Thursday night saw the end of the Lakers' dream for a four-peat. San Antonio's 110-82 victory at the Staples Center sent Shaq, Kobe and Phil home without another NBA title -- and deservedly so. San Antonio was the better team in this series as Tim Duncan showed why he was the league's MVP and Bruce Bowen limited Kobe's ability to create.\nIn the aftermath of the Lakers' dismissal, questions are being raised about the end of their championship run, or if they will rebound next year to make it four titles out of five. At this early point it is difficult to say, but cracks have appeared in the armor.\nShaq is the most dominating player in the NBA. His combination of size and ability has allowed him to dominate the inside like no player since Wilt Chamberlain. However, he has been injured the last couple of seasons, especially in his oversized feet. It is a big question as to whether he can continue to dominate the game at the same level.\nKobe has been spectacular this season. His run of 40-point efforts single-handedly lifted the Lakers into contention. However, he has said he wishes to test the free-agent market in a couple of seasons when his contract is up. Might he leave the glitz and glamour of L.A. to join the man who brought him to the Lakers, Jerry West, in Memphis? Might he be tempted to go to New York or New Jersey to tap that huge media market? Maybe he'll go home to Philadelphia (they boo him now, but I doubt they would if he was a 76er)? It's premature to discuss this, but the fact that he has raised the issue means that all might not be right at Staples.\nPhil Jackson had to undergo an emergency angioplasty last week. His close friend, Dave DeBusschere, died last week of a heart attack. Might the stress and toil of being a head coach in the NBA, and in the second-largest media market, lead him to consider retirement after the 2003-04 season?\nBeyond these three main players, the rest of the team is sub-par at best. The best of the rest, Rick Fox, is out for as much as a year with major ligament issues in his foot. Time appears to have caught up to Robert Horry this season, as he was unable to hit the pond from the dock in the playoffs, including missing a potential game-winning three in Game 5 versus the Spurs. Stanislav Medvedenko is a good open shooter but cannot create his own shot. No one else on that roster scares opponents.\nMost importantly, the air of invincibility is gone from the Lakers. In previous years, most teams going against L.A. thought they were going to lose. Not this year. \nThis is the time when General Manager Mitch Kupchak needs to step up and earn his money. The team has plenty of holes. The biggest one is a quality power forward to augment Shaq and Kobe. The two top options are probably P.J. Brown and Karl Malone. Brown would be a better fit in L.A., and Kupchak needs to bring him in to keep the Lakers competitive, especially with the front-court strength of Sacramento, San Antonio and Dallas. Also, the team needs a deeper bench -- Mark Madsen gives you heart but not much else, and Samaki Walker has been a bust.\nThe 2003-04 season might be the final chance for the Lakers to win the title. It will be interesting to see if they make a run at four out of five, or if the tide truly has changed in the NBA's Western Conference.
QUICK HITS\nIt appears that Disney finally has figured out how to get the best efforts out of its sporting teams -- put them up for sale. The Angels won the World Series, and the Ducks are in the Stanley Cup Finals.\nI'm still at a loss as to why Miami, Boston College and Syracuse want to abandon the Big East for the ACC. The Big East is a better football conference than the ACC (especially if they bring in Louisville and Cincinnati, as rumored). Plus, BC and 'Cuse are turning their back on the conference they founded over 20 years ago. The biggest losers might be the small Big East schools without Division I-A football. The Big East is seriously considering dropping them to make the conference better in football and keep the possible defectors.
