EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - The Los Angeles Lakers’ illustrious NBA history includes all sorts of gaudy records and statistics, plus a who’s-who list of pro basketball luminaries that includes redoubtable performers named Jerry, Kareem, Magic and Shaq.

But there is one lingering memory the Lakers have not been able to wipe from their collective psyches for almost a year, a score they would like to settle.
It is with themselves.
A year ago, they lost in the NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics. So it wasn’t surprising there were no celebratory 2009 Western Conference champion T-shirts or hats this time, or at least none any Laker dare wear in public Friday after they crushed the Denver Nuggets 119-92 in Game 6. That clinched the franchise’s 30th Finals appearance, a record.
Kobe Bryant, a most inhospitable playoff guest, torched his hosts for 35 points.
With Game 1 of the Finals on Thursday against the Orlando Magic, redemption - plus denial defense and solid rebounding - are major Lakers themes.
“I’m just so thankful for the opportunity to be back,” Bryant said. ”It’s about, ’Let’s finish this thing off.’ We could be playing aliens from space, I don’t care. I can’t stress to you how badly I want this thing right now.”
While Bryant and his big sidekick, Shaquille O’Neal, partnered for three titles from 2000 to 2002, the peerless guard can’t escape the “Kobe-hasn’t-won-one-without-Shaq” legion of critics.
The Lakers have won 14 championships, none since 2002, despite Bryant being considered the league’s premier player. The Lakers have had a lot of young, unproven prime-time performers and a discernable lack of crunch-time veteran role players.
Additionally, complacency bred during a relatively easy regular season has triggered inconsistency and uneven performances, one reason why the Lakers struggled in the playoffs.
”Last year it was, “Oh, we’re excited to be in the Finals,’ ” Lakers frontcourt star Pau Gasol said Sunday. ”This year it’s, “OK, we’re in the Finals - now let’s go to work.’ It’s a big difference when it comes to a mind-set.”
Teammate Luke Walton said: ”It’s definitely more business this year, having pretty much the same team. Just getting here doesn’t really mean anything.”
The Celtics defeated a Lakers team last year that had serious deficiencies in the grit and determination departments. A vexed Bryant had a (mostly) ordinary series.
Los Angeles appeared ready to even the Boston series at 2-2 but had its collective soul ripped out after blowing a 24-point lead in a pivotal Game 4. The Lakers rebounded to win Game 5 but were destroyed in Boston 131-92 in Game 6.
“Last year, we played at a really high level through the playoffs, right up until the Finals,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. ”But we weren’t quite prepared for the physical nature of (Boston), and how to make the adjustments.”
At this year’s All-Star game, Lakers guard Derek Fisher said, “The Finals showed our guys last season that maybe we didn’t understand that there’s a hunger and a passion you must carry to be the champion.
”That’s another reason why Boston was better than us in the Finals last year,” Fisher said. “You had an entire team full of guys who never had won a championship before, other than Sam Cassell, coaches included. Their hunger, desire and passion was greater than ours.”
What remains particularly irksome, Fisher said, is that beyond the Finals loss, ”It’s perceived that they just kind of shoved us around, kind of like kicked our butts. That doesn’t sit well.”
This time, the Lakers have home-court advantage, intriguing and favorable matchup possibilities and what Gasol said is a fortified psychological makeup:
“This year, we’re on a mission.”