A lot of times I have no definitive answers for questions like “What’s your favorite song?” or “What’s your favorite ice cream flavor“. The responses I come up with vary from time to time, which can depend on different factors like mood or the experience that I had for the day, etc. One thing is certain, though: June 18, 2010 is one of my favorite days of my life.
I can directly tell you what happened, or I can be dramatic and describe the events that led to extreme euphoria for me that day (let’s pretend the title and the featured image didn’t give away the answer).
Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics shot a contested three over the outstretched arms of Lakers forward Lamar Odom. Rondo misses the three, the rebound is grabbed by Lakers center Pau Gasol, Gasol throws the ball to Odom who throws it the other side of the court as time expired, with Kobe Bryant smiling one of the biggest smiles I’ve seen him wear. The buzzer sounds. Lakers 83, Celtics 79. It’s over. “The Lakers repeat back-to-back NBA titles!”, screams ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Breen.
Man, anybody who knows me knows how much the Lakers mean to me. Out of all my personal interests – and there are a ton of them – the Purple and Gold have been with me the longest. I’ve been a fan for more than half my life now, and prior to this specific championship, I’ve seen the Lakers win four titles in my lifetime. But this one is my favorite, and for many other fans around the world, this has to be the sweetest of them all.
You see, the Lakers and the Celtics are archenemies whose rivalry dates back to the 1960’s. The fans and the players take this matchup very seriously. Now, the Lakers never beat the Celtics in a do-or-die Game 7 throughout their storied past as rivals. That is, until the Kobe and Pau-led Lakers did it on this day, 10 years ago. I saw history happen. Live on TV. It was amazing.
What made this particular championship stand out, at least to me, is that two years prior on the exact same day, the Celtics defeated the Lakers in six games to win the 2008 Championship. I was devastated. I was a freshman in college, the term then was only two weeks old. My new classmates saw how dejected I was on that day, all because of a stupid shooty hoops game.
Fast forward two years. June 18th (Philippine time, of course). Friday. Fridays were “free days” for our university; and on this day, our college publication, of which I am a staff member, was supposed to hold tryouts for students who wanted to join. We were supposed to be at the office at 8 A.M. I took the morning off (without telling my editors) so I could watch Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals. Priorities.
I vividly remember watching the first half in dismay, the Lakers played lackadaisically. Maybe it was the jitters? Maybe the Celtics just wanted it more? Whatever the cause, that first half sucked balls. The second half was a totally different story, the Lakers were more… effective at basketball-ing. Kobe still didn’t shoot the ball well, but in true #MambaMentality fashion, he contributed in other ways — rebounding, and defense.
When the fourth quarter came, the Lakers had taken the lead, but that lead was barely a “lead”. The game was still too close for comfort, throwing blow after blow to one another. In the waning moments of the game, two unlikely heroes wearing purple and gold armor emerged.
With 65 seconds left in the game, Kobe passed the ball out to Ron Artest, who then did a jab step and launched a three. I remember screaming “NO NO NO NO”, and apparently, based on Lakers Twitter confessions, lots of other fans did as well. But the “no’s” turned to a resounding “YESSSSSSSSSSSSS” when the ball hit nothing but net, ESPN’s Mike Breen yelling “BAAAANG” in the background. Ron then blew flying kisses at the crowd as the Lakers went up six.
A couple of plays later, with 13 seconds left, the ball found it’s way to our second hero, Sasha Vujacic. He barely played in this game, but coach Phil Jackson had tremendous confidence in Sasha as the “The Machine” is a great shooter. Swish, swish. Ice cold free throws, with ICONIC eyebrow massages in between shots. LEGEND. That sealed the deal for the Lakers.
The sequence I described at the beginning happened immediately after Sasha’s free throws. By the time the final buzzer had sounded, I was already screaming like a madman, jumping all over the living room of our house. The elation I felt at that time was unparalleled. I’ve seen the Lakers win in 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2009. They made me happy, but not to the level that I felt in 2010. This was vindication for the Lakers, for Kobe, for Pau, and for the rest of the Lakers team and organization.
I went to university wearing purple that day, a rarity as I simply refuse to wear any shirt that’s not black. The shirt, and the smug look on my face told my co-staffers the reason why I missed the publication auditions in the morning.
Besides the innate joy a fan feels whenever their sports team wins it all, seeing the faces of the players cry and laugh in victory was… cathartic. Pau Gasol, I freaking love Pau Gasol as a basketball player and as a human being. Seeing him win his second championship made me swell with happiness. Pau deserves all the good the world has to offer.
Sasha, the hero, he’s my all-time favorite role player. He wasn’t great, nor did he pretend to be. But he played the right way and did what was needed from him — shoot, defend, and occasionally piss off the other team’s players. He earned his nickname “The Machine” for being a hard worker, and those free throws earned him my (and millions of other Laker fans’) respect forever.
That ’09-’10 Lakers team was something special. Andrew Bynum, Pau, Ron, Kobe, Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom, Sasha, Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton, Shannon Brown, Josh Powell, DJ Mbenga, and Adam Morisson. They all have a special place in my heart.
It’s a bummer that the world is still battling the Coronapocalypse as we’re celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Lakers’ last championship. This year’s incarnation of the team would’ve undoubtedly won the 2020 Finals. LeBron, Anthony Davis and the rest of the Purple and Gold were tearing the League up before the NBA was suspended after some players tested positive for COVID-19.
And of course, it sucks immensely that Kobe is no longer with us to join in celebrating. It sucks, it really does. A couple of nights ago, he was in my dream, we were hanging in a café in Europe talking basketball. This is weird to say, but I feel like it needs to be said.
Here’s to hoping the Lakers add another ring to add to the 16 we already have.
patrickkennan.com 
Kobe numbawan