During the post-game press conference after winning the 2009-10 NBA Championship recently, with an 83-79 game 7 victory over the Boston Celtics, Kobe Bryant said this championship, which is his fifth, is the sweetest of all. One reason is that the championship came at the expense of the Los Angeles Lakers’ arch rival, the Boston Celtics, and because it was the toughest and the hardest one to win.

Not only were the Los Angeles winners but the NBA was a winner as well. Game 7 between the Lakers and the Celtics was the highest rated NBA championship game since the 1996 finals featuring Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls beating Carl Malone and the Utah Jazz for the second straight season.

The ratings for this showdown were so high because everyone who is familiar with basketball, and even those who aren’t, are aware the heated rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics. Not to mention that this entire post-season has been centered around Kobe’s revenge.

Kobe was able to silence the critics last season by beating the Orlando Magic in five games to win the NBA title. Although he accomplished his goal on winning his first title without Shaquille O’Neal, there was still something missing. The 2010 title run turned out to be just what the doctors ordered. Kobe wanted to do more than just win; he wanted payback. He wanted to pay back the Boston Celtic for the way they embarrassed the Lakers with a 39 point victory in Game 6 to win the 2008 NBA title, and he also wanted to pay back the Phoenix Suns for a couple of first-round eliminations in the playoffs back in 2006 and 2007. Throughout the playoffs a number of commentators referred to the Lakers’ championship run as the summer of Kobe’s revenge.

The Lakers eliminated the Suns in six games to win the Western Conference title for the third consecutive year, and winning on the Suns’ home court made the victory sweeter. The icing on the cake was the hard-fought Game 7 win over the Celtics. He was hoping to close out the Celtics in five games and win it all in Boston, but he’ll take the Game 7 win and the theatrics that came along with it. With Kobe being able to exorcise the Celtic demons from 2008 he can enjoy this latest title with peace of mind.

The purple and gold confetti has been swept up off the Staple Center court and the city of Los Angeles recently hosted the Lakers’ championship parade. So, now with the championship in hand and the formal celebration behind them, the Laker players and the Laker top brass had very little time to enjoy their title run and the organization’s 16th championship before they had to get back to the business of basketball.

The 2010 NBA draft starts today and the free agency period begins on July 1. Most sports analysts have already picked the Lakers as the odds-on favorite to win the NBA title next year, which will give head coach Phil Jackson a total of four different “Three-peat” championship runs. He led Jordan and the Bulls to two three-peat runs in the ’90s and he kicked off the millennium with a three-peat title run with the Lakers winning the championship in 2000, 2001, 2002 with a team that was anchored by Shaq.

Jackson became the winningest coach in the NBA by winning ring number 10 last year, putting him one ahead of Celtics legendary coach Red Arbach. The most recent win over the Celtics just puts him further ahead of the rest of the NBA coaching class with 11 championship rings. Jackson has already said he would be back to attempt a fourth three-peat if his health permits, and with the many analysts already giving the Lakers the nod to win it all again the jeweler can start engraving Jackson’s 12th NBA championship ring.

An estimated crowd of 300,000 Laker fans lined the streets of Los Angeles to congratulate the Lakers on their latest championship, and the theme of the day “let’s do it again next year,” as the fans were calling for a three-peat.

However, before the Lakers bust out the champagne for the 2011 title they have much basketball business to tend too. Team owner Jerry Buss has already asked Jackson to take a significant pay cut if he wants to be back at the helm next season. Jackson already said he is willing to take a cut, but the amount has yet to be determined. Not only is Jackson the most successful coach in league history, but is also the highest paid. Jackson was in the last year of a three year contract that paid him $12 million a year. Buss is asking that Jackson take a $7 million pay cut. Even at $5 million a year Jackson will still be one of the highest paid coaches in the league, but a $7 million pay cut is a tall order.

With some heavy lobbying from Kobe, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Ron Artest and Derek Fisher, and a chance to win a fourth three-peat title it shouldn’t take long for Jackson to make his mind up. He missed the Laker parade and celebration earlier in the week because of a doctor’s appointment, so maybe he’s getting ready for another long season.

In addition to the coaching situation, the Laker brass also have to deal with a personnel situation as well. The core of the Laker team is under contract for the next three years which includes Kobe, Gasol, Odom, Andrew Bynum and Artest, but one key role player and a few key bench players will be restricted or unrestricted free agents come July 1.

The unrestricted free agents include Fisher, D.J. Mbenga, Shannon Brown, and Josh Powell. The restricted free agents include the seldom-used Adam Morrison and Jordan Farmar. Kobe and the rest of the core along with the fans and many late night talk show hosts have talked about the importance of keeping the Fish that saved LA. Even a number of sports analysts have talked about the importance of Fisher’s veteran leadership. Everyone talks about Kobe’s five rings, but what they don’t talk about is that he had Fisher with him during all five championship runs. The relationship between Fisher and Kobe plays a very key role in the team’s success. Brown has a player option on his contract, but smart money says he’s going to stay right where he is and attempt to win a third NBA championship with Kobe and Company. Powell didn’t see much action in the post season, so his days as a Laker may be numbered. During his time with the Lakers he was a part of two championship runs. He was used more during their 2009 title run. Mbenga didn’t see much action this post-season either, but the true seven-footer has proven to be valuable to the Lakers during the absence of Bynum and Gasol when they were sidelined with injuries. Mbenga’s talent level doesn’t come close to that of two other seven-footers, but his size and length allows him to pose a threat in the paint, be an effective shot blocker and he can knock down the open jump shot from 12 feet out.

As a restricted free agent the player has the option to opt out of his contract and hope for a better offer from another team or not opt out and keep the current contract. Rumor has it that Farmar will opt out and hope for a better offer. The young back-up point guard has two NBA championships already during his three-year reign in the league, now Farmar feels it’s time for him to go after the money and possibly more playing time elsewhere. Farmar’s road to the NBA is what dreams are made of. The Los Angeles native went to Taft High in Woodland Hills where he was a standout player, then he attended UCLA where he played in one NCAA finals and reached the Final Four twice. From UCLA he was drafted by the Lakerss late in the first round. Every year Farmar has been in the league he has had the opportunity to play in the NBA finals, where he won twice.

Morrison will probably not opt out of his final year and take what is offered on his current contract. Morrison came to the Lakers last season from the Charlotte Bobcats along with Brown during the mid-season trade. Morrison would much rather work hard and earn a spot in the rotation with the Lakers than try his luck some place else. Morrison will be competing with Luke Walton for playing time, a battle he might get the best of next season.

The lower teams in the league are focused on the 2010 NBA draft taking place today. With the first pick in the draft, the Washington Wizards already said they are taking the 6’4” point guard John Wall from Kentucky. The other top lotto picks that are expected to go in the top five include guard Evan Turner from Ohio State; Derrick Favors from Georgia Tech; DeMarcus Cousins from Kentucky, and Wesley Johnson from Iowa State. Some of the stronger teams that don’t have high draft picks have already spent money to move up in the draft, but Portland already discovered that moving up in the draft will be very costly. Portland made a deal with the Warriors to get a higher draft selection, but it cost them $2 million to do so.

Still, the biggest question during the summer blockbuster of free agency is where will LeBron James end up. In addition to James, other key free agents include Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, Amare Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kenyon Martin. With that many free agents in the mix teams might do more harm than good when it comes to strengthen their teams to compete with the Lakers.

The Lakers don’t have much wiggle room to bring in new players and they are already paying a hefty luxury tax, but Buss doesn’t mind if the rings keep coming. The Lakers might make one or two changes over the summer, but all the major players will be back on the roster, including Fisher and Jackson, Farmar, too, once he realizes what a good thing he has.

As Kobe mentioned at the beginning of the 2009-2010 season, “anything less than a championship is considered a failure.” He will repeat it again at the start of the 2010-11 season. In fact, if this current Laker core manages to stay healthy, they could be hoisting up NBA championship trophies until 2013.