Posted Jun 14 2009 11:58PM
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Kobe Bryant has the NBA title he needed most: the one without Shaq.
Bryant's seven-year chase for an NBA championship is over. He's got his fourth. One year after failing in the finals to Boston, Bryant and the L.A. Lakers have redemption.
They earned their 15th title as Bryant contributed 30 points, six rebounds, five assists and four blocks in the Lakers' clinching 99-86 win that eliminated Orlando in five games.
It took longer than Bryant expected, but he finally stepped out of former teammate Shaquille O'Neal's enormous shadow -- at last. His fourth championship secured a strong case can be made for Bryant being the league's best player since Michael Jordan hung up his sneakers in 2003.
After the final horn, Bryant leaped into the air and was quickly engulfed by his teammates, who bounced around the floor of Amway Arena. Bryant then gave a long, heartfelt hug and shared a few words with coach Phil Jackson before sweeping up his daughters, both wearing gold Lakers dresses, into his arms.
| NBA Finals Most Valuable Players | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By The Associated Press | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 | Lin Drives and Hits New York's Jeremy Lin takes the contact while driving to the lane and still gets the shot to fall. |
 | LeBron And-one Mario Chalmers gets in the paint and dishes to a cutting LeBron James who gets the contact and the bucket. |
 | Hoop and Harm New York's Jared Jeffries gets the layup and the foul in the second quarter. |
 | Nets vs. Pistons: First half Rodney Stuckey has 15 points in the first half to lead the Pistons to a 52-33 advantage over the Nets. |
 | Camby's Putback Slam Marcus Camby gets the putback slam off the Raymond Felton miss. |
 | Eyenga Rises Up and Throws Down Christian Eyenga gets the rim and skies for the flush. |
 | Hawks vs. Magic: First half Atlanta's Josh Smith has eight points and nine boards as the Hawks lead the Magic 41-39 at halftime. |
 | Lin Drives In The Knicks' Jeremy Lin grabs the loose ball and gets the easy layup in the first quarter. |
 | Kobe's Nice Spin Kobe Bryant makes a sweet spin around his defender and puts the reverse layup in. |
 | Rejected at the Rim Jason Maxiell blocks the Kris Humphries' dunk attempt at the rim. |
| CLE 90 | ORL 103 | Series Recap |
| CLE at ORL | TNT | 8:30 pm ET | Complete Coverage |
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