The Week That Was

The Los Angeles Lakers captured their 15th NBA Championship last night, crushing the lifeless Orlando Magic on their home floor, 99-86 to win the series 4-1. Kobe Bryant scored 30 points and had 4 blocks, and earned his first NBA Finals MVP. He also quieted any rational haters of him their might be (their are very few) by winning a title without one of the most overrated players of all time, Shaquille O'Neal. Bryant was spectacular this season, embracing his role as a leader of this team. He almost seemed to be more of a coach than the greatest coach in NBA history, Phil Jackson, who captured his record 10th NBA Championship. The Lakers face some question marks for next season with both Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza being free agents. It would be ideal to re sign both, especially Ariza but the Lakers may not be able to afford that. Ariza has to be the one that's kept if it is decided to let one walk. He was huge in the playoffs and stepped up consistently on both offense and defense. Odom can be a force on both ends but you never know what to expect out of him. Jackson has one year left on his contract and there is talk he might retire and leave the game as a champion. I couldn't blame him if he decides to. All of that is irrelevant for now, the Lakers are champions and Bryant has secured his legacy as one of the Top-10 all time players in the game.

The NHL season also wrapped up this past weekend with the Pittsburgh Penguins shocking the hockey world and defeating the Detroit Red Wings in Detroit to capture the Stanley Cup. The Penguins were left for dead after being beaten soundly in the first two games in Detroit. They managed to even the series up in Pittsburgh but then were left for dead again after dropping Game 5 at Detroit. I think the Penguins themselves might have been the only ones who thought they could win a Game 7 at Detroit. Cindy Crosby left the game with a hang nail in the second period but the Penguins still were able to take a 2-0 lead on goals by Maxime Talbot. Detroit cut the deficit to one and then furiously tried to tie the game but were denied by some brilliant goaltending by Marc-Andre Fleury. The Penguins were on the outside looking in for the playoffs before firing their coach Michael Therrien. They replaced him with minor league coach Dan Bylsma and the rest is history. Pittsburgh now has the Super Bowl Champion Steelers and the Stanley Cup Champion Penguins.