The facade finally cracked, 10 days and 4 games after the quest began. In his 11th interview session of the NBA finals, Kobe Bryant smiled and chuckled and made a joke. His chin and jaw were back in their normal alignment.

“I’m just really happy to be in this moment right now,” Bryant said on Saturday, his mood clearly enhanced by the proximity of a fourth championship.

For nearly two weeks, Bryant had been locked in a perpetual scowl — his demeanour dark and his answers clipped. He did strange things with his chin.

But the Los Angeles Lakers now hold a 3-1 lead in the finals, and the grimace has faded as quickly as the Orlando Magic. The Lakers can clinch the championship on Sunday night at Amway Arena.

Title talk was off limits for the last two weeks. Bryant gently embraced it on Saturday. “I think this one is special,” he said, “because you rarely have the opportunity to get back up the mountain twice in a career.”

Different era

The Lakers won three championships from 2000 to 2002, but that was a different time and a different team. Shaquille O’Neal dominated, in play and personality. Bryant gritted his teeth and played understudy. It has been seven years since they celebrated anything. The Lakers missed the play-offs once, were eliminated in the first round twice and so frustrated Bryant that he demanded a trade.

This is Bryant’s time and Bryant’s team. He has been a forceful scorer in this series (33 points per game) and a skilled playmaker (8 assists). Only Michael Jordan in 1991 and Jerry West in 1970 have averaged 30 points and 8 assists in the first four games of the finals.

... contd.