Adidas executives must be laughing their heads off, and it is at the expense of competitor Nike. Every one on the business side of basketball wanted to see the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers meet for the NBA title. NBA Commissioner David Stern, Nike Headquarters in Oregon, even the bookmakers in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, were all hoping for a Kobe Bryant – Lebron James showdown in the NBA Finals, a marquee matchup for the 21st century. Adidas’s image model over with the Orlando Magic had other plans.

Bryant held up his end by wiping out the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals 119 – 92. Bryant put together 35 points and 10 assists as he led the Purple and Gold to the Game 6 rout of these stubborn Nuggets. He and his guys had just come from a grueling seven-game series against an undermanned Houston Rockets, and the Nuggets certainly gave them all they could handle in this series. In the end though, Bryant once again came through. After getting embarrassed in the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics last year, he understood how difficult it would be to return to the Big Dance, and yet here he is again. “Now we’re in a place where we didn’t get the job accomplished last year,” Bryant said in one post-game interview. “Hopefully we will this time.”

As for James, he led his Cavaliers through sweeps of the first and second round of these playoffs, over the aging Detroit Pistons and the also-ran Atlanta Hawks. Neither the Hawks nor the Celtics had what it took to go up against the basketball god from Akron, Ohio. He sailed in for every sort of dunk and layup, went coast-to-coast like it was a drill, and generally overwhelmed the Pistons and the Hawks. It looked like the Nike ad men would get their wish. And then he ran into Adidas superstar Dwight Howard in the Eastern Conference Finals.

James was named the regular season MVP this year. Howard was adjudged the Defensive Player of the Year. Howard struggled for most of this series with foul trouble. But as much as he was plagued by fouls he still dominated the inside, averaging close to 25 points and some 14 rebounds and three blocks over the six games. True, James averaged 40-plus points per game and generally also did as he pleased against the Magic defense.

But when push came to shove the Magic showed they were the better team, with a deeper and more talented bench, and the ability to score points in bunches. Down by huge margins for over 18 of the 24 quarters of play in this series, the Magic came back through incredible outside shooting and transition offense. Cleveland did not have an answer. In Game 6, Howard came through with 40 points in their 103 – 90 victory. He got plenty of help from Rashard Lewis all throughout this series. Lewis, who participated in the three-point shootout at this year’s All Star Weekend, was unconscious from three-point range over the last six games. At 6-foot-10 and with a quick trigger, his outside sniping allowed the Magic to pull out critical victories in Games 1 and 4, swinging the tide in their favor. He had nothing but praise for their 6-foot-11 superstar center though, “Total domination,” Lewis said. “He totally dominated the game. He carried us on his back tonight.”

When the Finals roll around, it will be the first time since 1995 that the Magic will be fighting for the NBA Championship. Back then another young superstar center was leading the Magic – Shaquille O’Neal. O’Neal calls himself “Superman” and even has the S tattoo to back it up. Howard, in another parallel, has claimed the “Superman” title for himself, and wore the cape to prove it when he won last year’s dunk contest at the All Star Weekend. In another irony, O’Neal signed with the Lakers after their failed 1995 title bid against Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets. O’Neal went on to win three straight NBA championships with Bryant in the most dominating tandem at the start of the new millennium.

Since O’Neal left Orlando some 12 years ago, the franchise went to seed. It was not until Howard was drafted right out of high school and Lewis was signed a couple seasons back that the Magic have made a serious run back to respectability. These playoffs were all about chips on their shoulders and by returning to the Finals they may have already found half of their redemption.

For the Lakers it is an almost similar story. Well, for Bryant at least. The last time he had a championship ring was seven years ago when O’Neal was still around. When O’Neal was released in a trade to the Miami Heat sometime in 2005 (allegedly at Bryant’s behest) he won the 2006 NBA title backstopping Dwayne Wade. That only made his quest to win a ring even more urgent. When they made the Finals last year it was his best chance to prove he didn’t need O’Neal after all. That is of course until the Celtics completed their own date with destiny and totally bitch-slapped Bryant and his Lakers silly behind their new Big 3.

These Finals are thus a convergence of many fates and destinies, of many tales of striving and struggle. Bryant, head coach Phil Jackson and his Lakers have been here before, and their experience should be a plus-factor for them. They certainly did not go through hellacious series with the Rockets and Nuggets only to once again fall short of a championship. Howard and his Magic have had a truly magical run in these playoffs, and they’ve knocked off both the defending champions as well as the NBA’s best team this year to get here. Facing the multi-titled Lakers seems like the inevitable finale to cap a magical season.

Personnel-wise it looks like a good matchup. Howard never faced a quality big man in the East Playoffs, especially with Kevin Garnett inured in their semifinals against Boston. Against the Lakers though, he will have to contend against a pair of seven-footers in All Star forward Pau Gasol and up and coming young center Andrew Bynum. He may be far stronger and more athletically gifted then either of them, but that still makes this a two-on-one match. Bryant also has no direct peer on the Orlando side, but he will have Mikael Pietrus keeping him on his toes on both ends. Lewis should have a wonderful matchup against Lamar Odom.

Disneyland versus Disney World: Disneyland in five.