And Then It Was As It Should Be

How long is seven years?

Not quite two Olympics but enough time to earn a bachelor’s degree and finish law school if I were so inclined and motivated.

It’s enough time to teach a kid how to play tee-ball then watch him blossom into a unanimous all-star selection in the league’s highest division.

It’s enough time for my luck to return if I had broken a mirror.

It’s enough time for Britney Spears to go from “the hottest piece of ass in the world” to “knocked-up trailer trash” back to “hot piece of trailer trash that I’d bang because she’s still rich as hell.”

It’s a long time to reflect upon.

Seven Junes ago at the tender age of 21, I effused effervescent optimism as I braved a sweltering downtown summer day to cheer on my heroes — Shaq, Kobe, Big Shot Bob Horry, Rick Fox, Fish, Mad Dog Mark Madsen, B-Knuckle Brian Shaw, Samaki Walker, Devean George, Slava Medvedenko — as they paraded down Figueroa Blvd. from City Hall to the Staples Center where Chick Hearn was waiting to get the celebration started.  I turned to my friends, Mars and Big Pete, and made them promise to come back with me the next year to celebrate a FOURTH consecutive championship.

A lot happens in seven years.

2003 – I paced the floor of my room in front of my TV yelling, screaming, pleading the Lakers to mount the typical comeback and rally against the Spurs.  The clock began to dwindle down while the Spurs’ lead continue to grow.  The game was essentially over before the clock reached zeroes.  Not In Our House banners strewn all over Staples Center rang hollow as the din of the crowd was reduced to the disgruntled murmur of shock.  Tears welled in my eyes.  Kobe was sitting on the bench in tears as well.  I forced myself to watch those waning moments to ingrain the feeling of disappointment and dejection to make the following year’s triumph all the better.

2004 – Coming off the “Colorado Incident” the Lakers reloaded their roster adding future hall of famers Gary Payton and Karl Malone to the mix to form what many called the greatest starting line-up ever assembled.  The Lakers breezed to the league’s best record and were the prohibitive favorites going into the Finals until Malone injured his knee setting up an epic fail as the Lakers got bounced by the Pistons in 5 games.  Thus began the the precipitous fall of the once-great Lakers dynasty as Kobe opted out of his contract and Shaq demanded to be traded.  Forced to choose between its aging superstar center and the young superstar guard coming into his prime, Jerry Buss chose Kobe and traded Shaq to Miami for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and Brian Grant.  Phil Jackson isn’t offered a new contract and Rudy Tomjanovich is brought in to oversee a new era of Lakers basketball.

2005 – Enter the anti-Renaissance… the Lakers missed the playoffs for the second time in my lifetime.  Tomjanovich didn’t make it to midseason and Frank Hamblen was elevated from his assistant position to finish off the season.

2006 – Phil Jackson returned and Kobe almost single-handedly leads the Lakers past the high-octane Phoenix Suns in the first-round.  The Lakers were up 3-1 and came within a close-out on a Tim Thomas prayer 3-pointer in Game 6 of winning the series.

2007 – The Lakers get bounced in the first round of the playoffs by the Suns again, but this time they went meekly in 5 games.  Kobe was all up in a tizzy about his alleged lack of support and made a very public trade demand.

2008 – After a summer of apprehension that teetered on the news of whether or not the Lakers will deal Kobe, the team got off to a surprisingly good start with the emergence of Andrew Bynum as an interior force.  Then Bynum went down with a knee injury and all seemed lost.  Then Mitch Kupchak, who’d been killed in the press and by the fans, performed highway larceny and traded perennial stiff Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, a couple draft picks, and the rights to Marc Gasol to the Memphis Grizzlies for Pau Gasol.  The Lakers made an improbable run to capture the #1 seed in the West on the season’s last day that propelled them to the NBA Finals against the HATED Boston Celtics.  After dropping the first two games of the Finals in  Boston, the Lakers won game 3 at Staples and were ahead by 24 points in game 4 coasting to tie the series.  Then it happened.  The Lakers came from ahead to blow the game, the series, and the psyches of Lakers fans all over the world.  I can’t say that loss didn’t affect me as a fan.  I’ve seen some bad losses in my lifetime — getting swept by the Spurs in 1999, the end of the 3-peat, eliminated by the Suns after leading the series 3-1 — but this one cut particularly deep.  Losing a 24-point lead at home on the biggest stage goes lengths in decimating the innate confidence a fan must have in their team.

And now, seven years later, we’re back on top of the mountain.  The cliches about needing to experience the deepest valleys of the lows to appreciate the splendid heights of the highs ring true.

As the final minutes of the fourth quarter of last night’s monumental win whittled away, the glimmer was back in our eyes.  “It’s been a LONG time,” I kept repeating to my friends while trying to soak in the moment and savor every second knowing that championships are not to be taken for granted.  We counted down the seconds and when it clock zeroed out Mars, Drew, Big Pete, Hayashi, and I formed a huddle in the middle of Drew’s unfurnished living room and started hopping around like the Lakers pre-game ritual.

Seven years ago I got a sunglass tanline as a reminder of that sweltering downtown day.  I’ll be back Wednesday to cheer my team again.  It’s been a sweet rollercoaster ride of a season that culminated in the ultimate goal.

Savor the moment, LA.  It’s been a LONG time.