Done dynasty

But don't overlook all the Lakers have accomplished

It's not often you see the past and the future pass before your eyes in the same game. That is presumably what happened Thursday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where the Lakers' hopes for a fourth-straight NBA title came to an end at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs. I liked what a teary-eyed Kobe Bryant said after the humiliating 28-point elimination: that he had been through so many battles with his teammates that he couldn't bring himself to talk about personnel changes which would help L.A. get quicker, younger and better. That's what a good teammate should say and I think Kobe was sincere, at least in those emotionally wrought moments right after the game.

But make no mistake about it: Making big-time changes is what the Lakers will be doing throughout the summer months. After hearing all season that he had not been proactive enough, general manager Mitch Kupchak will make lots and lots of moves, Kobe and Shaquille O'Neal being his only untouchable players.

On the other hand, rarely has a good team, one that will probably win the championship this season, faced such a seemingly boundless future as the Spurs. Their core players are all under 30 (including a point guard, Tony Parker, who finally gets to drink legally on Saturday when he turns 21) and they have beaucoup bucks to spend on free agents (including one to replace center David Robinson) after the season. But ...

With the stars aligned for San Antonio, remember this: It's hard to win one title, never mind a string of them. As we begin kissing the rings of the new favorites, and kissing off the once-proud champion, I'm going to wager right now that the Spurs, for whatever variety of reasons, will not win three championships in a row. Break up the Lakers, sure, but remember the incredible feat they accomplished.

As for the other series in the West, well, the only sure thing is that the Dallas fans -- always aware of Sacramento's reputation for having the loudest and most loyal supporters in the NBA -- will be up for Game 7 on Saturday. I doubt if a decisive contest in Big D would even be happening had the resilient Kings not lost Chris Webber for the remainder of the playoffs because of a knee injury he suffered in Game 2, but this Kings squad is the deepest team the NBA has seen in many years, so deep in fact that last year's playoff hero, point guard Mike Bibby, spent most of the fourth quarter on the bench in Thursday night's series-tying 115-109 win in cowbell-clanging Sacramento.

I picked the Kings to win in six before Webber's injury. I'm going to stick with them even though a road win in raucous Dallas would now be considered an upset.

As for the East, well, I've continually undervalued Detroit, so there's no reason to stop now. I presume that Philadelphia 76ers coach Larry Brown will stop lobbying to get Michael Jordan long enough to put together a viable game plan for Friday's Game 6 in Philly -- there are few coaches better at doing that than Brown -- and push the series back to Detroit for a Game 7, where Allen Iverson will do his magic. It won't matter, though: The rested New Jersey Nets remain my pick in the East.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Jack McCallum covers the NBA for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com.

 

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