NBA – Title celebrations underway for MVP Kobe, Spain teammate Pau

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ORLANDO (NBA) - Team USA's Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol of Spain battled each other in the gold medal game of last year's Olympics.

On Sunday, the two joined forces and led the Los Angeles Lakers past Orlando in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to clinch a 15th league title for their famous club.

Bryant poured in 30 points and swatted four shots and Gasol had 15 rebounds to go with his 14 points as the Lakers won 99-86.

Beaten by the Boston Celtics in last year's NBA Finals, the Lakers finally got rid of the bad taste from that setback.

Bryant averaged more than 32 points per game in this year's Finals on his way to a fourth NBA title and first without former Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal.

The most popular player among the Chinese fans at last year's Olympics after leading the USA to gold, Bryant was voted NBA Finals MVP.

"He's learned how to become a leader in a way in which people want to follow him," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

"That's really important for him to have learned that because he knew that he had to give to get back in return, and so he's become a giver rather than just a guy that's a demanding leader.

“That's been great for him and great to watch."

Jackson, who coached Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls to six NBA crowns, now has four championships with LA.

Sunday's triumph allowed him to break a tie with Boston's legendary coach, the late Red Auerbach, for the most NBA titles.

Gasol, the MVP of the 2006 FIBA World Championship, became the first Spaniard to win the title.

The Magic, who upset Boston and Cleveland to reach the Finals, lost two of their games against Los Angeles in overtime.

"It hurts," said Dwight Howard, who won the Olympic gold medal with Bryant in Beijing.

"It hurts a lot. But you can learn a lot from losing. Sometimes you've got to lose to win."

FIBA