Move over, “The King.” Here comes “The Black Mamba” and “Superman.”

It will be Kobe Bryant and the hard-driving Los Angeles Lakers against Dwight Howard and the tough-as-nail Orlando Magic in this year’s National Basketball Association Finals.

The 63rd NBA Finals will commence on Friday, June 5 (Manila time), in Los Angeles.

Going into the 2009 best-of-seven championship series, the Lakers own a 12-6 record in the playoffs, having whipped the Utah Jazz, 4-1, Houston Rockets, 4-3, and Denver Nuggets, 4-2, to claim the Western Conference title and reach the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year.

The Magic, on the other hand, possess a 12-7 card in the postseason as they knocked off the Philadelphia 76ers, 4-2, the 2008 NBA champion Boston Celtics, 4-3, and the 2008-09 regular-season pacesetter Cleveland Cavaliers, 4-2, to romp away with the Eastern Conference crown.

By virtue of its 65-17 regular record, LA will enjoy home-court advantage against Orlando. The Magic wound up with a 59-23 ledger, trailing only Cleveland (66-16), the Lakers and Boston (62-20) in the regular standings.

Unlike the three previous rounds, the 2009 NBA Finals will have a 2-3-2 (home-road-home) format. The first two games of the series will be held at LA’s Staples Center. Games Three, Four and Five (if necessary) will be played at Orlando’s Amway Arena. The series will return to LA if Games Six and Seven are needed.

During the regular wars, the Magic defeated the Lakers, 2-0, in their two-game head-to-head duel. Orlando got 27 points from All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson and bucked a 41-point explosion from Bryant to win, 106-103, last December 20. The Florida unit repeated with a 109-103 victory in LA last January 16 as Nelson had 28 points and Howard collected 25 markers and 20 rebounds to offset a triple-double performance (28 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists) from Bryant.

The 6-foot Nelson has not suited up since suffering a shoulder injury in early February. He has been replaced in the Magic’s starting lineup by 6-2 whippet-quick Rafer Alston, a trade acquisition from Houston last February 18 (NBA trade deadline day).

Scuttlebutt has it that Nelson may make a comeback during the NBA Finals.

The Lakers are in their NBA record-extending 30th Finals and look to secure the 15th championship in franchise history. Only the Boston Celtics, at 17, have more NBA titles.

Orlando, on the other hand, is making only its second appearance in a title series, the first having come in 1995.

Here’s our take on the NBA Finals (players’ playoff stats in parentheses):

Starting Fives: Orlando – 6-10 SF Hedo Turkoglu (15.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 5.1 apg), 6-10 PF Rashard Lewis (19.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg), 6-11 C Dwight Howard (21.7 ppg, 15.4 rpg, 2.2 bpg, .622 FG pct.), 6-2 PG Rafer Alston (12.7 ppg, 4.4 apg, 1.6 spg) and 6-5 SG Courtney Lee (8.8 ppg). Los Angeles – 6-8 SF Trevor Ariza (11.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.5 spg, .558 FG pct.), 7-0 PF Pau Gasol (18.2 ppg, 11.3 ppg, 2.0 bpg, .574 FG pct.), 7-0 C Andrew Bynum (6.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.0 bpg), 6-1 PG Derek Fisher (7.1 ppg, 2.4 apg, .356 FG pct.) and 6-6 SG Kobe Bryant (29.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.9 apg, 1.7 spg, .466 FG pct.).

Slow-footed and foul-plagued Bynum definitely will have his hands full against the athletic and muscle-bound Howard and Gasol is expected to take over and guard Howard at some point in every game. Long-armed Ariza, an athletic defensive specialist who can also hit the threes, has been a sparkplug for the Lakers but he’ll need some help defending against either of the two Magic forwards Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis, whose size, quickness and outstanding three-point shooting can cause match-up problems for the Lakers. Bryant occasionally may be assigned to guard Turkish Turkoglu, a “point forward” in the mold of the retired Scottie Pippen.

At 32, the lean-framed Alston can hoist his threes and outrun 34-year-old Fisher. However, the hefty Fisher is a better defender, has veteran savvy, enjoys championship experience and gets the job done on both ends of the floor.

Nobody can stop the strong-willed Kobe, and certainly rookie Lee, Filipino Japeth Aguilar’s teammate at Western Kentucky University, can’t.

Advantage – Orlando owns an edge at center and small forward. The Lakers have the edge at shooting guard, power forward and point guard.

Reserves: Orlando – 6-6 SF Mickael Pietrus (10.5 ppg), 6-4 SG J.J. Redick 6.2 ppg, 1.9 apg), 6-0 PG Tyronn Lee (1 game, 5.0 ppg, , 6-3 PG Anthony Johnson (4.3 ppg, 2.1 apg), 7-0 C Marcin Gortat (3.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg) and 6-11 F Tony Battie (2.2 ppg) and 6-10 C Adonal Foyle (2 games, 0.0 ppg) and 6-6 F Jeremy Richardson (1 game, 0.0 ppg). Los Angeles – 6-10 SF Lamar Odom (12.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg1.4 bpg), 6-4 SG Shannon Brown (5.7 ppg), 6-2 PG Jordan Farmer (5.1 ppg, 2.1 apg, .397 FG pct.), 6-8 SF Luke Walton (3.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.5 apg, .369 FG pct.), 6-7 SG Sasha Vujacic (3.8 ppg, .282 FG pct.), 6-9 PF Josh Powell (12 games, 2.0 ppg) and 7-0 C DJ Mbenga (4 games, 0.5 ppg, 0.5 rpg).

During the East finals, Cleveland star LeBron James had a hard time shadowing Pietrus, a free-agent acquisition from Golden State last summer, with his three-point bombs and strong defense.

The French-born Pietrus is the Magic’s wild card. The Lakers’ X-factor is back-troubled Odom, who is the first man off the LA bench and plays the “point forward” position. The Lakers usually win if Odom gets 18 (points) and 10 (rebounds).

Walton, Vujacic and Farmar (along with starter Fisher) have struggled with their shots but the Lakers own a deeper bench corps than the Magic in that they play 10 men regularly.

Advantage – The Lakers have a slight edge here.

Coaches: Orlando – Stan Van Gundy. Los Angeles – Phil Jackson.

Jackson is seeking a 10th hampionship ring (in his 12th Finals trip) to move past the legendary Arnold “Red” Auerbach (nine titles) on the all-time list. Van Gundy is coaching a Finals team for the first time ever.

Howard verbally assaulted Van Gundy during the course of the Eastern semifinal series against Boston, criticizing him for not letting a dominant player like him get more touches in the paint.

With the Lakers, you don’t mess around with the venerable Jackson, even if you are Kobe.

Advantage – Jackson.

For the Larry O’Brien championship trophy, make mine the Lakers over the Magic in seven games.