This has been a very difficult post to write. The completely embarrassing game six that ended the Laker’s season was just very hard to stomach and left a lot of questions.
How does a team that two weeks ago was favored to win the NBA Finals against a Celtics team that struggled against the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers go out with that little resistance?
The Lakers were tough enough to beat the Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs, but that toughness dissipated when confronted with the Celtic’s swarming defense. While individually the Celtics players aren’t that much to write home about defensively, collectively they played smartly and ferociously.
Having said that, nothing excuses that game six debacle. It’s one thing to lose the deciding game of the NBA Finals, but it’s another thing to get blown out by 39 points. Rick Fox said it best on the Petros and Money show on AM 570 KLAC on Wednesday when he said, “[The Laker’s play] was close to insubordination in a lot of ways”. Rather than stick with the game plan, each player took the game into his own hands. The results speak for themselves.
What is perhaps more irritating than anything is how little hate there is for the Celtics in the city. Most people have been saying that they have to give a hand to the Celtics for the great job they did.
Excuse me, but what the fuck happened to Lakers fans?
A lot of people here have blasted me for being a bandwagon fan and a clown, but am I the only one who has this vitriol for the guys in green?
If it were the Cavaliers who won the title, that's one thing. But the fact the Celtics won it and how they flaunted it throughout the fourth quarter is sickening.
That aside, now it's time to focus on the Laker's future and boy have the armchair GMs come out of the woodworks.
"Trade Lamar," some say. "Get rid of Pau," others say.
While it's appealing to gut the team, it is not the time for Mitch Kupchak to get carried away for the first time in his GM career.
This youth-filled team made it to the NBA Finals.
Next year, Andrew Bynum will be back.
This team got their first taste of the spotlight, and they got their first bitter taste of failure in the process. As Vic the Brick likes to say, it's all about the journey. In this playoff run, they will come out it a tougher team. Remember the Shaq-Kobe teams earlier this decade were routinely dispatched easily in the playoffs in the late 90s.
It was a remarkable year, and it was a remarkable failure at the end. But it's over. Now time to enjoy baseball.
AP Photo by Winslow Townson
