Letters: Lakers’ flags are flying

I am still in a state of stunned ecstasy after watching what happened in Game 7.

How did we pull that off?

We shot about 30% from the field and won. Kobe couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat, but we won.

We were down by 13 in the third quarter, and won. We were 0-4 against Boston in Game 7s, and won. Ron Artest was the go-to guy, and we won. Sasha Vujacic was called upon to make two of the biggest free throws in Lakers history, and we won.

Somewhere, the Jell-O is jiggling, the butter’s getting hard, and Chick Hearn is enjoying the view. The Lakers have finally beaten the Celtics in a seven-game series. The leprechaun is dead!

Craig P. Fagan

San Diego

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A plea for Phil, to be sung to the tune of Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.”

“DON’T LEAVE L.A.”

Rollin’ down Harbor Freeway

Boss’ daughter sittin’ by your side

Meditating on the contest to come

Gonna win tonight

Staples Center, light up some sage

Inspire the guys before they take the stage

Hear the roars and feel the rush that comes

with every Laker game

Think of Kobe, Derek Fisher

Think of Jeanie — you would miss her!

Ron the Tester, Pau and Bynum,

To say nothing of the fans …

You know we all want you to stay

Don’t leave L.A.!

(We love you!)

Don’t leave L.A.!

Ellen Brown

Reseda

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An ugly win beats a pretty loss.

PJ Gendell

Beverly Hills

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Dear Ron Artest,

As a father of a teenage son, I spent the first part of the season preaching how you were the Mike Tyson of basketball. I explained you were the Dennis Rodman on-court jester. I spent so much time explaining how you would self-destruct; that is how you are wired.

Whoops...

I am now the first to say you were the Game 7 savior, and Phil’s plan all along for playoff defense. You remained calm, letting Rasheed Wallace entertain us with childish tantrums.

Our thanks to you and especially your psychiatrist, who may be the single-most important player of all.

Larry Frazin

Los Angeles

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I’m not one to compare players in different eras or put together all-time best teams, but I do know that, if I’m the coach, Kobe Bryant makes the varsity and is in my rotation.

Andy Schwich

Santa Monica

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In honor of the late, great John Wooden.

The Los Angeles Lakers Pyramid of Success: Piece of Mind, which is the direct result in knowing the best player on the planet, Kobe Bryant, is playing the best he is capable of becoming.

Larry Yells

Hermosa Beach

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The Lakers put together a great and aggressive effort to finally beat the Celtics in a Game 7 and what was Kobe’s reaction after the game? “Now I have one more than Shaq.”

That is why no matter how tall his stature is on the court, he will always be a very small man.

Lorraine and Bruce Kahn

Claremont

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A month ago, Mr. Transparency, Bill Plaschke, wrote that playing the “flimsy Suns” was no way to prepare for the “rugged” Celtics. Well Bill, how’d that work out for you?

Rodney K. Boswell

Thousand Oaks

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Now I know why Jerry West used to drive the freeways as an act of diversion. That series — especially Game 7 — was difficult to watch.

Bruce Manson

Redlands

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It’s games like this that make me realize how much I miss Chick Hearn.

Evan Puziss

Mar Vista

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Famous Last Words:

“Hurrah boys, we’ve got them! We’ll finish them up and then go back to our station.”

General George Custer at Little Big Horn

“We ain’t coming back to L.A.”

Paul Pierce at Staples Center after Game 2

Russell Hosaka

Torrance

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I wonder if Trevor Ariza still thinks he made the right decision.

Dave Eng

Thousand Oaks

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As a Lakers fan I’d like to say how impressed I was by Doc Rivers’ news conference following the tough defeat in Game 7. He exemplified what is referred to as class after what had to be one of the most difficult defeats of his career.

Kudos to him and the Celtics for their efforts in providing basketball fans great sporting entertainment.

Anthony Berardinelli

North Hollywood

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It didn’t take Doc Rivers five minutes to barely give faint praise to the Lakers and make excuses for his team, especially for not having Perkins in Game 7. No mention of Bynum being MIA in 2008 and most of this series and certainly Game 7 as well. Classless to the end.

Allan Kandel

Los Angeles

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Once again the Lakers’ championship is tainted by a few hundred goons who think it’s OK in today’s society to damage and take other people’s property.

I wonder if these idiots wake up in the morning, get a smile on their face, and think to themselves with a hint of satisfaction, “Y’know before the end of the day I’ll get to flip over a police cruiser, set a bonfire and loot a liquor store …”

Ron Yukelson

San Luis Obispo

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Adam Morrison: 2 rings.

Jerry West: 1 ring.

The NBA. Where amazing happens.

Paul Feinsinger

Agoura Hills

Sanctions

This is really just and proper? The NCAA looking back several years, determining that actions by a player’s family were violations and then severely punishing the current group is like, well, the police reviewing old traffic tapes, discovering that I speeded in 2005 and suspending my sister’s driver’s license.

Rick Wallace

Malibu

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To me there is one major issue: Should the university know? USC and Pete Carroll should have known.

Ed Lau

Rowland Heights

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I understand USC’s right to appeal sanctions that it believes are too severe. Still, I have to wonder if Mike Garrett’s assertion that “there was nothing but a lot of envy” in the report and Lane Kiffin’s repeated claims that lost scholarships won’t hurt recruiting because of the power of USC is the best way to seek leniency from the NCAA. It seems that showing a little humility and contrition might have been smarter. Wasn’t this kind of prideful arrogance part of what got USC in trouble in the first place?

Joe Scaccia

Pasadena

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Unlike my fellow Bruins fans, I was not praying for the probation fairy to strike USC down. I was hoping that our team could elevate its play to the level of the Trojans. At first, I thought that we would never know if our team could have caught up with them without sanctions, but I realize the converse is true. If they can’t catch USC now, we’ll know they never could have, and perhaps never will.

Hans Ghaffari

Santa Monica

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Miami, Alabama, USC...

Maybe the NCAA has lost institutional control.

Michael Beatrice

Venice

Cap, not Cup

Helene Elliott makes some very valid comparisons between the Blackhawks and the Kings (“Kings are following Chicago’s blueprint,” June 11) in her column.

However, no one should compare Hawks owner Rocky Wirtz with the owners of the Kings. More important, I don’t believe that Mr. Wirtz institutes his own salary cap for his hockey club that is below the NHL cap, unlike AEG, which owns the Kings.

The Kings will never win the Stanley Cup under AEG ownership, which is only interested in developing the area surrounding Staples Center.

Howard P. Cohen

North Hills

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Why the uproar over Vladimir Shpunt? The Kings have had a mystic follower for years who shies away from media attention and prefers not to attend games while others defend his curious behavior. Unfortunately for fans, he is also the team owner.

Isabella Matzel

Los Angeles

It’s a kick

Tuned in to the World Cup, trying to achieve a degree of interest in soccer, but the constant blaring of horns in the background, which collectively sound like a swarm of bees, made me switch channels, since to turn off the commentary would have made it completely boring. You would expect that ABC Sports would be able to filter out that disruptive and utterly annoying sound!

Rivky Sabina

Los Angeles

Sports fans with insomnia, throw away your remedies. Soccer is back.

Frank Thomas Murphy

Sunland

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