Kobe stars in the latest installment of the Nike puppet commercials featuring arch-rival-in-training LeBron.
Seems like a good way to wrap things up for now. But don't worry, the NBA off-season is only a few days long. Maybe Lil' Dez will rise again.
-- Adam Rose
It's been a busy week for these NBA stars.
LeBron James reminded everybody at a day spa that he won some hardware.
Kobe Bryant reminded everybody at a parade that he won some hardware, too.
No sightings of Lil' Dez.
If either of these guys are cash-strapped, they could turn to Cash4Gold (you may remember their Super Bowl commercial with MC Hammer and Ed McMahon). The company suggested that the Lakers could send in their new Larry O'Brien Trophy for up to $3,500. Appraisers noted that the trophy weighs roughly 16 pounds, stands nearly 2 feet tall and is composed of sterling silver overlaid with 24-karat gold.
In case the Lakers are selling, I'll offer $3,600 right now.
No word on how much LeBron can get for the MVP trophy.
-- Adam Rose
Left photo: LeBron James sports an MVP shirt. Credit: Joe Corrigan/Getty Images
Right photo: Kobe Bryant sports a four-ring shirt. Credit: Jeff Goss/Getty Images
Some behind-the-scenes stories from the Lakers parade ...
The Lakers always knew they could turn to Derek Fisher to save the day.
So did the LAPD, which deputized the team's point guard to grab a microphone in case crowds celebrating the Lakers' NBA championship got unruly. Pau Gasol -- a fluent Spanish speaker -- also was prepped to tell Coliseum revelers to stay off the field.
Contingency plans were as unnecessary as Game 6. The city of Los Angeles was able to relish its second-best moment of the week -- a near-perfect celebration of the first.
The only thing raining on the Lakers parade was confetti, glittering along with hundreds of thousands of smiles and one very important trophy that was placed at center court in the Coliseum.
Even in Los Angeles, not everybody is happy with the Lakers' NBA championship.
Reports surfaced that a Lakers parade would cost $1 million, a stat later revised to $2 million. The city and team agreed to split the amount, but people are still asking a big question; How can the city justify taking on a frivolous expenditure when the budget is a wreck and employees face layoffs and mandatory furloughs?
The mayor is scrambling to find private donors to support the event, which is an enterprising solution that should please everybody. But the underlying anger seems a bit misguided. On face value, we should be upset when a wealthy private institution might benefit from public funds during an economic crisis. But what happens when the public has benefited mightily from a wealthy private institution?
Forbes values the Lakers franchise at $584 million. What does this big business mean to the city of Los Angeles?
According to the NBA, the Lakers have the league's most popular merchandise. It's sold in stores all over town. We could track down those receipts, but how do you measure the economic impact of somebody selling an unlicensed T-shirt on the street corner? And what about a player who pays property taxes on an expensive estate? It obviously doesn't end there.
Game 4 didn't go well for the Orlando Magic, who eventually lost the NBA Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers.
We're not sure if it went very well for one of these ladies in blue, sitting just behind the ESPN broadcast crew. Where's the assist from her friend?
-- Adam Rose
If you were upset by this earlier report, these new photos are bound to get your blood boiling. While it pales in comparison to some incidents this city has experienced, a somewhat small but very mobile (and destructive) crowd swept through downtown after Sunday night's Lakers night and left quite a mess.
LAist has three photo galleries up of what went down after the Lakers won the NBA championship. It isn't pretty:
Incidentally, Pittsburgh is holding its Stanley Cup parade at the moment. No indication of any problems so far. Iran? Well, they had something larger at stake.
-- Adam Rose
Photo: Expo light rail construction workmen led by Anthony Ornelas (right) work to lift a message board Monday morning that was knocked over Sunday night by revelers on South Flower Street . Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times.
Sentimentalists love poignance. Like when Forrest Gump's mom, and then Jenny, died in the movie, you teared up.
I'm not crying about the Lakers today. Everyone lives in the end, even (I would think) through the victory parade.
But oh boy, was it ever poignant in Orlando, where the Lakers not only won the NBA title, but in a game that served as a real microcosm, a forum in which the team answered every major criticism leveled at it from Los Angeles to Bristol, Conn. Such as:
Pau is too soft: De veras? If he's soft, how come I get more dunks on my office Nerf hoop than Superman had in the entire NBA Finals? Though still a beautiful finesse player at the core of his Spanish soul, a stronger, fitter, more physical Gasol bodied up against the heavier Dwight Howard all series, never once backing down from the young beast with the cartoon shoulders.
A few days ago, people around Los Angeles were wondering who would pay for a parade celebrating the Lakers' NBA championship, with costs initially expected to run over $1 million.
The solution? The Lakers will pony up $1 million. And so will the city of Los Angeles.
Though the 2002 version cost an estimated $1.1 million, it turns out this year's event -- scheduled for Wednesday afternoon -- will probably be twice as expensive. The route runs from Staples Center to the Coliseum, which will charge a significant fee to rent the facility.
A debate has been raging because the city is facing a major budget crisis, seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts. Employees are facing layoffs and mandatory furloughs. At the same time, the Lakers are a significant economic engine that drives a lot of money through the heart of Los Angeles.
So what happens if the Dodgers, with the best record in baseball, want to stretch their legs this fall?
-- Adam Rose
Photo: This victory party will be followed by a much bigger Lakers parade on Wednesday. Credit: Elsa / Getty Images
See, downtown? This is why you can't have nice things.
You didn't have a real supermarket for 50 years until Ralph's opened in 2007. It's so nice; there's a dry cleaner and a Coffee Bean inside. And you know what's next door? Another Coffee Bean. Literally -- the next door.
Maybe having two espresso machines 100 feet apart made Lakers fans jittery after the team won its 15th NBA title in Orlando. A metal trash can went through a window of the coffee shop immediately east of Ralph's. Something else broke the glass door of a smoothie shop immediately west.
Most people don't realize it, but downtown is so full of wine bars these days that you can throw a rock and hit one. Somebody did, breaking another window. The owners of a different wine bar locked the doors and stood in front until late into the night. They didn't seem to be celebrating.
Shortly after the big win, revelers gathered outside Staples Center and, uh, trimmed trees to make kindling for a fire in the middle of the street. I know times are tough, but if you're trying to survive these cold Southern California summers, it's easier to put on a T-shirt.
Check latimes.com for full coverage of Game 5 of the NBA Finals, with quarter-by-quarter updates from Broderick Turner, the final game report by Mike Bresnahan, commentary by Bill Plaschke, Mark Heisler and T.J. Simers and guest commentary from Charles Barkley.
The Kamenetzky brothers will have their in-game chat on their Lakers Blog.
And Lisa Dillman, as she has done throughout the series, will offer comments on Twitter from the opening tip. Full coverage beginning as the Lakers try to win their 15th NBA championship.
-- Mike James
Photo: The Lakers stand for the national anthem before Game 4 in Orlando. Credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times
I'm not Oliver Stone, but this blog post -- about money, potential lost revenue, peculiar refereeing, an odd decision by the league office announced today and the NBA Finals -- does require an upfront disclaimer:
This isn't journalism in the conventional sense or in its purest form. It's a conspiracy theory, flat out.
And here's your warning label.
There is no evidence whatsoever beyond an unbalanced box score to give it more than a blogger's credibility. But unfounded or not, at least I'm going to get to the heart of what any reasonable fan or observer has to be thinking right now, and that is:
If both teams are playing hard and tough and physical, and there's plenty of banging and bumping and grabbing and holding and pushing and shoving going on all over the court in Orlando, with fouls happening all over the place, how in the name of Bennett Salvatore could the Magic shoot 16 free throws in the fourth quarter to exactly none, zero, for the Lakers?
You wouldn't think a disparity that egregiously noticeable could even be possible. So if that is the NBA trying to orchestrate the end result, with some Machiavellian master puppeteer pulling the strings behind an invisible curtain, they're sure not very subtle about it.
And if the NBA doesn't want to see the series extended back for at least a sixth game in L.A. -- and I certainly believe they do in order to maximize the little ratings and revenue train they're riding right now with America's highest-rated TV programs each night the Finals is played -- then why in the name of Stu Jackson didn't they suspend Mickael Pietrus for Game 5 for what was obviously a suspendable Flagrant 2?
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