President Barack Obama was asked straight out on Thursday: Kobe or Michael?

The old saying goes that success has many fathers while failure is an orphan. Look at the success of the Los Angeles Lakers. Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, Mitch Kupchak, Jeanie Buss, even Jeanie Buss’ dog, the one she dresses in Lakers gear, all share credit for the Lakers’ NBA championship. Now, look at the failure of the Washington Nationals.

Downtown celebrations after the Los Angeles Lakers’ championship win turned ugly as darkness fell, with some throwing rocks and bottles that left five police officers with minor injuries.

Kobe Bryant jumped and punched the air. He did it again, seven years of pent-up frustration freed in a fit of joy as the Lakers defeated the Magic for the NBA title.

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy tried to sleep. He closed his eyes, but his cluttered basketball brain, a cyclone of Xs and Os, wouldn’t relax. Game 4 of the NBA Finals, the one Orlando fumbled away with atrocious free-throw shooting, a hideous third quarter and questionable late-game strategy, kept Van Gundy awake. With only a few hours to reflect on what went wrong on Thursday night in Los Angeles’ 98-91 overtime win against the Magic, Van Gundy, who elected not to have his team foul with a three-point lead in the final seconds of regulation, was asked if a night’s rest had brought him any clarity.

ORLANDO, Fla.—Rashard Lewis is an All-Star and his team is in the NBA finals. He doesn’t mind deferring to the team’s franchise player even though Lewis deserves that title based on salary. His skills allow Orlando to play an unorthodox style on both ends of the floor, and his skills have helped carry the Magic to their greatest success.

Hedo Turkoglu was throwing in shots from everywhere, the Orlando Magic were outrebounding the Los Angeles Lakers, and even Jack Nicholson seemed to be getting worried. It was the third quarter of Game 2 in the NBA finals, time for Phil Jackson to gather his charges and work some magic of his own. They huddled in front of the Laker bench, eager for some words of wisdom from the Zen Master himself. While Stan Van Gundy was yelling and waving his arms in an apoplectic fit at the other end of the court, Jackson delivered in his usual calm way.

As purple and gold confetti tumbled from above and Jack, Denzel and the usually laid-back L.A. crowd roared, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers headed off on their final road trip this season.

LOS ANGELES—Lucky to have a second chance, the Los Angeles Lakers grabbed it. Kobe Bryant and Co. held on and are in control of the NBA Finals—just barely. Orlando rookie Courtney Lee missed a potential winning layup as regulation ended, giving Los Angeles another shot. Pau Gasol scored seven points in overtime as the Lakers, so dominant in the series opener, survived with a 101-96 win over the Magic in Game 2 last night.

Hubie Brown first tried positioning two recorders and a knife on the table in front of him. When that didn’t work, he grabbed a reporter’s notebook and sketched his idea on paper. Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy has his own equipment and undoubtedly spent yesterday doing what Brown was doing: Trying to draw up ways to make Dwight Howard more effective.

LOS ANGELES—Magic Johnson had his magnetic smile. Michael Jordan soared to the basket with his tongue hanging out. Kobe Bryant is baring his teeth and scowling in these NBA finals. His young daughters don’t think much of Daddy’s attitude around the house, calling him Grumpy, as in the Seven Dwarfs. His media sessions aren’t exactly packing in the crowds, either.

LOS ANGELES—Sporting a body-hugging tank top, Dwight Howard bounded onto the press conference podium flashing his megawatt smile and muscles on muscles. Unsure where to sit, he looked at the high chair to his right, a perch he was told was reserved for Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson. Not there. So Howard slid into a seat occupied moments earlier by Lakers star Kobe Bryant, whose interview session was cold and charmless. Orlando’s super center was just the opposite. He beamed like a little kid at the circus and then announced his arrival at the NBA Finals.

His smile has vanished, replaced by something closer to a scowl. His days of joking around are seemingly on hold. Kobe Bryant has gotten very serious. He has that look. It’s the cold-blooded, get-out-of-my-way-or-pay glare he’ll shoot at a teammate who messes up or an opponent who dares to try and stop him. Bryant is poised to strike. The NBA Finals are in his sights.

Pau Gasol wants the ball inside against the Denver Nuggets. Only he’s not about to pull a Keyshawn Johnson and order his Los Angeles Lakers teammates to “just give me the damn ball.“ That’s not the Spaniard’s way. Gasol is all about finesse on and off the court, so he’ll leave the angry big man approach alone. “I just want to go with what’s effective and what works out there and what’s been working for us and what’s a strength of ours,“ he said after yesterday’s practice. “I think we should explore that a little more.“

DENVER - The Denver Nuggets don’t just need work on their inbounds play. If they’re to bounce back from a second last-minute loss to the Lakers they’ll also have to play to the rim tonight and not the crowd as they did in Game 3. The Nuggets didn’t spend yesterday lamenting Trevor Ariza’s deja vu steal in the final minute to help the Lakers win 103-97 and snare a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.