Kobe Bryant has led the Los Angeles Lakers to the promised land for the first time without the big deisel. This time around, Kobe had the assistance of Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, and some great input from a strong bench. The role players on this Lakers team finally assumed their roles and learned how to take advantage of the situations they are given.

The Lakers trailed the New Orleans Hornets by two games for the #1 spot in the Western Conference until New Orleans came to town. The Lakers, led by Kobe Bryant dominated the Hornets for most of the game, it was exciting the last few minutes, and then LA pulled away again with the win. The next game came on Sunday at Staples Center against the San Antonio Spurs. Tim Duncan brought his crew into town in an attempt at taking over the #1 spot in the conference, fortunatley, Manu Ginobli was injured and Pau Gasol was ready to play. The Lakers had control of the game from start to finish and took over the #1 seed in the conference.

With one game left in the regular season, the Sacramento Kings were the final hope for the New Orleans Hornets to have any chance of finishing first in the wild wild west. In a similar fashion to how the last few weeks of the regular season have progressed, the Sacramento Kings were easily dismantled by Kobe Bryant and his recking crew. 8-0 to start the game and a lead that continued to grow well into the 4th quarter. Kobe sat down with 50 seconds remaining in the third period and the white guys went to work. Chris Mihm, Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic, Luke Walton played most of the 4th quarter and held off the Kings to claim the Los Angeles Lakers’ first conference title since the 99-00 season.

With all the drama surrounding this team well into training camp, with nothing but questions of whether Kobe Bryant will be traded or not, the Lakers have turned this crazy season into the best that they’ve had. The next several days at LABallTalk will be about several topics: Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant, and the overall development of the team.

Based on current standings, the Los Angeles Lakers will be facing the Denver Nuggets. Keep in mind that the Lakers have beaten the Nuggets all three times they have played this year.