Hey, would you look at that! More Laker news! Sweet!

Seriously, at this rate, we're going to be still celebrating the Lakers' 2009 NBA championship in September. "Mbenga commemorates Lakers title by sleeping in 'til noon!" or something equally ridiculous. But I digress ...

Celebrating the best in basketball, Disneyland saluted the championship Lakers on Thursday with a second victory parade — this time down Main Street U.S.A in Disneyland Park. Kobe Bryant smiled and waved and pointed to fans as he rode on a float with Mickey, Donald and the gang. After the parade Kobe took a ride on the terrifying Matterhorn Bobsleds, and judging by the photo above, he had the time of his life.

As you might recall, the presidents of the two Disney Resorts, Ed Grier at Disneyland and Meg Crofton at Walt Disney World, made a friendly wager on the NBA Finals. On Thursday, Crofton fulfilled her pledge by donning a pair of Lakers' purple and gold Mickey Mouse ears and walking down Main Street at Disney World.

No word on whether her "walk-of-shame" included Goofy and/or Hedo Turkoglu playing a sad trombone.

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Keep an eye out for the chubby guy in the green sweater after Kobe pump fakes and pump fakes and pump fakes poor Ronnie Brewer(notes) to death around the 2:10 mark. If that gesture, paired with Reggie Miller's simple play call, doesn't sum up most people's reactions to watching Kobe Bryant(notes) execute during these '09 Playoffs, I don't know what does. Seriously. "Are you kidding me?"

Still scanning the blogs and beats following the Lakers' championship win over the Magic in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. What? There's a lot of great content out there this morning, including Dwyer, Woj, Ludden and Wetzel's excellent posts and columns ...

The Puns Are Starting To Bore Me: "I know Stan kind of laughed at the notion of experience but deep down he cannot believe that. He would never provide his team with an excuse but I will give a minor one. No matter how many basketball games you play at various levels, Game 1 (first of the Finals) and Game 5 (the closeout game) have to be different than anything you have ever faced. The Lakers simply executed better on both ends of the floor in both and the Magic never really had a response. The Lakers frontcourt will not have their toughness questioned again nor will the team as a whole face criticism for their defensive intensity. These are lessons learned from the way in which Boston was able to defeat them last summer and those very lessons helped transform this Lakers team into what they were in the Finals."

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Scanning the blogs and beats following the Los Angeles Lakers' championship win over the Orlando Magic in Game 5 of the NBA Finals ...

Jeff Miller, OC Register: "In the end, it really was all about the Lakers, just like these guys have been saying all season. It didn't matter what Orlando did in this series or this game; things ultimately were in the Lakers' hands. So what if Orlando opened Sunday with a 15-6 lead? So what if the Lakers made only three of their first 12 shots or that Bryant re-re-re-re-reinjured one of his fingers in the opening five minutes? They shook off the sluggish start and Bryant ignored the pain, and they returned to the business of becoming champions. 'I was just locked in, just completely locked in,' said Bryant, whose first smile of this series finally arrived with 40 seconds remaining in Game 5. 'I think it's a matter of understanding the moment. It's also understanding your team and the lead that they have to follow.'"

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Congratulations to the Los Angeles Lakers, who earned their first NBA championship in seven years and 15th overall with a 99-86 win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday night.

In the end, Los Angeles' defense was just as up to the task as Los Angeles' vaunted offense. The team circled the wagons after Orlando busted out with a 28-point first quarter. Orlando's screen-and-roll attack was barely a factor, as the Lakers' spacing and efficient perimeter shooting on the other end made this a one-sided game by halftime.

Kobe Bryant(notes) finished with 30 points, five assists, and four blocks, but in spite of a series of jaw-dropping drives and perimeter looks, he was merely a brilliant part of the championship puzzle. Pau Gasol's(notes) defense in the interior was a huge part of Dwight Howard's(notes) limited effectiveness in the paint, and Trevor Ariza's(notes) 12-point second quarter helped turn a close game into a Lakers walk.

We'll have more quotes and analysis live from Orlando as the night moves along, but for now, pop a cork, and don't turn over a car, Los Angeles. Your hometown team is a champion, once again.

As the great warrior poets of New Edition once crooned, "Aw, baby, is this end?"

Welcome, once again, to Ball Don't Lie's NBA Finals live blog! As always, yours truly will be chatting and keeping score, while Matt Sussman (whose work can be seen at The Layoff Beard, Deadspin, Blogcritics and the Toledo Free Press), Trey Kerby of The Blowtorch and Kelly Dwyer (tweeting live from Amway Arena in Orlando) bring the canned goods and fire.

The awesome starts around 8:00 p.m. EDT. Tell a friend, m'kay?

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Monday to Friday, The Basketball Jones look at the big games and story lines from the night before with a mix of in-depth analysis and irreverent humor. As always, questions and comments are appreciated.

On today's show, Tas and I breakdown Game 4 of the NBA Finals. We discuss, among other topics, SVG's decision not to foul, why Rafer Alston(notes) see any action after the third quarter, how the Lakers took Rashard Lewis(notes) out of the game and Dwight Howard's(notes) ups and downs.

Subscribe to the video show on iTunes | Download the .m4v directly
Subscribe to the audio show on iTunes | Download the .mp3 directly

Yes, tonight's game is so big that we're rolling out the dramatic Garbage Time All-Stars art! (Thanks, Mark!)

Welcome, once again, to BDL's "award-winning" NBA Finals live blog! As always, yours truly will be chattin' and keepin' score, as Esq. Matt Sussman (whose work can be seen at The Layoff Beard, Deadspin, Blogcritics and the Toledo Free Press), Capt. Trey Kerby of The Blowtorch, Lt. Matt Moore of Hardwood Paroxysm, and Sir Kelly Dwyer (tweeting live from Amway Arena in Orlando) do all the dirty work.

Howl at the Internet, wolf pack! Game 4 starts around 9:00 pm EDT. See you in there.

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Monday to Friday, The Basketball Jones look at the big games and story lines from the night before with a mix of in-depth analysis and irreverent humor. As always, questions and comments are appreciated.

On today's show, Tas and I ask a lot of questions related to Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Can the Lakers assume Orlando won't shoot 62.5% again? Did Lamar Odom(notes) forget to eat his sour keys? And will Kobe ever become a coach? All that, and we explore the death of The Skyhook, the re-birth of Rafer Alston(notes) and the blockbuster Kapono-Evans trade.

Subscribe to the video show on iTunes | Download the .m4v directly
Subscribe to the audio show on iTunes | Download the .mp3 directly

Scanning the blogs and beats following the Magic's 108-104 win over the Lakers in Game 3 of the Finals ...

NBA Noise: "After two deservedly criticized games for the Orlando Magic backcourt, the Magic finally got a much-needed boost. That boost came in the form of Rafer Alston, who scored 20 points on a highly efficient 8 for 12 from the field. More importantly, it was the way Alston scored his points that had an impact on the game. While the word itself is getting more and more played out each time it's spoken, it is the only word to describe Alston's style of play tonight: swagger. Alston had that confident slack in his neck, shifty shoulders like a featherweight title fighter, and decisive moves that got him right to the hoop. He was crossing over, spinning, and double-clutching at the rack. Alston seemed to have put his abysmal start to the series behind him and made a conscious decision to return to doing what he does best — a freewheeling style of basketball."

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