeatedly throughout his time in L.A., not only by winning us 5 championships, but in all the  minutia of the season, all those times we all question his substitution patterns, his not calling timeouts when we are down, his lack of demonstrative acts during emotionally charged games, his seeming lack of communication with the players during games .... etc ..... etc ..... He is always getting a bigger and more clear picture than any of us, knows when a player or a team need to see and feel the error of their ways in order to grow, in order to truly understand what it takes to be a great basketball team. He has proven his integrity and earned our trust again and again, even when we cant see it at the time from our armchair coaching position. And believe me I love armchair coaching almost as much as I love armchair GM-ing (even for other players and teams ..... if Chris Bosh was smart he's go straight to the Oklahoma Thunder and be part of something organically important and cool in the NBA). When Phil says it's not about the money, it's about his health and emotional/spiritual happiness in the final third of his life, then we need to trust him, be grateful for all he has done for our city, and recognize all the focus, hard work, and diligence he has given to his job as Laker Coach. This is not a lazy man, this is an extremely honest, hard working man who is the best at what he does. Look around the NBA .... can you name me another coach for whom the players have as much respect? The closest is Gregg Popovich, but I bet, if players were to be honest despite their current  loyalties, they would, by and large, all choose to play for Phil more than any other coach in the NBA. And this is not just a matter of the players respecting him it is a matter of the players loving him. After a few years players begin to chafe under even the best coaches.  Under Phil the players seem only to grow closer to him. Ask Michael Jordan, ask Kobe Bryant. This is an amazing thing, and a great gift Phil has given to us. So lets give him time to make a thoughtful decision on what is best for him and be grateful no matter the outcome.
That said ......... please come back Phil!  One more ring for D Fish!

Another matter i would like to address. Just a recap for some of the employees at the Boston Logan airport. Remember after Game 5?
Remember when I was coming through security on my way home from my trip to Boston for Game 5 and you berated me, talking about the Lakers stink? Insulting my Magic Johnson shirt?  Celtics in 6? Talking about the Lakers weren't tough enough? Asking me if we had the balloons in the rafters? Remember the yelling back and forth argument we had which alway ended with me saying "Lakers in 7!" It got a little ugly that spirited conversation we had .......... Well i just wanted to tell ya
one more time   Lakers in 7!!!!!!!!!   Whoop WHoop!!!

Flea's laker wish list:
Keep D Fish

Don't trade Lamar

Don't let Kobe play in the worlds, Kobe! Let it all heal up brother!

Enjoy the summer! Family style! Take it easy then gear up for preseason in September or so! You deserve it!

One thing I would like to say about Kobe Bryant. Man, it was so great to see him relax after the Lakers won it. Someone like Kobe with that incredible gift of focus, the ability to truly give his all  and not be distracted, to see him let go after they won and just enjoy it .... hahahaha that was so great!  Like a storm abating and leaving a nice beautiful sunny day with a happy glassy perfect ocean to play in!
I wasn't even the one who got to let go and enjoy and it felt so great to me just to see him do it! Kobe you're the best man!

Let's go!
 
What time is it? if you looked at the great flavor flav's necklace clock, big ben, jacque costeau's finest deep sea diving watch, not to mention any one of salvador dali's melting timepieces they would all say the same thing......LAKERS CELTICS FINALS TIME!!!!!

Though it has been ordained by the the most formidable and mystical universal powers that the lakers would be purple and golden gods of the finest basketball ever seen on the planet and the celtics would be evil green despicable thuggish devils, let us all hope for an intense, passionate, cleanly  played series, many hours of the best hoops known to man by two great basketball teams.................as we stand on the precipice of this battle royale, i for one am doing a giant inhale breath hold that will not exhale until tip off when i begin to blood curdilingly scream my guts out for approximately 2 and a half hours every other night.
 
If i make an attempt to be objective and remotely mature about this (which of course would take all the fun out of it) i would say this.......

Both teams are better than they were in '08. both are older and wiser and both know what it takes to win a championship...youngsters dont win championships

Both have better personnel, the celtics with the much improved play of rondo and moderately improved play of big baby (hard to be objective here for me, my vehement hatred for all things celtic comes bubbling up when i picture them) and the lakers this time will have the classic back to the basket center andrew bynum and force of nature ron artest.......
 
the lakers have the edge there. the lakers also have the edge in the absence of 08 players, being that they are minus the spaceman vladimir the snowboarder radmanovich and the celtics are minus the dirty play of james posey. the lakers have home court advantage. the celtics have a ferocious team defense that is difficult for any team to score against. the speed, intensity, and execution of rondo is gonna be a tough matchup for d fish, he's gonna need help, the lakers have to clog the
lane and not let that little maniac anywhere near the basket.
 
the celtics are going to be facing a laker team that is much better than the 08 version....smarter, tougher, crazier, more resilient, and more unified.
 
that said, it is going to be a tough test, the celtics are not in the finals by accident, they are peaking at the right time and they will play every possession like it is their last.
 
however.....the lakers  have something the celtics could only dream of KOBE BRYANT.
 
Bean is the greatest basketball player on the planet..........there could be an argument made that lebron is a stronger athlete than kobe, but kobe is a winner, lebron has never won a thing since he got out of high school.
 
i often hear the argument "kobe has a better team around him thats why he wins...kobe had shaq etc" and to that argument i say  EXACTLY!

kobe has been around winners and learned how to win.........that why kobe is a defending champion and in the finals again and lebron fell apart like a cheap suit in the playoffs........kobe learned how to play the game properly at a young age from his super cool dad......................when it comes to the depth and weight of playoff basketball you gotta have the heart to plumb the depths and carry the load without being phased...and not only does kobe have that heart, courage and knowhow, but so does his backcourt mate derrick fisher.
 
the matchups are tough for both teams i dont really feel like getting into it artests gonna put the handcuffs on paul pierce pau and kg are two of the best big forwards in basketball.....blah blah blah we all know about it
 
one thing, i'll tell ya, has anyone noticed how kg has morphed from a really nice smart good humored guy into just another mean celtic? he used to be a loveable dude, those weird karate chops he was doing on dwight howard that should have been technicals? his general demeanor? he was always intense and a ferocious competitor but i fear he has fallen victim to being just another grumpy green weird celtic
 
Just to make one thing clear I HATE THE CELTICS I HATE THEIR GUTS
 
there are two celtics that i have ever liked.........bill russell for his greatness, and larry bird...............i hated larry bird in the eighties, but, darn it, as time passes, i miss having someone to hate that was as amazing and honest as he was. i cant even believe i wrote that last line, but i must be getting soft in my old age.
 
So anyways, the matchups will be talked about ad nauseum on sports radio and television, but here are the flea matchups, matching up my likes and dislikes of the two teams
 
Some of the things i love about the lakers
 
1. lamar odom: he is the nicest, humblest, coolest athlete on the planet, despite being on reality t.v. ( i have no use for reality tv), that is no insult to his wife, i am all for their hearts being fulfilled with  awesome love i am just against reality t.v.......and is a beautiful player, his combination of skills is the most unique in the nba..........he's just a loveable man, and my favorite laker

2.  derrick fisher: he is the the most under rated player in all of basketball. his returning to the lakers was as profoundly important to the teams success as phil jackson's was. derrick fisher is the man i aspire to be, strong, fierce, intelligent, kind, wise...the kind of guy ya want to follow into battle
 
3.  the cosmic and otherworldy kobe bryant.....it is not just his incredible skill, work ethic, and competitive nature, the guy is tapping the source, he knows how to be a vehicle for magical powers, and he is getting better with age like a fine wine........he makes history everytime he steps on the court and i never take it for granted......
 
4. the entire laker organization: a family owned and ran team, even the greatest coach of all time phil jackson is practically part of the buss family......the lakers are a class act from top to bottom, respected and loved by players and fans alike, that is why they have great teams so consistently ............and i have loved them with my heart since i moved to l.a. in 1972.............they represent los angeles, my home, they bring us all together, every ethnicity, every economic background.........they are us
 
5. a zillion other great things, including that my 4 year old already says " go lakers! beat the celtics! the celtics are bad right papa?"
 
Some things i hate about the celtics
 
Everything, from red auerbach's cigar to paul pierce's weird wheelchair......it all stinks...............paul pierce you grew up by the forum! get your head right!
 
Anyways......a basketball fans ramblings......there you have em
 
i just saw tim legler and bruce bowen both pick the celtics to win in 6 on tv
 
Not if my blood curdiling screams can help it