Again, Kobe Bryant had his hands full. When he finally shed himself of Orlando Magic defenders, he fittingly cupped two trophies. In one arm, he held the NBA’s championship trophy. In another, he clenched the finals MVP award.

It was the merging of two worlds for Bryant, a fusion of team unity and his obsession with earning his fourth championship ring. The Lakers found their destination, their 15th NBA championship, after a meandering route. When the final buzzer sounded, they stood with a 99-86 series-clinching victory in Game 5 against the Magic, whose season-long resilience was lost amid Bryant’s efficiency.

With 30 points on Sunday, Bryant secured his first finals Most Valuable Player award. The champagne-drenched evening ended a seven-year championship drought in which speed bumps had turned into mountains for the Lakers.

In the stretch between titles, the Lakers had become burdened by soap-opera story lines: from the trade of Shaquille O’Neal to the retirement and rehiring of Coach Phil Jackson to the disappointing showing in last season’s finals against the Boston Celtics.

Jackson now has 10 titles to surpass the legendary Celtics patriarch Red Auerbach. The titles were flanked by disappointment, and Jackson’s scalp now shows more salt and less pepper, the accumulation of layered trials before another triumph. Jackson’s hair was covered after the win Sunday by a gold cap, with the Roman numeral X on it. He called the moment “surreal.”

“I wasn’t at the stage of my life where I could get out and do the things that I had done 10 years ago or 15 years ago to push a team,” Jackson said. “And they pushed themselves and I really feel strongly that this is about them.”

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