...And then there was One

It's all over. The collective dust from months of anticipation and endless epic basketball battles has settled, leaving the team any fan with a shred of common sense assumed would be the last one standing. The Lakers shut the door on a Magic squad that played hard (losing a couple close games that could've drastically altered the series) but ultimately didn't have the consistency,experience or skill to keep up with LA. Orlando didn't have the constant open looks and minimal D12 opposition the Cavs offered up, looking out of synch and tentative throughout large stretches. You could tell that their entire rotation was popping their Finals cherry.

Orlando now heads into a season of relative uncertainty, with Hedo Turkoglu reportedly opting out of his final year and the bench-unfriendly Rafer Alston now the second horse in the point guard race. Regardless of what goes down over the next few months, they deserve serious recognition for finally making us take their early-season title ambitions seriously. The Magic beat the league's best teams all year, were tested by injury and responded with a resilient playoff run that took the further than anyone would've guessed. A few keys plays unravel slightly differently, Dwight shoots from the stripe like he did against Cleveland, and this might've gone seven games. A Finals loss will always be indescribably painful but they should hold their heads high.

The Lakers' victory was an emphatic re-assertion of one of pro sports' most storied franchises. Legends grew Sunday night; not only did LA win its second-all-time 15th title, the Zen Master passed Red Auerbach in the only playoff supremacy tally he had yet to; the one that counted the most. It cements a very convincing argument that this calm, passive realist might be the best coach the game's ever seen. That "mamba" guy also had an significant milestone, copping his 4th ring, and first outside the imposing shadow of Shaquille O'Neal, making it his most impressive and important yet.

It was a defining moment for Kobe, even after a three-peat and an MVP, this might be his finest moment. Their nerves likely still shook from the dud against Boston a year ago, the Lakers were on a mission for redemption, not unlike the one Kobe recently embarked on with Team USA. And much like his triumph in Beijing, Bryant was a deadly player and true leader. He was a man far removed from the alleged pretentious diva whose ego helped destroy arguably the deadliest duo the League's ever seen. After years of blindly grasping at true greatness through personal dominance (sick as it was), Bryant forced his team to surround him with title-worthy talent, and delivered on the quest the Lakers' decision to keep him in '04 essentially signed him up for.

It's hard to feel anything but happy for Kobe. Dude spent years killing everyone in his path, yearning for a return to the glory days when he lamped, albeit unharmoniously, atop the NBA. He's weathered a frivilous rape charge and consequent character assassination (no, I don't laugh at those Family Guy sequences), to go along with more open hatred than any player this side of Reggie Miller. His dedication and work ethic to the game he was so blessed for were impeccable, and when he finally figured out that whole "no I in team" mantra, it was a rap. He now leads a relatively young team into potentially his second dynasty.

LA's one of two teams in the NBA entering this offseason without serious question marks and moves to make, having recently ousted the other in dismissive fashion. They look pretty fucking untouchable. Kobe, having truly carved his spot among the League's all-time greats, is looking every bit more and more like its All-Time Great, the one he's been incessantly judged against his whole career.