Kobe wins an NBA championship without my help

Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers won the 2009 NBA Championship last Sunday night.

It was the 15th title for the Lakers and the 4th for Kobe. But it was also his first one without my help. Shaquille O'Neal may have made that statement, but what you read in the title of this post is being made by me.

Taking a break from your ROTFL activity on reading that statement, please consider the statistics that I am churning out here.

Kobe won his first championship in June 2000. That time I was in Los Angeles and it was my 3rd month living in that city. And the Lakers won a championship after 12 years. Kobe got his 2nd ring in June 2001 and guess who was still in LA - me. He then had his three-peat in June 2002. And I was still there.

I came back to India in early-2003 and guess what happened to LAL and KB? They lost in the Conference Semi Finals to the San Antonio Spurs. They did improve with their own version of a mini-Dream Team in 2004 and reached the NBA finals. However, they lost again.

Meanwhile, Shaq was moved out of the Lakers franchise and ended up in Miami. There, he won the championship in 2006. But Kobe was left in the wilderness.

And finally last week, Kobe did win the NBA championship in June 2009.

So clearly, my presence in the City of Angels, helped them to end a 12 year title-drought and my absence has taken them 6 years to overcome. Finally, the Lakers seemed to have moved on.

And outside of the cold statistics presented above, what you must know is that I used to follow every Laker game on TV while I lived there. I have gone through some excruciating playoff series when they took on the Sacramento Kings during their title run.

If I was seated with my arms and legs in one particular position and found that helping the Laker cause, I used to stick to that position except during breaks between quarters and probably during full time-outs.

I've bought Laker T-Shirts. I still have a Lakers mug in my house. I have bought foam fingers, but felt bad that I couldn't bring it back to India. I still preserve the tickets I bought to watch 2 Laker games at Staples Center - they are in fact my only purchase in eBay ever.

But ever since I returned to India, my viewing of the games has been limited to whatever little that ESPN shows on Saturday mornings (IST) during the regular season and early playoff time. But because it is at unearthly hours, I haven't been able to watch full games and so, have not provided the same kind of support like before.

So history has to record the efforts I have put in to ensure that the Lakers won. And to stress the point, Kobe has not just his first championship without Shaq, more importantly, he has won it without my help.