Bryant called on Jerry Buss. For the owner to participate was a rarity -- he once missed a championship parade to play in a poker tournament and usually sits tucked away in the crowd, far from the spotlight -- but Buss did this time. As if there was something different about the mood for him too.Chicago Bulls vs Oklahoma City Thunder Live
Buss accepted his ring, Artest came back out to take the microphone again and lead the 3... 2... 1 countdown to the unveiling of the banner on the wall. The black covering slowly dropped,Oklahoma City Thunder the latest Staples redecorating came into view, the place went nuts again, and the ceremony was over. Chicago Bulls That it was followed by a 112-110 victory over the Rockets turned the night from memorable to perfect for L.A.
"We got a chance to be more personal with what was going on," Brown said. "Show each other that not only do we go out there and play basketball together, but we actually have become a family that gets it done. Everybody knows a lot about everybody, about their personal life and things like that. Chicago Bulls As much time that we spend together, everybody's not going to have a great day every day. Somebody's going to come in mad, something's happened the night before, something's going on or whatever-whatever. For us to stay collected and win a championship is a great thing."Chicago Bulls vs Oklahoma City Thunder Live
Every team talks about wanting to be like a family, but only the Lakers can bask in being able to stay collected. That's how it was last season, and so that's how they would be on the first night of this one, as the victory celebration continued with rings and a banner and the moment passed from person to person.Oklahoma City Thunder
