The last guest column

Jack Saltzberg never played or coached organized basketball at any level. The closest he came to the NBA Finals was when he once spoke with Kurt Rambis, Mychal Thompson and Kareem. Saltzberg watched all Lakers playoff and Finals games but did not see one regular-season game. No newspaper was interested in his views and neither the Los Angeles Times nor the Orlando Sentinel wanted him as a guest columnist.

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The Lakers are NBA champions because they won four games before the Magic did. Every game the Lakers won, they had more points than the Magic. In the game they lost, the Lakers had fewer points. This win brings the Lakers their 15th NBA title, and their first against a team with a singular name.

The most interesting statistic of the playoffs was that any team leading with one second left to play won 99.9% of the games. Knowing that, it was surprising that the Magic did not do more to get the lead with one second left.

With his 10th championship, Phil Jackson has now surpassed Red Auerbach for more NBA titles than any other coach in history. That means if Jackson wins one more title, he’ll have 11.

If the Lakers get to the NBA Finals next year, there is a 98.5% chance that the L.A. Times will have more ex-player guest columnists with absolutely riveting information and brilliant wisdom to impart.

Jack Saltzberg

Sherman Oaks