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CALLING SIGNALS |
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 PAU GASOL ..."We want more!" |
After the Lakers' Parade,
Look Out for Shaq
of TheColumnists.com
Last year the West
Coast capital was Loss Angeles, fresh off the massacre in Boston.
Make that Win Angeles after the city's recent million-man parade.
On top of the Lakers’ 15th NBA ring.
Ahead of the Lakers’ 16th bling come 2010.
Any doubts? Not from Pau Gasol, who declared amid 90,000 Angelenos
at the parade’s Coliseum party place: “We want more!”
They’ll get it. All the Lakers have to do is re-sign Lamar
Odom and Trevor Ariza. With that duo doubling the threat of Kobe
and Pau, L.A. turned Orlando into a world of Disney-pure fantasy.
Mark it down. Odom and Ariza will be in
purple and gold come November. With their millions. Odom makes
14 now. Ariza could command 6. As radio brain Dean Merril said,
they should ask for nothing less; all they have to do is point
to the 5 mil that Sasha Vujacic makes. That’s right, the
same guy who went oh for 6 in the Finals.
.
Pure class: June has bloomed with two at the top.
Roger Federer nails the French Open.
Kobe Bryant hammers out the NBA title.
Fed sheds the lie that he couldn't win a clay slam.
Kobe unShaqles himself.
Fed rebounds from his marathon loss at the 2008 Wimbledon final.
Kobe rebounds, passes, shoots beyond that crash in the 2008 NBA Finals.
.
The edge? Give it to Kobe.
The tiebreaker: Mrs. Bryant.
If Bo Derek was a 10, Vanessa Bryant is a 24. She defines knockout.
Then there's Mrs. Fed, the meaning of mutti.
Speaking of motherhood, watch Vanessa give Kobe a son in nine months. You better believe he’s trying after two daughters.
. Set the DVR. For Christmas. Lakers-Cavs. With Shaq joining LeBron in Cleveland, ABC is frothing over this clash.
Kobe-Shaq. Kobe-LeBron. Turn on that Hollywood spotlight.
. The genius. Tommy Tutt, my Vegas buddy. All he did was text before the Finals’ Game 5 with this pick: "Lakers by 13. Bet the farm, the IRA, the wife."
I should have. L.A. won 99-86.
. The dud. Some call him Charles Barkley. I go with Sir Chunk for his big, fat losing predictions. Such as Nets over Lakers in 2002. And Magic over Lakers in these Finals.
After the laughter died, Sir Chunk said Phil Jackson will quit this summer. That's my cue to guarantee Phil will stay on the Playa del Rey beach.
. Now that he has 10 titles. Jackson is the greatest coach. Period.
His triumph in Game 5’s clincher was so convincing, even naysaying Roger Lodge on his radio show the next morning bowed to the Tower of Jax.
. The teen. My niece Grace figured it all out, and she's just 13. Spotted the sweaty panic of Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy. And the cool coasting of the Laker boss. And said right there that Phil's force would clinch it.
. Riley was right. Remember when Pat Riley bounced Gundy, took over in Miami and led the Heat to the 2006 NBA title? Looked like a knife job, which it was.
But it was a sharp move. Under Riley, the Heat overcame an 0-2 hole in the NBA Finals to beat Dallas. Under Gundy, the Heat would've wilted.
. The name. Moniker of the year: D Swish.
Credit L.A. Times letter writer Jason Mathis for coming up with a twist on D Fish, the bucket-sinking Laker otherwise known as Derek Fisher.
. Club Clutch: Speaking of Fisher, good to see he still has the touch.
That shot with .4 left in the Lakers’ miracle playoff victory in 2004 punched his ticket to the club. In these Finals, he upgraded with crunch treys, lifting the Lakers to an overtime triumph in Game 4.
Other members of the Club:
Bobby Thomson for his homer in 1951 that let The Giants Win The Pennant!
Bill Mazeroski for his World Series-ending blast in 1960.
Joe Carter for his jack that finished the 1993 Series.
Ben Roethlisberger for his big fling in last winter’s Super Bowl.
Santonio Holmes for his KO grab of that Ben zinger.
Jim O’Brien for booting the Boys in the 1971 Super Bowl.
Adam Vinatieri for kicking the Rams in the 2002 Bowl.
Doug Flutie for passing BC into college football mythology in 1984.
Robert Horry for his King killer in 2002.
©2009 by Bucky Fox.
This column first posted June 29, 2009.
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