Stars Light Opposite Paths

Experience Meets Youth in Finals

LOS ANGELES, June 3 -- Kobe Bryant had just left the podium following an interview in advance of the NBA Finals in which he carried the countenance of someone awaiting a root canal, mood ranging from grumpy to angry. Then, Dwight Howard walked to the same area, flashing a grin and displaying the expression of a child awaiting a lollipop, and pointed over to the high chair at the end of the stage.

"Ooh," Howard said, before asking if he could sit in it. He was informed that it was special chair for Los Angeles Lakers Coach Phil Jackson, and declined an offer to have a seat there out of respect for the Hall of Fame coach in search of an NBA-record 10th championship ring.

The contrast of the Lakers and Orlando Magic heading into Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday at Staples Center can best be found in their respective stars, a classic case of experience vs. exuberance. Bryant, the 30-year-old, 13-year veteran with three championship rings, carried the steely disposition that came from the experience of reaching this stage for the sixth time in his career, the 30th time in the storied history of the franchise.

After failing in his past two trips, Bryant was focused on finishing the task. "I think everybody here was pretty calm," Bryant said, describing the mood of the team this year as opposed to last season, when the Lakers lost to Boston in six games. "We've been through this hoopla."

Howard, the 23-year-old center who has emerged as a superstar in his fifth season, was giddy, enthusiastic and eager to make his first appearance, the second in the history of his franchise. "This is the chance of a lifetime to be playing for a championship," Howard said, "and this is the furthest that a lot of us have ever gotten in our career. Our motivation is greatness. We want to be a great team."

Two franchises, linked because they were the first two stops of Shaquille O'Neal's career, are both looking to leave behind his imposing shadow. The Lakers are seeking their 15th championship but haven't won since O'Neal was Finals MVP in 2002. The Magic is back for the first time since getting swept by Houston in 1995, after enduring more than a decade of misery when O'Neal left Orlando for Los Angeles in 1996.

Howard was so overcome with emotion on Saturday that he wept on the sideline, covering his tears behind a towel, when it became apparent that the Magic was going to complete its upset of the Cleveland Cavaliers and win the Eastern Conference for the first time in 14 years. The Magic has only two players who have reached the NBA Finals -- reserve point guards Anthony Johnson and Tyronn Lue, who won his two championships as a member of the Lakers in 2001 and 2002.

Before practice Wednesday, Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy, making his first Finals appearance, told his team not to approach this series with a happy-to-be-here attitude, using the example of Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino, who made the Super Bowl in his second season with the Miami Dolphins but never returned.

"This could be overwhelming for some people, but [not] when Stan Van Gundy is your coach," said Johnson, who reached the Finals twice as a member of the New Jersey Nets. "Stan is doing a good job of keeping us focused, keeping us aware of what we expect to be successful in this series. We're four wins away. We're playing against a great Lakers team that was here last year. They want, not necessarily revenge, but to rectify some things that went wrong and try to pull it out. But we're here, we've earned our trip and we want to win the first Orlando Magic championship."

Bryant and his teammates seemed to carry an anger or briskness -- as if their embarrassing 39-point loss in Game 6 to the Celtics happened last night, not last year.

"I think what we learned the most is that you can't just go out there and see what happens," Jackson said. "You've got to be really aggressive and go get it. Don't expect anything, just play hard and hustle and give your best. We weren't like, 'We've got to win this first game today.' That's why we were just trailing pretty much the whole series."

Bryant bristled when asked if he needed to win a championship without O'Neal to cement his legacy. "Not at all. It means nothing. To me it's about winning another one, just because I want to win another one," Bryant said. "People [who] think Shaq would have won a championship without me on that team, they're crazy, you know what I'm saying? We needed Robert Horry, Derek Fisher, Ron Harper and everybody else, as well. I'm not worried about that at all."

The Lakers are an overwhelming favorite, despite losing both regular season games to Orlando, and even got an endorsement from President Obama. But Howard said that it was nothing new for a team that has already knocked off reigning Finals MVP Paul Pierce and the defending champion Celtics and league MVP LeBron James and the Cavaliers, who finished with the best regular season record this season.

"We don't want to be a team that everybody picks to win, because I think being on a young team, once everybody starts saying, 'Okay, you're this and you're that,' sometimes you tend to forget what got you there," Howard said. "So for us, everything we see, everybody picking against us, it motivates us. It drives us to do something greater."

When Howard completed his group interview session, he entered the hallway, where a reporter from the Disney Channel wanted to interview him. "Oh, Disney, that's my favorite channel," Howard said, again cracking a big smile.