Dear Hater

Dear Hater,

It's been awhile since we last chatted. What's it been 5,6 years since the last Laker title run. I kid I kid, I know it's been 7 long years since the title was in Hollywood. But over those 7 years, you've taken time out of your busy schedule to make sure you could get your kick in while the Honest Man was down. It's all good, I understand, it's human nature, I mean you got me good in a lot of ways. Let's take a stroll down memory lane:

• 2004 - Lakers lose to Pistons in 5, prompting you to call my house after midnight to rub it in, nevermind my wife whose trying to get sleep for work was bothered but hey it was important to make sure I knew my "Fakers" as you called it took an L. And you did not stop there, you stopped by my office the very next day to see if I was going to make it through the day or needed a shoulder to cry on.
• 2005 - My memory is blurry because my boys hit a low point but I got a variety of communication via email, phone calls, and office visits from you about how Kobe was to blame for all of this, it's his fault, Shaq is better, Kobe's not that good, the Lakers are going nowhere. But I understood at the time. It's easy to talk when the chips are down.
  
• 2006 - Aww yes the first round flameout against Phoenix. Oh yea, you were there for Game 7, ready and waiting to throw gas on the fire, especially since LA blew a 3-1 series lead and got blown out in Game 7. Because it was Kobe who you hated and the extra goodness in seeing Raja clothesline him in the series and Raja's mom stand outside the Lakers room, waiting for Kobe to give him a hug, it felt extra good.
  
• 2007 - The boys regress in the regular season so not too many comments from your peanut gallery hater since LA wasn't really going anywhere. Another Phoenix matchup, another first round exit. Because of that, you were simmering but that led to.....
  
• 2008 - My favorite hater moment. The Lakers start off hot in the regular season, surprising everyone by winning the West and getting Gasol along the way. When they did reach the Finals, the Lakers got "destroyed" by Boston in 6 games, including a embarrassing 30 plus defeat in the close out game, prompting everything from you pointing out about the lack of Lakers' team play and how they could learn about teamwork, tuffness (your spelling not mine) from watching Boston play. Ooops almost forgot about the random texts and emails when the Rockets won a regular season game (I repeat a regular season game) against my boys. I was befuddled by the latter my hater friend, particularly since it was the regular season and it did not mean anything, but hey I understand. It had been awhile since the Kobe is great talk and I know that's your cue to say No he's not that good, I hate Kobe, etc....

Which brings me to 2009. Yep, a lot of hate in that heart that was evident from season opening. Lebron's better than Kobe. Fine. The Lakers are soft. Better. You're lucky Boston's missing key players. Impressive. Magic and Nuggets in 6 over LA. Hilarious. I'm telling you hater, you had me in stitches this season. From breakdowns on the Lakers toughness to why they could not win, I thought you would be great in comedy.

Here's the thing hater. Despite all of the above and your constant desire to see the Lakers fail, they didn't. They just won their 15th NBA title. Kobe just proved he could win a title without Shaq. He also validated the franchise as the team of this decade and that he belongs in the top 10 greatest players of all time.

I know, I know, it's not fair, you have to live with this for at least 300 days but look on the bright side. You can always rewrite history on your playstation

Sincerely yours,

The Honest Man, Laker fan since '84

Today's Lesson

Aw just to show you the Honest Man is a good sport, how about you come over to my house for some humble pie and a nice cup of shut the hell up. It's damn good :-)