<i> This</i> Race Is a Slam Dunk

Los Angeles couldn’t have both James and Antonio, but we do have Kobe and Shaq. And now, with the nasty mayoral race behind us, the whole city--the whole region--is pulling together to root for a home team that put its differences aside for the common good.

The Lakers are back where they belong--in the NBA finals. Tonight they play the Philadelphia 76ers in the first game of a series that could mean back-to-back championships and this century’s first basketball dynasty.

Supporters of James K. Hahn and Antonio Villaraigosa are on the same side in this contest. Allegiance to the purple and gold knows no political, racial, ethnic, social, gender, age or regional boundaries. Laker flags adorn new Mercedes and beater pickups. They flutter on streets and freeways from Westlake Village to Koreatown; from Boyle Heights to the Crenshaw district; in Fontana, Oxnard and San Juan Capistrano.

Eavesdrop around town and you’ll hear “Shaq” and “Kobe” pop up in Armenian, Tagalog and Farsi conversations. Everywhere you turn, Laker fans unite with one common goal. Repeat! Otra Vez!

There is a message for Southern California in the way that the Lakers went from a disjointed, contentious pack of championship prima donnas to winning 19 straight and going undefeated in the playoffs. The change came when Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant finally put aside personal differences for the good of the team.

How did that happen? “I didn’t pull them into any room ... and give them a discourse on friendship by Emerson,” coach Phil Jackson told Times staff writer Tim Brown before the Lakers swept the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference finals. “But I have been generally talking about it, in terms of community and how you get to be better teammates by sharing the ball, by helping each other out.”

It worked for Kobe and Shaq. Now their team is bringing our city together. For the next few days let’s put aside political squabbling and pick up the regionwide chant: “Sweep!”