Joining forces with Lakers coach to generate a victory

We knew it all along, Lamar Odom a rope-a-dope expert, just waiting for the right time to deliver the knockout.

We, and of course I’m talking about Phil and I, have always believed in Lamar when so many others have given up on him.

There’s almost a kinship here, Phil and I together on this from day one, while so many others long ago threw up their hands in disappointment.

As a result, we win -- we win, as if it was going to end any other way on our home court.

Take that Plaschke. Heisler. If you read our website, Turner too. How many times has Bresnahan given us his take -- only to predict a Lakers’ defeat? The guy is writing like he should be working for a Denver newspaper.

Maybe there were moments when things didn’t go well, a spanking delivered and like a parent disciplining a child, hurting the parent more than the child, but something that just had to be done.

But why is it every time our guys lose, it’s like it’s the end of the world? Now that’s a good question. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

It’s like Kobe was saying later after the game, “it’s funny” to see how people go back and forth with the Lakers depending on whether they win or lose.

I sure hope Plaschke, Heisler and Turner were listening. And you, too, Bresnahan.

We all begin today in a good mood around here because our guys won. How would you like to live in Denver where they’ve never won a championship and they’ve got to wake up one day closer to winter?

We’ve got Shannon Brown, take that, Denver.

Hey Birdman, fly away.

At times like this, though, you wonder where the haters are hiding here, and what they have to say for themselves now that Phil and I have been proven correct -- Lamar, our hero, as we knew he would be.

It really doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we just rock here in L.A. We have Denzel Washington. Denver doesn’t even have Jay Cutler, or a chance when we get everything Lamar has to offer.

We all love the Lakers, of course, everyone doing their part, the fans in Staples Center so much louder than those in Denver.

We just do what we can here to help. Phil wants to complain about the officials after Game 4 to send an important message, but none of the reporters tee up a question so he can go off.

So we do, Phil and I together, going back and forth so the whistles in Game 5 will ultimately favor our guys. It’s just what we do before and after most games, years and years of practice just for moments like this.

Phil places such a value on mind games, and we understand this, so we know the tiff following Game 4 is only to plant seeds.

“I’m a gardener,” Phil said when I brought it up again before Game 5. “Constantly,” he added, making him, I guess, the constant gardener.

George Karl doesn’t get the same kind of help from the guys working in Denver, obviously not enjoying the same kind of relationship as Phil and I. I guess that’s why he was so frustrated after the game.

“I’m not going to get fined,” said Karl, unhappy with the officiating, but obviously resigned to the fact no one from Denver was going to challenge him to get in trouble.

The guy who covers the Nuggets for the Denver newspaper actually asked this, “What are some of the optimistic things you’ve got heading into this next game?”

Who rolls his eyes first, Phil or me, if we start going down that yellow brick road? We’re in this thing together to compete and have some fun.

“Phil is so much better at it than I am,” said Karl, and while he made no mention of the help Phil received, I’m OK without the mention.

The important thing is we won, Phil and I in complete agreement as usual on what it took to get it done.

HARD TO find the proper word to use here. Maybe “appalling,” at the very least “disrespectful,” or just plain “stupid.”

Someone named Tyrese Gibson sang the national anthem, and with all the talent here in Hollywood, you have to ask why.

Instead of singing the song the way it was written, and “our flag was still there,” Gibson sang, “our Lakers were still there.”

The Staples Center fans cheered, which goes to show you how sports influences some people to lose perspective, the national anthem nothing to be messed with, given its meaning to so many.

But tell that to the Lakers, instead of an apology forthcoming, Jeanie Buss twittering a moment later to say, “Anthem was awesome -- star Tyrese sang and subbed word Lakers for Rockets and place went crazy.”

Jeanie followed that later with this, “Some people upset with changing words in anthem. No disrespect intended.”

BEFORE THE game, I told Phil, “I need your help since I will never personally know -- you make $11 million a year, does a $25,000 fine even get your attention?”

Phil declined to answer, but said, “If it was a $10 fine it would still bother me. Parking tickets still bother me.”

When I asked him whether he gets parking tickets he said, “No, my kids do, though. I refuse to pay for them anymore.”

We really do think alike on so many things.

CHARGERS COACH Norv Turner, Ron Artest and Kings owner Philip Anschutz were all sitting in the same row. Add up all their athletic accomplishments and I presume they were saving the empty chair for Donald Sterling.

Hugh Hefner was sitting in the same row as three blonde women, each one taking a turn to kiss him.

I can only imagine the number of athletic accomplishments he’s managed to compile over the years.

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t.j.simers@latimes.com