The Los Angeles Lakers and there fans celebrated the team’s Game 5 victory against the Orlando Magic last night (June 14) as the Lakers pulled off a 99-86 win to take home the NBA title for the 15th time in the franchise’s history.
The win marked a turning point for Laker’s star guard, and series MVP, Kobe Bryant who, until now, hadn’t been able to lead his team to a championship win since former teammate Shaquille O’Neal left the squad in 2004.
Bryant, who’s faced questions about weather he would ever win another NBA title without Shaq finally spoke out saying, “It was like Chinese water torture. I would cringe every time. I was just like; it’s a challenge I’m just going to have to accept because there’s no way I’m going to argue it. You can say it until you’re blue in the face and rationalize it until you’re blue in the face, but it’s not going anywhere until you do something about it.
“I think we as a team answered the call because they understood the challenge that I had, and we all embraced it.”
Bryant’s win even prompted Shaq to tweet about his former teammate, posting a message on twitter.com that read, “Congratulations kobe, u deserve it. You played great. Enjoy it my man enjoy it.”
Bryant averaged 32.4 points and was named finals MVP.
Last night’s win was also a milestone for Laker’s coach Phil Jackson as the former Chicago Bulls coach was entered into the league’s record books for having won the most championships. He led Michael Jordon and the Bulls to six NBA titles and added another four to his resume as head coach of the L.A. Lakers.
