The city of Los Angeles has an opportunity to win two championship basketball titles this season. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to yet another NBA championship, and Candace Parker can easily do the same for the Sparks in the WNBA.

Last season’s Rookie of the Year and MVP took some time off to have a baby. Now, she’s back and ready to play.

Parker let the world know via Twitter that: “I’m bbbbaaaaacccccckkkkkkk!! headed to first practice!”

According to ESPN, Parker practiced for the first time since her maternity leave but told the Los Angeles Times she would have a better idea about how she is adjusting after finishing contact drills.

After getting back into the basketball groove, Parker expects to be back on the court in five weeks — which is plenty of time for her to make an impact on the rest of the regular season as well as the playoffs.

In the 2009 NBA Draft, the player who seemingly no NBA scout can agree on is DeMar DeRozan. Some scouts believe that he’s all hype and will be a bust, while other scouts think DeRozan is the closest thing this draft has to Kobe Bryant.

Just by looking at him, he looks like an NBA player. DeRozan has good size, great athleticism, explosive quickness and he’s very fluid on the move. Also, he has long been a top-flight prospect and has played well in multiple situations.

In his one and only season at USC, DeRozan averaged 13.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists. He also hit .523 percent of his field goals.

However, his stats also point out some weaknesses. He connected on only 16.7% of his three pointers. He also average more turnovers (2.1) than assists. He steals (0.9) and blocks (0.4) per game weren’t very impressive — especially considering his athleticism.

Right now, it’s difficult to figure out where in the draft he’ll end up going. DeRozan could go in the top five or could slip to around ten.

DeMar DeRozan - NBA Scouting Report

The Los Angeles Lakers are the best team in the basketball world — yet again. With a 99-86 victory over the Orlando Magic in Game 5 on Sunday night, the Lakers wrapped up their 15th NBA championship in franchise history.

Finals MVP Kobe Bryant was fantastic on his way to winning his fourth NBA championship. He scored 30 points, pulled down six rebounds, dished off five assists, blocked four shots and swiped two steals. Bryant, who won his first ring without Shaquille O’Neal at his side, did all of that while turning the ball only one time.

Kobe Bryant - 2009 Finals MVP (Image: Newscom)

Helping Bryant were Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, Trevor Ariza and Derek Fisher. Odom had 17 points and ten rebounds off the bench, Gasol had 14 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks, Ariza had 15 points and five rebounds and Derek Fisher had 13 points and four rebounds.

For the young Magic, they just didn’t have it this game. They held tough for the first quarter but the Lakers outscored them 50-33 in the middle too periods to take control of the game heading into the final stanza.

Congrats to the Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers for a job well done on the 2009 NBA championship and props to the NBA for another exciting season of basketball.

If the Orlando Magic wanted to have any hope to win the 2009 NBA Finals, they needed to win Game 3. Coming into the contest down 0-2 against the Los Angeles Lakers, it was either win or write the obituary.

Win is what the Magic did. Holding off a hard charging Lakers team, Orlando’s hot shooting was enough for the victory. For the game, the Magic shot 62.5% from the field — an NBA record — and won by a final score of 108-104.

Leading the way for the home team was superstar bigman Dwight Howard. He finished with 21 points, 14 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Dwight Howard wins his first game in the NBA Finals (Image: Zuma Press)

Rashard Lewis and Rafer Alston were also huge for the Magic. Lewis had 21 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Alston totaled 20 points and four assists.

For the Lakers, it was the Kobe Bryant show early and often. After scoring 20 points in the first half, he totaled 31 points and eight assists for the game. The Lakers also got 23 points from Pau Gasol on 9-for-11 shooting from the floor.

Game 4 will prove to pivotal. If the Lakers win, they’ll be on their way to the 15th championship in their franchise’s history. If the Magic win, we’ll have a competitive 2009 NBA Finals on our hands.

In Game 1 of the 2009 NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers had a walk in the park as they crushed the Orlando Magic by a final score of 100-75. Game 2 was a totally different story. In a tough, rugged affair, the Lakers needed overtime to escape the contest with a 101-96 win and a 2-0 lead in the Finals.

Kobe Bryant had almost a perfect outing in Game 1 but had to work much harder this time out. That said, he still finished with 29 points, eight assists and four rebounds. The Magic deserve credit for limiting Bryant to 10-for-22 shooting and forcing him into seven turnovers.

Helping out Bryant on the night were Paul Gasol, Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher. Gasol had 24 points and ten rebounds, Odom had 19 points and eight rebounds and Fisher had 12 points, three assists and three steals.

Kobe Bryant got help from Pau Gasol and others (Image: Zuma Press)

After shooting less than 30% from the field in Game 1, the Magic got much better showings from their star perimeter players. Rashard Lewis had 34 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, while Hedo Turkoglu had 22 points, six rebounds and four assists. Dwight Howard was also very active, finishing with 17 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, four steals, four blocks and seven turnovers.

Although the 0-2 deficit will be difficult for Orlando to climb out of, the good news is that the next three games will be played in from of their fans. For the Magic to have a legit chance at winning the championship, they’ll need to win all three at home.

As for the Lakers, championship 15 can now be seen at the light at the end of the tunnel.

If you watched Game 1 of the NBA Finals, you probably aren’t too excited about Game 2. The Los Angeles Lakers thoroughly dominated Game 1 and ended up cruising to a 100-75 victory. Kobe Bryant and his henchmen looked unstoppable while the Orlando Magic looked like they had raging case of stage fright.

Dwight Howard and the Magic started off with a thud (Image: Zuma Press)

Even though the Magic disappeared in Game 1, all they need to do to get back into this series is to take home a Game 2 victory. How do they do that? Here are five keys for the Magic to win Game 2:

1. Get Dwight Howard Going
Dwight Howard had all of one field goal made in Game 1. That simple won’t get it done. The Magic have to force the ball into him and allow him to use his strength and quickness advantage. Howard’s dunks are the key to open up the offense for everyone else.

2. Force Kobe Bryant to Pass
During the Game 1 route, Kobe Bryant had the ball way too much. Allowing him to rack up 40 points, eight assists and one turnover means that the Magic didn’t force him into tough situations nearly enough. The Lakers are extremely talented but forcing Kobe to trust his teammates is the way to beat them.

3. Pick a Point Guard
Jameer Nelson is back for the Magic. Rafer Alston played very well in the Eastern Conference side of the bracket. Now Stan Van Gundy needs to pick which point guard to grab the reins the wagon. The worst thing the coach could do is to make it so neither one finds a rhythm.

4. Rebound Better
The Lakers humiliated the Magic on the boards in Game 1. The Magic, even though they are bit undersized, have to do a much better job of competing on the glass. Orlando can’t fall into the trap of expecting Howard to grab every board.

5. Let it Fly
This isn’t the time for the Magic to get scared. They are a jump shooting team that lives off of three-pointers. If they don’t play carefree type of basketball, they can’t win. Relax. Have fun. Let it fly.

In Game 1 of the 2009 NBA Finals, basketball fans around the world were ready for a classic battle. Instead, the Los Angeles Lakers breezed to a 100-75 victory over the Orlando Magic.

Kobe Bryant made an early case for Finals MVP with a fantastic performance. The Lakers shooting guard totaled 40 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, two steals and two blocks in 38 minutes of play. He hit 16-of-34 field goal attempts, all eight of his free throws and only had one turnover.

Kobe Bryant - 2009 NBA Finals MVP?

Pau Gasol helped out Bryant with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Lamar Odom had 11 points and 14 rebounds off the bench.

For Orlando, it was a long, long night on the offensive end. The Magic shot just 29.9% from the field and mustered only 32 points in the second half. Dwight Howard was only 1-for-6 from the floor, while Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu were a combined 5-for-21.

If the Magic are to come back and make this a series, they will need to shoot much better. They’ll also have to find some sort of answer to slow down Bryant.

However, the Lakers looked like the far superior team and appear destined to take home the 2009 NBA championship.

The question is raised season after season, and yet no legitimate answer is given.

Does Kobe need to win an NBA Championship in order to get out of the ominous shadow that is Shaquille O’Neal?

Kobe has to win a championship with out Shaq in order to get the monkey off his back.

Kobe Bryant is sick of answering the question, sick of hearing it. He’s so fed up, in fact, that he got a little spiteful this time around when he was asked about his legacy without Shaq:

“People think Shaq would have won a championship without me on that team? They’re crazy.”

Oh, snap.

Unfortunately for Kobe (and every other major superstar in professional sports) the media likes to jump onto certain, contemplative bandwagon questions and drive them into the ground. And this is the latest one.

It doesn’t matter how Kobe chooses to answer it anymore. The only way he can make it go away is by winning an NBA Championship without Shaq.

Of course, after that he’ll have to answer another burning question. “Does Kobe have to win more the six championship rings in order to finally get out of Jordan’s shadow?”

One question at a time, please.

Photo: Zuma

Tonight, the 2009 NBA Finals tip off with the Orlando Magic visiting the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1. The game will be shown on ABC and will begin at 9 PM EST. Who is going to win the NBA championship? Here is the tale of the tape:

Point Guards
Derek Fisher is a solid veteran and Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar are good backups but the Magic have the edge due not only to Rafer Alston and Anthony Johnson, but also because Jameer Nelson may return.
ADVANTAGE: MAGIC

Shooting Guards
When Kobe Bryant is on one side of the equation, you know which team will have the advantage.
ADVANTAGE: LAKERS

Small Forwards
While Trevor Ariza has played great this year in the postseason, Hedo Turkoglu is a better player. Add in Mickael Pietrus and it’s no contest.
ADVANTAGE: MAGIC

Power Forward
Rashard Lewis is a very good player but there’s no way he’s as good as the combination of Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom that the Lakers can throw at him.
ADVANTAGE: LAKERS

Center
Dwight Howard is now the best center in basketball. Andrew Bynum may one day be a great player but he’s not close to Howard at this point.
ADVANTAGE: MAGIC

Coach
Phil Jackson has won an ungodly number of NBA championship rings. Stan Van Gundy is probably best known to his uncanny resemblance to Ron Jeremy.
ADVANTAGE: LAKERS

With the tale of the tape in the 2009 NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando Magic tied at 3-3, we’ll use the homecourt advantage as the tie-breaker. That means that the Lakers will be your 2009 NBA champions by the time these finals are over.

Congrats, Kobe, on your 2009 NBA championship (Image: Zuma Press)

 Who will guard Kobe?

Rookie Courtney Lee will likely get his shot at the Black Mamba in the beginning, provided Lee is in the starting lineup. Otherwise, when Mickael Pietrus is in the game, he will no doubt be regarded as the ‘Kobe Stopper’. How well he can stop Kobe is debatable, but my guess is Pietrus will do a better job than Ruben Patterson ever did.

Wouldn’t surprise me to see Hedo Turkoglu or J.J. Redick get some cracks at Kobe here and there, but it probably won’t end well for them.

Can Andrew Bynum step up his game against Superman?

If Bynum can, it could very well be a short series. An aggressive and interested Bynum could spell foul trouble for Dwight, and we all know while backup center Marcin Gortat can be decent in spurts, the Magic don’t have a prayer in the series unless Dwight is playing darn near 40-42 minutes a game.

LA’s offensive game plan?

Drive the ball to the hoop as much as possible. Instead of settling for jumpshots, post Pau and Andrew. Make Rashard and Dwight work on the defensive end. Get them out of the game and the Laker’s chances drastically improve.

Dwight wants some payback (Image: readmoretalkless.wordpress)

Orlando’s offensive game plan?

Besides shooting the three unconsciously? Force feed Dwight, keep him involved. If he gets doubled, that all the better because Turk, Lewis, Alston, Pietrus, Lee, and maybe Redick will be open to knock down their shots. The Magic must be cognizant of the abilities of Pietrus and Lewis to create on their own. Settling down the offense and running some isolations or post up sets for these two could prove to be a more dynamic and wiser attact than just the perimeter shot.  But this is the Orlando Magic I’m talking about, so the three ball might be just fine.

Oh, I almost forgot: get outta the way of Hedo in the fourth.

Who has the best closer?

Might not be as simple of an answer as you think.

Especially if Turk gets his proper pizza fix before the game.

Wildcards

1. Lamar Odom

2. His sugar highs/ lows

3. Shannon Brown/ SashaVujacic/ Jordan Farmar

4. Jameer Nelson (Is a rusty Jameer Nelson better than a healthy Anthony Johnson?)

5. J.J. Redick, will he play, and if he does, can he find his stroke?