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"The eyes," said Kobe Bryant, whispering, as if in a trance. "It's all in the eyes...they just seem to scream...'I'm a complete loser'."
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SACRAMENTO, CA – Faced with elimination and the collapse of their two-year reign as NBA bigwigs, the Lakers dug deep on Sunday morning by remembering what it means to be winners.
"Zen teaches us that to achieve success, you must first know failure," said head coach Phil Jackson. "So that is why we had that big' ol pic of C-Webb stuck up there (on the wall)."
After an intense workout on Sunday morning ten hours before the gametime, Jackson led his team in a twenty-minute meditation session in which players relaxed, breathed in and out and focused clearly on the Chris Webber photo on the wall.
"The eyes," said Kobe Bryant, whispering, as if in a trance. "It's all in the eyes...they just seem to scream...'I'm a complete loser'."
Shaquille O'Neal, perplexed by the apparent aloofness of Webber's demeanor, quickly grew bored, mumbled something about Burger King, and fell fast asleep.
After fifteen minutes, Jackson instructed the players to then visualize Webber collapsing when his team needed him the most, putting forth a subpar offensive effort in game 7, and questioning his decision to remain Sacramento.
"Man, it was like magic, all the stuff he was saying," said Derek Fisher. "Or maybe, it's just because it's true."
The room burst into laughter at that point, the session ended, and the team felt poised, confident and ready for their task at hand.
When reached for comment about the session after the series ended, Webber responded gracefully: "I feel honored that they would use my picture for inspiration, very honored. I think that's really, really nice."
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