FanHouse Nba Playoffs

Kobe Bryant is on top of the world, enjoying one of his best years ever as an NBA player after his impressive haul of hardware -- the NBA championship, Finals MVP, co-MVP of this year's All-Star Game. And don't forget about the Olympic gold medal from last summer.

So how does he top it all off? By starting a new charity in China. In this FanHouse exclusive we catch up with Kobe at an awards ceremony as he was being honored by the Asia Society Southern California. We also hear from T-Mac and Tim Leiweke, the CEO of AEG, who was also honored on this night.

Check out the video after the jump.

Michael Jordan still hasn't created the buzz that the Charlotte Bobcats need to be relevant again.

Allen Iverson could.

And Larry Brown knows it.

The Bobcats could spend the next three years treading water in Charlotte, mired in mediocrity or worse, while support for the franchise continues to erode and Jordan shirks more front office duties.

Or they can take the bold step, light the fuse and sign Iverson as a free agent next week, enjoying the fireworks that surely will follow when he and Brown renew their love/hate relationship.

Now that they have landed All-Star Vince Carter and all but said goodbye to Hedo Turkoglu, the Orlando Magic will try to rebuild their supporting cast by targeting a pair of vastly different free-agent frontcourt players.

After losing to the Lakers and their big front line in the NBA Finals, the Magic are expected to make offers next week in free agency to both veteran Rasheed Wallace of Detroit and young Brandon Bass of Dallas, according to two NBA sources.

Wallace, 34, is expected to be pursued by both the Magic and the Boston Celtics, who are competing with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Wallace has played 14 seasons in the NBA, earning a reputation as an often enigmatic, but unselfish player with championship experience.

NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson took time with FanHouse this week to address some postseason issues regarding officiating and punishment.

Question: How did this year's postseason flagrant foul numbers compare with other years?

Jackson: In terms of flagrant fouls called this year in the playoffs, there were 17, which was one less than last year. That was more flagrant fouls than were called in 2006-07, but less than 2005-06. So, it was basically consistent with the last four or five years.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Close to 90,000 hardcore Lakers fans packed the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to celebrate the Lakers' NBA championship, among them USC's Pete Carroll, the Lakers girls, politicians, cops and Los Angeles' best and most unpredictable fans.

In this exclusive FanHouse video, NBA Finals MVP Kobe Bryant spots me in the crowd and gives me a shout-out. We also meet the cast of characters that make up the mozaic of Lakers fans, from the adult man who walks around with a Kobe action figure, to the fan who says he'll kill an Orlando fan after the parade (jokingly, we hope), to the fans who called out of work sick to be at the parade. This is one video you wont want to miss.

Check out the video after the jump.

If you're looking to catch live coverage of the Lakers' championship parade but can't get away from work to attend or catch it on television, FanHouse has got you covered. The Lakers are streaming live video from the festivities, and the official party gets started at 11AM PT.

You can catch it all right here, after the jump.

This video is the latest offering from the folks at Nike, and features Puppet Kobe celebrating his fourth NBA championship somewhat discretely so as not to upset his friend and roommate, Puppet LeBron. Somehow though, I don't think the real LeBron James is all that broken up about it.

Check out the photo of James (snapped by TMZ, naturally) after the jump, which shows him rocking an LBJ - MVP t-shirt. LeBron probably won't be criticized at all for boasting his individual achievement as he's out on the town, but man -- can you imagine the backlash if Kobe were to ever do something like this?

It would be great to start an argument here about the NBA Team of the Decade, bringing out all that Tim Duncan/Gregg Popovich ammunition (then we could even use one of those Tony/Eva bathing suit pictures), about the wonderful consistency and championship model that was built and sustained in San Antonio.

The Spurs have, after all, won more games than anyone else since 2000. They also have been the picture of class.

But it is too much of a stretch now.

Red Auerbach's record of nine NBA championships as a head coach -- a mark the Celtics legend has shared with Lakers boss Phil Jackson since 2002 -- finally fell Sunday night. I'm sure when Auerbach stepped aside to let Bill Russell take his title many thought Red's record would never be caught. That it took three threepeats and then some to get Jackson over the hump tells you how much fate plays a role here.

Will we ever see another coach surpass Jackson's new record (assuming Jackson doesn't add on in the coming years)? It seems really unlikely, given modern circumstances.

Bloggers knee-jerking on the phone + roundtable style = RoundCast.

The Los Angeles Lakers are the World Champions, finishing off the Orlando Magic in five games on Sunday night to put a glorious end to the 2008-09 season.

FanHouse's Matt Moore and old friend Craig Kwasniewski joined me to break down Game 5, as well as look back at how the NBA Finals unfolded. Will Stan Van Gundy ultimately be held responsible, or were the Lakers simply the more talented team this time around?

We also look ahead to next season, as both of these teams face questions about whether some of their key players will return after hitting the free agent market. The season is over but the celebration continues, after the jump.