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Purple Reign!! Lakers Win 2009 NBA Championship!
06.15.09
The Los Angeles Lakers took home the 2009 NBA Championship defeating the Orlando Magic 99-86 Sunday night in Orlando.
The title marked a whirlwind year for Lakers, who rebounded from last year’s crushing defeat in Boston in Game 6 of the Finals, to a convincing 4-1 series win over Orlando this year. Kobe Bryant was named the Finals MVP, averaging 32.4 points and 7.4 assists for the five games. It also marked the first time Kobe has won the award, and he now has four NBA titles, his first since 2002.
Phil Jackson also set a milestone with the win, giving him 10 titles as a coach, finally passing the Celtics’ legendary Red Auerbach. It was Jackson’s first championship in seven years, ending the longest title-less stretch of his career. He was won 10 titles in his 19 years as a head coach, six with the Bulls and now four with the Lakers.
The win also gives the Laker franchise it’s 15th world title, second all-time in league history, and once again only two behind the Boston Celtics. They’ve now won 10 titles in Los Angeles, and Jerry Buss has nine as owner.
Besides Kobe’s heroics, the Lakers can also thank Derek Fisher for hitting two clutch 3-pointers in Game 4 that helped propel the team to a 3-1 series lead, and ultimately the title in Game 5. For the popular Fisher, he now joins Kobe with four titles, bringing his career full circle after returning to the Lakers in 2007.
Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom both rebounded from a sub-par Finals against the Celtics last year to help the Lakers dominate inside and control the Magic’s All-Star center Dwight Howard, who had trouble get untracked offensively for most of the series. It was the ultimate victory for the two players, who took their share of off-season criticism they were “too soft” to lead the Lakers up front to a title. How untrue that statement turned out to be.
Congrats to Laker fans everywhere! A parade celebrating the Lakers win will be on Wednesday, June 17 starting at 11 AM near Staples Center.
2008-2009 NBA Schedule Out!
08.06.08
The 2008-2009 NBA schedule was released today by the league. The Lakers will open the regular season against Portland at Staples Center on October 28, 2008.
The Lakers playing on Christmas Day has become a yearly tradition, and again they will take center stage this year, hosting the World Champion Boston Celtics in a rematch of last year’s NBA Finals.
The Lakers will also appear on the ABC national telecast five times, 10 times on TNT, and 10 more times on ESPN. The team closes out their 82-game schedule at home to Utah on April 14th.
It is worthy to note that the Lakers have two brutal trips where they play 7-straight on the road, once from January 30 – February 8, and then March 21 – April 1.
To see the complete schedule, go to our 2008-2009 Lakers Regular Season Schedule/Results.
Lakers Keep The Machine!
07.25.08
According to the Riverside Press-Enterprise, the Lakers have signed restricted free-agent guard Sasha Vujacic to a three year contract, worth $15 million.
The signing comes just one week after the Lakers failed to match the Warriors’ 4-year, $17 million deal for their other restricted free-agent, forward Ronny Turiaf. There were also serious rumblings from Vujacic’s camp that he may return to Europe for more money.
The Lakers originally offered a 3-year, $12 million deal that Vujacic and his agent turned down, and then threatened to accept an offer from a team in the Europe if they didn’t get a better one from the Lakers.
“The Machine” had his best season last year, as he averaged 8.8 points and 43.8% of his 3-pointers off the bench for the Western Conference champs. He also had a very memorable Game 3 of the NBA Finals, where he scored 20 points and nailed a clutch 3-pointer in the final minutes to give the Lakers the victory.
Management’s goal this offseason was to keep both Turiaf and Vujacic, and after they lost one, they wanted to make sure they kept one of their top bench players, and their most prolific long-range shooter. They did.
It’s Official: Lakers Don’t Match Offer For Turiaf
07.18.08
It’s finally official. Lakers forward Ronny Turiaf, is now former-Lakers forward Ronny Turiaf, as the team declined to match his 4-year, $17 million deal with the Golden State Warriors.
According to ESPN.com, the contract the Warriors offered would have pushed the Lakers further into the luxury tax for being over the salary cap.
Turiaf spent three years as a Laker, his best being this past season where he played in 78 games and averaged 6.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.38 blocks per game off of the bench.
His enthusiasm and energetic play will be missed, but it had became apparent this week that his days with the Lakers were numbered.
Lakers Trying to Land Artest?
07.11.08
According to the Sacramento Bee, the Lakers have contacted the Kings about a trade for mercurial forward Ron Artest.
Details of the deal are sketchy, but it appears the Lakers are offering Lamar Odom for Artest, and forward Kenny Thomas. The Kings would love to get rid of Thomas’ $18 million salary over the next two years, but it’s questionable whether the Lakers would take that on considering they are already over the salary cap.
It is also very questionable whether the Kings would agree to make a trade with the Lakers considering the teams’ intense dislike for each other, and the fact they reside in the same division. Odom’s $14-million salary does come of the books after next season, which does make him an attractive trade piece.
It’s no secret that Artest likes the Lakers and is good friends with Kobe Bryant. The Lakers could definitely use his perimeter defense and tenacity on that end of the court. He’s also a dependable scorer and can hit from beyond the 3-point line.
Stay tuned for further developments if something should break.
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