On top of the world

The Lakers won their 15th NBA championship by defeating the Magic, 99-86, in Game 5 last night at Amway Arena. In doing so, Jackson set an NBA record by winning his 10th title as a coach, surpassing Red Auerbach, who was known for smoking victory cigars and whose record of nine titles stood for 43 years.

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant earned Finals Most Valuable Player honors, in the form of the Bill Russell Trophy, after averaging 32.4 points in the series.

"I'll smoke a cigar tonight in memory of Red," Jackson said. "He was a great guy."

Jackson won six titles with Michael Jordan and the Bulls and now four with the Lakers. In celebration of his accomplishment, he wore a yellow hat with a purple Roman numeral X on it with each title year listed around it.

Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy believes Jackson is the greatest NBA coach of all time.

"Hey, some of the stuff is almost incomprehensible, OK?" Van Gundy said. "I think if I'm right, the guy has won 51 playoff series now. Check your record book and see how many coaches have ever won 50 playoff games. It's fewer than 20, and the guy has won 51 playoff series. It's incomprehensible."

Said Celtics president Danny Ainge in a phone interview: "I'd like to congratulate Phil. Phil has been a great coach in the league for a long time. There is not much else to say. Ten championships are an amazing accomplishment."

Bryant, who scored a game-high 30 points, won his fourth title and his first Finals MVP award. Russell presented the award to Bryant, who said the opinion that he'd never win a title without former teammate Shaquille O'Neal was "silly."

"It was annoying," Bryant said. "It was like water torture, just keep dropping a drop of water on your temple. I was like, it's a challenge I'm going to have to accept because there's no way I'm going to argue it. You can say it until you're blue in the face and rationalize it until you're blue in the face, but it's not going anywhere until you do something about it.

"I think we as a team answered the call because they understood the challenge that I had, and we all embraced it."

Only the Celtics, with 17, have more NBA titles than Los Angeles, which won its fourth title of the decade.

"We have two more to go to meet the Boston Celtics," said Joe Buss, son of Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss.

The Magic are now 0-2 in Finals appearances and 1-8 in Finals games. Houston swept O'Neal and the Magic in 1995.

The Magic shot 41.5 percent from the field and missed 19 of 27 3-pointers.

Orlando forward Rashard Lewis earned a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds while no other Magic player scored more than 12.

"I don't know if you can console anybody," Van Gundy said. "It's very, very difficult. I didn't have to say a lot tonight. I feel the same way they did, and I just thanked them for what they did this year. They were a great group to work with.

"They busted their [butts] all year, and attitude-wise and stuff they were great. I thanked them for that. That was about it."

The Magic owned a 28-26 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Lakers, however, got hot and used a 16-0 run to take a 52-40 lead after a lay-in by ex-University of Rhode Island star Lamar Odom with 3:07 left in the second.

Lewis's 3-pointer sliced the Lakers' lead to single digits (54-46) with 1:48 remaining before halftime. Los Angeles finished the half with a 56-46 lead after outscoring Orlando, 30-18, in the quarter.

Orlando's Rafer Alston's 3-pointer trimmed the Lakers' lead to just 5, 58-53, with 7:45 left in the third. But 3-pointers by Bryant and Odom pushed Los Angeles back ahead by double digits at 64-53 with 6:52 left in the third.

Jordan Farmar's jumper off the glass with 2.8 seconds left in the third gave Los Angeles a 15-point lead, 76-61.

A 3-pointer by Orlando's Jameer Nelson trimmed Los Angeles's lead to 80-67 with 9:46 remaining in the game. But Bryant's 3-pointer pushed the Lakers ahead 16 points (83-67) with 8:19 left and sent Magic fans rushing toward the exits in disappointment.

Once the buzzer sounded, the ecstatic Lakers players hugged. Bryant hugged Derek Fisher, his longtime teammate, and then he hugged Jackson.

Once the Lakers got to pop champagne back in the locker room, Bryant made a point to soak his coach.

"He just took his glasses off, put his head back, and soaked it all in because this is a special time," Bryant said. "And for us to be the team that got him that historic 10th championship is special for us."

Said Jackson: "Having won 10 championships is a remarkable accomplishment, there's not doubt about it."