J ROSE

Devastated.

Humiliated.

Annihilated.

Overrated.

All of these terms can be used to describe the incredible fraud that is the 2007-2008 Los Angeles Lakers.

After all, this is a club that was supposedly singing “kumbaya” coming into the postseason and fooled all the pundits, like my clueless colleague Colin, into thinking it was an unstoppable, united force by breezing through the first three rounds of the playoffs en route to a surefire coronation as the best team in the land.

And then they met up with the real best team in the league: the Boston Celtics, version 2.0. And the Fakers’ facade fell apart.

By now everyone knows the C’s Cinderella story. They finished with the worst record in the NBA last season (24-58) and missed out on a chance to get the number one pick in the draft (again). So Director of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge engineered deals for sharpshooter Ray Allen and defensive force Kevin Garnett, who along with team captain Paul Pierce combined to form the nexus of what would be the Celts’ first title-winning team in 21 years.

Nearly one year later the transformation is complete. The Celtics had the best record in the league this year at 66-26, the best road record, the best record against the “tougher” Western Conference, the Defensive Player of the Year (KG), Executive of the Year (Ainge), and they just set a slew of playoff marks en route to capturing banner #17, the most in the history of the league.

Did I forget to mention their Finals record of 9-2 against the Fakers? Sorry.

After jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the Finals against the heavily favored Lakers, on the strength of the stifling defense that had been the hallmark of the team all season and Paul Pierce’s gutty play, Boston traveled to the left coast for the dreaded three middle games of Red Auerbach’s designed 2-3-2 format.

With a nearly unblemished home record in the postseason all the Cs needed to do was win one at the silent Staples Center, where the disinterested fans are measured by their ‘Q’ rating rather than basketball knowledge, and the title was all but assured.

By taking Game 4 in miraculous fashion, winning 97-91 after rallying from 24 points down to stun the Lakers and their few true fans in the biggest comeback in Finals history, the Celts did just that, basically assuring the trophy would be clad in green.

After a near-miss on Father’s Day in Game 5, the teams traveled back East so the Celts could win it in style – in front of a rabid home crowd of Boston fans that hadn’t seen a championship clinched in the city since Bird’s Celts in 1986.

The game started out close before Boston turned up the intensity and pulled away in the second quarter, leading by 23 at halftime before putting the pedal to the medal in the second half.

One epic, embarrassing, record-breaking, foundation-shaking 39-point beatdown later, the NBA title was back in Beantown.

Pierce, who scored less and passed more in the clincher, was named Finals MVP, and another unsung hero, point guard Rajon Rondo, helped carry the load for a team that seemed to have a different guy step up every game to take the burden off the Big Three’s shoulders.

Afterwards there were tears of joy for Garnett, Pierce and Allen, who shook off years of toiling in mediocrity by cementing their legacies as champs.

And coach Doc Rivers, who has been criticized and vilified for his lack of in-game skills and inability to juggle a roster and recently lost his father, gladly accepted a Gatorade shower from Pierce as he finally became a championship-winning coach.

On the other side there were tears of sadness from league MVP Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, a team that was supposed to be the best in the league but turned out to be a bunch of purple-clad posers.

In the end they were decimated by a Green Machine that shut down the MVP and chewed up and spit out the rest of the role players like a piece of sour candy, and when the dust settled Bryant walked off the court knowing his legacy remains incomplete, as he has yet to win a title without a certain behemoth center rattling the rim next to him.

The Celtics won title #17 on June 17th while legendary C’s players like Bill Russell, Jo Jo White, Tommy Heinsohn and #17, John ‘Hondo’ Havlickek, looked on.

As the team and fans mobbed center court to celebrate the win, confetti falling everywhere and “We Are the Champions” blaring from the Garden sound system, Garnett embraced his mentor Russell and shouted in his ear “I got mine” in reference to the ring that Russ offered to share with him if KG didn’t win one himself.

Yup, the 2007-2008 Celts all got theirs.

The fans of Boston sports got theirs, too – yet another major sports championship.

And all you haters (ahemColinahem) just have to deal with it.

Popularity: 3% [?]