Oh, the Humility! What a Team in Trouble Learned About Itself

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Well, almost the same, give or take a little heart flutter after the Kings had shot holes in their over-inflated balloon, which spun crazily all over the sky.

That which didn’t kill the Lakers made them stronger, and it came close too. Under the gun for a week, they actually turned out to be who they’d said they were.

All it took to turn it around was some Robert Horry lightning in Game 4; a taut win in Game 6, even if it will always be tainted by their 27 free throws in the fourth quarter; and their Game 7 last square dance in Arco, which stand cumulatively as the proudest moments of their last three postseason engagements.

Happily, or for a change, they were gracious in victory. Rick Fox, their media-obliging prophet of doom, who had guaranteed this series before being obliged to acknowledge that the Kings “definitely brought an earthquake” in Games 3 and 4, was effusive in his praise.

“They humbled us in a lot of ways,” Fox said. “They fought admirably. They really did. I can sit and talk all day about how impressed we were with them.”

That was fortunate for the Lakers, who needed humbling in a lot of ways.

The Kings were a welcome development, all around. It had been a while since there was as much suspense at the elite level. The Lakers went 30-9 the last two playoffs, the San Antonio Spurs 15-2 before them. The Chicago Bulls owned the ‘90s.

The Lakers won their titles with ridiculous ease. In 2000, they had two nervous days after losing Games 3 and 4 in Sacramento but they were still playing Game 5 at home, where the Kings collapsed on schedule and lost by 27.

A few weeks later, the Lakers led the West finals, 3-1, let Portland tie it, then saw the Trail Blazers go up 15 points in the fourth quarter of Game 7.

In other words, the Lakers had a bad half hour before they rallied and Portland collapsed.

Then the Lakers went 15-1 last spring and decided, along with the rest of the world, that they were omnipotent and wouldn’t need to worry about the regular season any longer.

Then, along came the Kings.

The Lakers were 7-1 going into this series, even if it seemed as if they were there for the taking, if only there were someone good enough to take them.

Now, under pressure, the Lakers’ lack of balance was exposed. Their roster, which had actually been upgraded, was compared unfavorably with last season’s. People started praising old Horace Grant, who had been waived.

And whatever happened to Isaiah Rider?

Actually little had changed. The Lakers are a Shaquille O’Neal-Kobe Bryant joint venture with helpers. Orlando Coach Doc Rivers says it’s the first time the game’s most dominating big man has played with one of its best, or its best, perimeter players.

Here they are in living color, most of the time.

Shaq was only faintly Shaq this time around, except in the weight department, where he was more Shaq than he had ever been, and then Kobe ate that poison cheeseburger.

(By the way, can we get off that burger? As fun as it is to speculate on the machinations of Laker foes, several physicians have suggested the one-week duration of Bryant’s symptoms indicate it might well have been a virus, rather than food poisoning, which is typically short-lived.)

With the Big Two doing imitations of themselves, the Little 10 were lost. The Laker role players are good at what they do--especially when it comes to understanding their limitations--but none is adept at getting his own shot so, in the absence of the usual leadership, they were in trouble.

Fortunately for the Lakers, O’Neal, properly alarmed, even at 345 pounds (his estimate) or 360 or 375, was almost as good as he had ever been, which is to say, monstrous.

After averaging 22 points against the Spurs and 27 in the first five games in this series, he finished with a thunderous 76 and 30 rebounds in Games 6-7.

King Coach Rick Adelman complained that the officiating had changed but it was Shaq who’d changed.

He’d stopped backing his man in to avoid charges. At the other end, he’d stopped complaining and started getting out of the way early in games, waving Kings to the hoop like a school crossing guard escorting kids across the street.

If the Kings were now getting all the fouls and he was shooting all the free throws, what else was new? He’s Shaq. How else is Vlade Divac going to deal with him except to foul him?

Bryant started looking more like Bryant and even under all the duress the Kings could bring, form asserted itself. These Lakers had won two championships but never did they prove what champions they were the way they did last week.

The New Jersey Nets are next, heavy underdogs but in high spirits, feeling themselves a team of fate. “Destiny vs. dynasty,” Jason Kidd is calling it.

The indomitable Kidd all but willed New Jersey through the East, even if the operative word is “East.” Kidd was a great player in the West, too, but got as far as the second round only once.

The Nets have decent size--7-0 Todd MacCulloch, 7-0 Jason Collins, 6-10 Keith Van Horn, 6-9 Aaron Williams, 6-9 Kenyon Martin--but in the West, you have to deal with teams that are bigger than that.

And then there’s Mt. St. O’Neal.

In his only game against the Nets this season, Shaq had 40 points and 12 rebounds. The Nets will try not to upset him but the Kings didn’t just wake him up, it’s more as if they interrupted his nap by trying to steal his Escalade SUV with the Superman logo on the grill and set the alarm off.

He’s awake, he’s rolling, good luck.

The early line: Two Net wins and they’ll hold a parade. Three and there’ll be parades in New Jersey and Manhattan. If they win the series, it’ll be like Lindbergh returning from Paris.

If not, well, we’ll always have Sacramento.