For the first time in his distinguished 13-year pro tenure, the Black Mamba won a National Basketball Association (NBA) title without the old Superman on his side by beating the new Superman on the opposite end.

Kobe Bean Bryant, who was the sidekick of Shaquille O’Neal (the old S) during the Los Angeles Lakers’ three-year championship reign from 2000 to 2002, finally earned a fourth ring – his first without Shaq – following the Lakers’ 4-1 defeat of Dwight Howard (the new S) and the Orlando Magic last Monday.

Bryant posted averages of 32.4 points and 7.4 assists in the five-game NBA Finals against the Magic to gain the Bill Russell Trophy as the championship series’ Most Valuable Player.

The only player to equal or surpass Bryant’s averages in each of those two categories in one NBA Finals series was Jerry West.

Fondly monikered “Mr. Clutch” and the silhouette in the NBA logo, West averaged 37.9 points and 7.4 assists per game for the Lakers during their 4-3 loss to the Boston Celtics in the 1969 title duel.

That year, West also romped away with the Finals MVP honors – the first time such an award was given out – to become the lonely player from a losing team ever to accomplish the feat.

During the early part of this year’s NBA playoffs, West ironically had opined that Cleveland phenom LeBron James, the 2009 NBA regular-season MVP, was a better player than Bryant.

While Bryant – the 2008 NBA regular-season MVP – reached the championship round for the second straight year, James did not advance past the Eastern Conference finals as the Magic whipped his Cavaliers, 4-2.

Bryant’s 32.4-point clip in the 2009 Finals is a career high, shattering his old mark of 26.8 ppg during the Lakers’ 4-0 sweep of the New Jersey Nets in 2002. A year ago, the electrifying 6-6 guard normed a club-best 25.7 markers when El-Ay was beaten by the Celtics in the Finals, 4-2.

Overall, the 30-year-old Bryant tallied 695 points and averaged 30.2 ppg in 23 playoff games this year.

The son of former NBA journeyman Joe “Jelly Bean” Bryant now has 4,381 career playoff points, ranking him sixth on the all-time NBA ladder behind Michael Jordan (5,987), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (5,762), Shaquille O’Neal (5,121), Karl Malone (4,761) and Jerry West (4,457).

In securing the 15th NBA crown in franchise history, the Lakers knocked off the Utah Jazz, 4-1; Houston Rockets, 4-3; Denver Nuggets, 4-2; and Orlando Magic, 4-1, to finish with a 16-7 card.