NBA is finding a new way

Well, it was semi-classic, anyway.

You couldn't say the quote, unquote, Renewal of the Storied Lakers-Celtics Rivalry, lived up to everyone's expectations, especially around here.

After blowing a 24-point lead in Game 4 that was probably the biggest in Finals history and getting humiliated in Game 6, the Lakers are like their 1984 team that coughed up a title to the Celtics . . . living in the hope of a rematch next spring.

In the meantime, Lakers fans can take this summer off.

Kobe Bryant's comments after Thursday's exit meeting made it clear that he's happy, officially ending last summer.

This being a 180-degree turn -- by a force of nature who isn't given to making one-degree turns -- their season was already a success, or a miracle, by Jan. 14.

That was the night Bryant tipped off his change of heart, saying they were a "championship-caliber team" with Andrew Bynum.

Everything else was gravy until the Celtics turned the gravy boat over on them.

So let's just say the Lakers had better not try Bryant's patience by walking off the court looking like punks 10 days before his possible opt-out next year.

For the NBA, the Finals offered a dramatic comparison between its Golden Age of the '80s and today.

No one will ever call this a golden age; the game isn't as entertaining, and none of today's stars has the mythic status accorded Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

On the other hand, despite allegations of fixes and conspiracy theories that threatened to eclipse the championship series as none had ever been, this Finals made a statement about the NBA's place in professional sports.

Wherever the NBA used to be, it's still there.

If this year's Finals' 9.3 TV rating was disappointing, it was actually better than the '80s ratings, relative to other sports.

As the website Sports Media Watch noted, the NBA rating was right behind the NCAA final's 9.4 and the World Series' 10.1.

The highest-rated Lakers-Celtics Finals in 1987 got a 15.9 -- but that was almost four points behind the NCAA final's 19.6 and 8.1 behind the World Series' 24.0.

Last Sunday's Game 5 bumped up against the icon of icons, Tiger Woods, in a U.S. Open they'll talk about forever that ran into prime time.

Game 5 got a 10.1 rating to the Open's 7.5.

However, about that NBA audience. . . .

The comparison is no longer the 18.7 rating for Michael Jordan's last Finals in 1998. Those days are over, like those when World Series ratings were in the 30s.