Officiating Not Talk of Teams

After several days of debate regarding the officiating, Shaquille O’Neal was called for three fouls in 51 minutes. Vlade Divac fouled out in 27 minutes and Scot Pollard had four in 20 minutes.

O’Neal declined comment on the officiating afterward, and it was not a topic in the postgame locker rooms. Danny Crawford, Bernie Fryer and Eddie Rush called 25 fouls on the Lakers, 30 on the Kings.

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While dozens of shady media personnel filed into the Laker locker room before Game 7, General Manager Mitch Kupchak stood outside, looking sheepish.

Kupchak had misplaced his credential, and the security guard would not allow him to pass.

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Five times the Lakers had the drawstrings on their Nike shorts break during the series, lately with nearly disastrous implications.

Robert Horry played several possessions in Game 5, a one-point loss for the Lakers, with his shorts nearly falling off him. First he held the shorts up with one hand, then had them taped.

In Game 7, Kobe Bryant’s drawstring snapped in the second quarter, forcing him out of the game for nearly one minute. Also, in the third quarter, Horry’s broke again, and he changed them during free throws by Bryant.

The problem with the Nike shorts, rather than having one drawstring, the company made them with two, each sewn into the back of the waist. One tug and one or both sides can break free, and the waist is not sufficiently elastic to keep them up.

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Laker owner Jerry Buss sat in the first row on the baseline next to the Laker bench. Next to him, a man in a purple and black jersey rang a cowbell, non-stop.

In an Arco Arena hallway after Sunday’s victory, Buss was ready to rank it as one of the best in franchise history.

“I’ve been at this 23 years now, I’ve had some good ones, some bad ones, mostly good ones,” he said. “They have been in the final 12 of the 23 years. That tells you how many of these I’ve watched. Just for an even game, not knowing who’s going to win one way or the other, you’d have to say this ranks up there.”

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Laker assistant Frank Hamblen, 55, is being mentioned as a coaching candidate in Denver.

Nugget General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe has not yet asked the Lakers for permission to speak to Hamblen, who served on Phil Jackson’s staffs in Chicago from 1996-98, and in Los Angeles since 1999.

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Tim Brown and Bill Plaschke