It’s proving you’re the best in your conference, no matter how tall, fast or strong the opposition, all in an effort to get to this point.

It’s double digit wins in the first game of the series… fending for attention against the LBJ sweepstakes. It’s fighting the ghosts of 2008 past.

It’s record setting nights on O and D, 8 3s, double digit blocks and an unforeseeable victory in Tinseltown. It’s Disappointed superstars, foul laden games by butterfly stricken refs.

It’s moving on to the next one.

It’s proving all the doubters wrong time and time again. It’s “adjustments” no matter which way you slice it… Go harder, stronger and do what you do, but it’s ensuring your main guy gets off.

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Derek Fisher and the Los Angeles Lakers controlled game 3 of the NBA Finals and as high as they seemed after stealing a necessary game on the road to force the series back to the West Coast, there was Andrew Bynum’s ever persistent knee injury.

Bynum tweaked his right knee twice in the third quarter, once on a hustle play and again when he blocked a Kendrick Perkins attempt at the goal.

“[I felt a twinge] again on that block on Perkins,” Bynum said. “I think it was just quick movements and sudden things I feel it and then the pain normally goes away and it did.”

Fortunately for the defending world champs, Lamar Odom was finally given a chance by the referees to be productive and did his thizzle. After banking in his first shot from the top of the key, LO got into the flow, scoring 12 points and pulled down five rebounds.

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Kobe Bryant signed a three year extension today that will carry him through the 2013-2014 season with the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.

Bryant has been with the Lakers since 1996 when he entered the league after being drafted 13th straight from high school. The subject of trade rumors in 2003 and the summer of 2004 when the Lakeshow was dismantled, he returned and led a new crop of players to the Finals two years in a row.

As the summer of 2010 approaches and big names like Lebron James and Dwyane Wade contemplate moves elsewhere, Lakers’ fans can rest assured their marquee player will stay put in the Golden State.

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It took awhile, but the actor in Ron Artest has finally emerged and he will debut in a reality series entitled “They Call Me Crazy,” says the Hollywood Reporter.

The show, which will be developed and produced by E1 Entertainment and Tijuana Entertainment, will provide a peak into the Los Angeles power forward’s day to day. In it, fans and viewers will learn intimate details surrounding his music label Tru Warier and of course, his well chronicled career as an NBA player.

“I’m really excited to have the opportunity to invite people into my world to see the real me, and show them there are many more sides to the Ron Artest they see on the basketball court,” Artest said in a statement.

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The last time Kobe Bryant visited Memphis he had a chance to overtake Jerry West as the Los Angeles Lakers all time leading scorer. Being the prolific scorer he is, he did and while he rightfully won his place in history, his team lost the game.

Last night, after sitting out for 18 games with a sore ankle and broken index finger (Chris Webber says it’s broken in two places), he needed 34 points to move ahead of Reggie Miller on the NBAs all time scoring list and into 13th place.

Instead, he settled for 32 and another game winning field goal.

“Every time it just feels like the first time,” Bryant said after the game. “It truly does. It’s a great feeling. It’s always brand new.”

It was the fifth time this year Kobe trumped an opposing squad in the final minutes of a game. Bryant scored the last nine points, none more important than the final bucket with put them ahead for good 99-98 with 4.3 seconds to go.

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