Kobe Bryant - NBA photo   Shaquille O'Neal - NBA photo

SPORTS NOTES EXTRA EXTRA Part 2 - LAKERS WIN NBA TITLE UGLY

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

Kobe Bryant was voted the series MVP. He was a strong performer throughout the series but he made a very unbecoming remark when being presented with his award in saying that he had one more NBA title than Shaq - BIG BABY ROCKS

Tuesday June 22, 2010

FIFTH TITLE FOR KOBE BRYANT

The Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA title in an ugly fashion. As we predicted injuries would factor into he result and it did as the Celtics starting center Kendrick Perkins suffered ruptured ligaments in the knee in game six of the seven game series. That factored in the Lakers having a distinct rebound advantage in their having two seven foot players Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom who is 6'10".

The Celtics were undersized and being older was too pooped to pop as we previously predicted and they simply ran out of gas and couldn't hit their shots. Celtic starters Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce are all over 30. A well worn 35-year-old 6'11"Rasheed Wallace replaced Perkins and put forth a game effort. The 24-year-old Glen 'Big Baby' Davis 6'9" substituted or Wallace.

Kobe Bryant was voted the series MVP. He was a strong performer throughout the series but he made a very unbecoming remark when being presented with his award in saying that he had one more NBA title than Shaq.

The statement brings up a sour subject when the two were teammates with the Lakers and produced three consecutive NBA titles as both were considered the leaders of the team with Shaq in the lead role of the Batman and Robin duo.

Bryant sulked and wanted it to be his team and threatened to leave. The result was the Lakers decided to go with the younger Bryant to lead the team's future and Shaq was traded to the Miami Heat. With the Heat Shaq won another title in 2006 giving him one more than Bryant (4-3). With Bryant's Lakers winning back to back titles including last season that gave him five NBA titles to Shaq's four prompting the out of place remark and showing a lack of maturity and grace while revealing his apparent continued bitterness towards O'Neal.

O'Neal is 38-years-old and near the end of his career. Bryant is 32 with some gas remaining in his tank. Their war should be over but the lack of maturity is a negative factor.

Overall the Lakers/Celtics series was as ugly as one can get but both teams were aggressive, fought hard and for the most part put forth tremendous effort. The Lakers won and this edition of an older Celtics squad will most likely be changed by the time next season starts.

Glen 'Big Baby' Davis - NBA photo

SHINE ON!!!

The smile on Glen 'Big Baby' Davis' face exemplifies what the thrill of playing the game of basketball is all about. In the past Romanian Gheorghe Muresan 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) was seen in an NBA promotional advertisement saying, "I love this game." The smile on Davis' face is exactly what the promo is all about.

If you're wondering how Davis got his 'Big Baby' nickname stop wondering. Davis was given his nickname when he was 9 years old by a youth league coach. At 5'6", 160 pounds, he was too large to play pee-wee and played as a senior. He used to cry when playing with his older teammates, and his coach would tell him, "Stop crying, you big baby."

Shaquille O'Neal was a major factor in helping develop Davis' basketball future. In the summer of 2001, at only 15 years of age, Davis attended a basketball camp run by LSU alumnus O'Neal on the campus of Louisiana State University, O'Neal challenged Davis to a friendly wrestling match, in which Davis lifted the 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m), 325 lb (147 kg; 23.2 st) center and body-slammed him to the ground. The encounter left a strong impression on the NBA All-Star; ultimately, this incident helped him to get introduced to then LSU (Louisiana State University) head coach Dale Brown.