That wasn’t too bad

It’s amazing how pathetic this season was. First, the Lakers were never able to hold on to big leads, barely squeaking into the playoffs with 65 wins. Second, Phil Jackson suffered a serious head injury, as evidenced by his inability to outcoach Stan Van Gundy. Next, Kobe showed how selfish he was in the Finals by handing out only about eight assists a game. And Derek Fisher showed that he was washed up, hanging on for one year too many.

Yeah, the Lakers underachieved this season . . . at least that’s what every sportscaster east of Staples Center has confirmed. With nothing left to bash, I expected the media to criticize how the parade would be run. Here’s hoping that next year is even worse.

Craig P. Fagan

San Diego

The Kobe-can’t-win-without-Shaq argument is so silly.

The truth of the matter is, Kobe couldn’t have won without Mbenga either. That’s what team sports are all about.

Arthur Nakane

Pasadena

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Somewhere in Lakers Heaven, Chick Hearn is slamming the refrigerator door on Red Auerbach’s fingers.

Cary Ginell

Thousand Oaks

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Shouldn’t the obvious contributors for the parade have been Jack Nicholson, Denzel Washington, Leonardo DiCaprio and the others seen at courtside for every game? If they can afford those seats, a few hundred thousand apiece ought to seem like chicken feed and demonstrate their true love for the team.

Gloria Mathys

Rancho Palos Verdes

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While the Lakers celebrated at center court, there was just a quick camera shot of the man in the background. The man whom everyone blamed for keeping the wrong superstar. The man who refused to trade youth for an aging star. The man who picked up a defensive forward that no one had heard of. The man who is always in the background unless things go wrong.

Congratulations, Mitch Kupchak. You are the man.

John Thompson

Chino

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It was Jerry Buss who chose Kobe over Shaq, and was nearly crucified for it. Shaq is one and done with Miami, only being driven to work hard by his anger of being second choice in L.A. Shaq would have never brought that resolve into the Lakers’ camp again with his “show me the money” attitude. Buss knew it, and chose Kobe. Now the Lakers have won another title, and the future looks bright with Kobe’s drive for winning never being satiated.

All together now, “Thank you, Jerry.”

Curtis Mortenson

Paso Robles

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How intriguing that the L.A. Times’ most self-absorbed sports columnist, T.J. Simers, who writes about his in-laws and his daughter’s love life, says it’s “all about them” when referring to Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant in his June 15 column. And then in his June 17 column, Simers drips with self-righteousness as he talks about Angelenos’ misplaced priorities and affection for their sports teams. This from someone who has devoted his entire career to covering sports. Look in the mirror, T.J.

Chris Boyd

Redondo Beach

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Hey Simers, you’re an inspiration. On the same day our town is celebrating the end of a seven-year drought of Lakers championships, you cough up a heaping loogie of a column and spit it right in our faces. Nice work.

Unfortunately, an opportunity like that only comes up every few years. So allow me to make a suggestion for where you can go for a more regular dose of the contempt you seem to crave: Try hanging out at the maternity ward of some hospital and tell proud new parents that the beautiful baby they think they love is just going to constantly soil its diapers, grow up and then die. It should do the trick.

Richard Schmidt

La Canada