Congrats to the Truth, da Kid and tha Alien

I hate Boston. Never been there. Never want to. They got funny accents and they ride their own egos all the time. Sure, coming from an L.A. guy, this must sound pretty ludicrous. Sue me.

No love for the Patriots. None whatsoever. I absolutely ABHOR the Redsox, hate them even more than the Yankees…

Of course, all the hatred in the world doesn’t negate the fact that I respect both of those franchises. What they’ve been able to build, what they’ve accomplished simply demands it.

Then there are the Cs. I’m 25 so I was 3 years old the last time the Celtics won a championship. I caught the tail end of Magic and Bird’s careers. I grew up with the Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones Lakers. I remember when the Cs second best player, Rick Fox (ha!), came over to play third/fourth fiddle to Shaq and Kobe. I remember cheering for the tandem of Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker in the playoffs, because, well, the Eastern Conference was pretty horrible back then. 

So, I’ve never really had a hatred for them. The reason is the Truth. I’ve always loved Paul Pierce. Every chance I got to watch him play the Lakers, the Inglewood native would always deliver. He’s got a game that’s way prettier than it looks.

He gets it done in so many different ways: in the post, spot up threes, pull up threes, driving to the hoop, dishing to the open man…and this year, lock down defense.

He’s been tough, despite what people might say about his knee troubles in the finals. Excluding last year, in seven seasons he’s missed a total of 10 games. That’s less than 2 games per season.

He’s dedicated. After losing his running mate, Walker, Pierce made an effort to spread the rock with Ricky “Buckets” Davis and Vin “the fat ass” Baker. He also put the team on his back and in that 2005-06 season that saw so many potential MVP candidates, he shot a career best 47 percent and averaged nearly 27, 5, and 7.

He never wanted out, despite being the central focus of trade rumors for years. He hung with the team and fought his way to a championship.

So, as much as I hate the fact the Lakers got beat, scratch that, whipped, I can’t help but be happy for Pierce.

I also can’t help but be happy for Kevin Garnett. For a guy who has worked so long, so hard, given so much of himself, expended so much heart and energy…he finally got that elusive ring. His emotional outpouring during his post-game interview was truly touching and memorable. “Anything is possible!” he howled. I also love how the dude gave a shout out—his first shout out, to Sota’. Said that this championship was for all of Sota’. Class act KG. Again, can’t help but be happy for him.

And of course, there’s my boy Sam Cassell. Sam-I-Am, though not a big time contributor on the court in these finals (we did see about 5 minutes of vintage Sam in game one), put his stamp on the team with his veteran leadership. When they would show close-ups of the Celtics huddles during time-outs, there was Sammy boy, all up in Rondo’s or KG’s or whoever’s face. “This is what we’re here for. This is the ***king finals! Make it happen!”

A third championship for my boy should help make a very real case for the hall.

It's hard to not be happy for Leon Powe who's taking care of his entire family on a rookie salary. It's hard to not be impressed with the mental fortitude of Rajon Rondo, who, in only his second year, has become the floor general for this team (21 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 6 steals, 1 turnover, last night) and was easily last night's MVP. It's hard to hate on travel-worn vets like Posey and P.J. Brown who bring their energy and savy every night. It's hard to be upset at Tony Allen, who successfully made it back from knee surgery. And yeah, I still don't like him, never have, never will, but you gotta give props to Jesus for coming through in the finals. That silky jumper looked downright deadly. 

So, no sour grapes here. I picked the Lakers in five and have been truly humbled by the amount of teamwork, dedication, heart and desire the Celitcs showed.

Plain and simple, like my wife has been telling me since game 1 of the series—the Celtics are the better team.

That all being said. Remember 11 years ago in Utah, when a then 19 year-old hothead decided to try and win the game and ended up airballing four consecutive three pointers to effectively shut the door on the Lakers season? I will never forget that game. Kobe failed. He failed miserably.

A lot of people hated him. Me included. I counted Kobe out. Said Eddie Jones was better. Said the Lakers should trade him. I bet against Kobe. I got off the bandwagon (well, in my defense, I wasn’t on it when we traded for him…more just glad we got rid of a then, horrific Vlade Divac).

Here me out.

Never Again.

People hopped on the Kobe train this year. From Lakers fans, to NBA fans, to the league’s players and coaches, to the King, to the Big Cactus, to the writers who elected him to an MVP just when he and I thought he would never get one.

Now, they’ve all jumped back off. Kobe needed Shaq more than Shaq needed Kobe. Kobe’s got no finals cred. He’s not clutch. He’s not Jordan. Jordan would never have let a 24-point lead slip away. Jordan would have closed out the Celtics. Jordan would never have been embarrassed by a 39-point loss. Jordan never let his team fail. Jordan this. Jordan that.

It’s easy to criticize when things are down, just like it’s easy to love when things are going well. My whole family told me the Lakers were going to lose--the whole lot of them. I mean, with that kind of fan support, the lull at Staples Center, it's no wonder the Lakers didn't win. Their fans had abandoned them. And that's because none of those people were or are true fans. They counted the Lakers out. Counted Kobe out. The Lakes faced longshot odds, and their own fans counted them out. 

So, count Kobe out.

Please. Loudly hoot and holler and shout as you jump off the wagon. Make sure you get it in writing or on video. Make sure you remember the moment, somehow capture it. 

Kobe feeds off of that. Lives and breathes the criticism.

This time next year, it will be fun to see who was the loudest, most boisterous detractors. I can honestly say that I believed, even before the Lakers got Pau Gasol, that they had a shot of going to the finals. I joked with my cousin, Lakers and Celtics in the finals? And he scoffed.  

Kobe will be back. He’ll first help Team U.S.A. bring home the gold in August. Then he’ll get surgery on his shooting hand’s pinkie…yes, the one with a torn ligament inside it. The one he’s been playing with for the past 3 months. The one that he spends hours every day geting treatment on.

He’ll then spend a great deal of this offseason with his brothers. Working on spacing. Growing relationships. Perfecting the triangle. Helping Bynum.

Back to that game 11 years ago. What’s Kobe done since then?

3 championships. 2 scoring titles. 11 allstar appearances. 1 MVP. 1 finals appearance.

That’s why. Despite this year's embarrassing loss.

Despite the failure.

I can’t help but smile.