By Brian A. Lester

When Los Angeles beat New Jersey Wednesday night to cap the first sweep in the NBA Finals since Houston's broom job against Orlando in 1995, it marked the beginning of the NBA's next dynasty and the end of another season.

Mostly everyone knew back in October how the final act of this drama-filled season would play out. The Lakers, despite their tendency to show boredom during the regular season, would take their game to another level in the playoffs and end up carving out a place among the greatest teams of all time by winning a third consecutive title.

Now, Shaquille O'Neal is a champion again. He is a Finals MVP for the third time in a row and hands down the most dominant player in the league. His days of talking about how he has won at every level except college and the pros are long gone.

Kobe Bryant is also a champ again. At just 23 years of age, he is already great and can only get better.

Yes, the Lakers are still as dangerous as ever, and they will be the favorite unless something crazy happens between now and October such as Bryant stepping aside to play baseball for the Dodgers or Shaq playing linebacker for the Raiders.

But that is not to say a four-peat will be easy for L.A., which has already learned that maintaining excellence is no walk in the park.

Only Boston has ever won more than three titles in a row, although if Michael Jordan had not retired to play baseball, the Bulls could have very well matched the Celtics' run of eight consecutive championships.

Rest assured that there will be numerous challengers waiting to dethrone the champions next season, starting with Sacramento, which gave L.A. all it could handle by taking the Lakers to the limit in the Western Conference Finals.

The Kings will no doubt remember what it was like to watch another team celebrate a huge victory on their home court. The image is still fresh in their minds and it will drive them to play even harder and more determined than ever next season.

Then there is Dallas. Another worthy challenger with a lineup talented enough to make the Lakers sweat bullets. If the Mavericks can somehow find a way to play better defense, they have a shot at playing for the title in 2003.

Minnesota and San Antonio could contend as well...if they make the right moves during the offseason. The Timberwolves and Spurs both need to acquire the type of player who can push them over the top because Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan are not good enough to carry their respective teams on their backs.

Alas, we cannot forget about the Eastern Conference. Although the West should be far superior again next season, there are a few teams in the "other" conference worthy of title contention.

The Nets are not likely to drop off into oblivion after their rags-to-riches season and the Celtics should also be hungry for a championship.

The favorite in the East, however, has to be the Philadelphia 76ers if Allen Iverson stays healthy, and if the soap opera between Iverson and coach Larry Brown cools off significantly.

Perhaps there will also be a surprise team or two that jumps into the mix and shocks the world the way the New England Patriots did in January's Super Bowl, but the bottom line is the Lakers have had their moment in the sun.

L.A. has proven already that it is a great team, and maybe after a year or two of not winning the title, the Lakers can return to the throne again.

But next year, the NBA needs a new champion to spice up interest. It would be good not only for the league, but for the fans as well.

Brian Lester is a sportswriter in Ohio and can be reached via e-mail at BAL4@hotmail.com