ENJOY IT, BECAUSE WE'RE NUMBER ONE.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

The day after the Lakers became NBA champions for the third season in a row, Los Angeles awoke a centimeter taller, puffed its chest an inch prouder and grinned back at itself from the shaving mirror a tooth wider.

Just how pleased with ourselves should we feel here in Greater (and greater) Los Angeles?

For people who judge cities by their basketball franchises, the up-to-date North American rankings look like this:

1. Boston, 16

2. Los Angeles, 9

3. Chicago, 6

4. Minneapolis, 5

5. Philadelphia, 4

6. Detroit, 2

6. Houston, 2

6. New York, 2

9. Ten tied, 1

(The numbers after the commas are the NBA championships those cities have won since the league came into being in 1947.)

For the broader-minded among us, aware of a world beyond basketball, the rankings look like this:

1. New York, 25

2. Boston, 17

3. Los Angeles, 15

4. Chicago, 9

5. Baltimore, 8

5. Philadelphia, 8

7. Detroit, 7

7. Minneapolis/Minnesota, 7

7. Oakland/Golden State, 7

10. Green Bay, 6

(Those are the pro championships each city has won in the three major U.S.-born sports - basketball, baseball and football - since 1947.)

For the truly cosmopolitan among us, not blinded by American borders, the rankings look like this:

1. New York, 30

2. Boston, 18

2. Montreal, 18

4. Los Angeles, 16

5. Detroit, 14

6. Chicago, 10

6. Philadelphia, 10

6. Toronto, 10

9. Baltimore, 8

10. Pittsburgh, 7

10. Minnesota, 7

10. Oakland, 7

(Those are the championships won in the four major sports - including hockey, hence Montreal's and Toronto's prominence - since 1947.)

For the Renaissance men and women who think a town should have it all, the rankings look like this:

1. Detroit, 4

1. New York, 4

1. Philadelphia, 4

4. Los Angeles, 3 (all but hockey)

4. Baltimore, 3 (hockey)

4. Boston, 3 (baseball)

4. Chicago, 3 (baseball)

4. Oakland, 3 (hockey)

4. Pittsburgh, 3 (basketball)

4. St. Louis, 3 (hockey)

(Those are the numbers of different sports - basketball, baseball, football, hockey - in which the cities have won titles.)

And for those who laugh at the idea of rating cities according to any single number, the all-around rankings look like this:

1. Boston, 35

1. New York, 35

3. Los Angeles, 31

4. Chicago, 27

4. Philadelphia, 27

6. Detroit, 25

7. Baltimore, 15

8. Minnesota, 12

8. Oakland, 12

10. Montreal, 9

(That's a combination of the other four rankings, awarding cities 10 points for a No. 1, nine for a No. 2, down to one for a No. 10.)

Among the cities you don't see on any of those lists are Portland (one NBA title), San Antonio (one NBA title), Sacramento (no titles) and East Rutherford, N.J. (two Stanley Cups) - the four towns the Lakers put in their places on the way to the 2002 championship.

But it's those cities, this spring, that remind us how much pride a city should take in its basketball team. At least, how much pride it's permissible to take.

Portland, always trying to be more than The City Up There That Isn't Seattle, counts on its Trail Blazers to lead the way. San Antonio,also known as Texas' Third Best City, festoons its landmarks with ``Go Spurs Go'' banners. Sacramento (civic motto: ``Moo'') reaches for major-league status behind its Kings. East Rutherford, home of the Meadowlands swamps, sports capital of New Jersey, sees the Nets' first NBA Finals appearance as a steppingstone out of New York's shadow.

Sports- and entertainment-rich as we are, Angelenos can laugh at the little towns that have so little going on, they invest all of their pride in a basketball team. Then again, maybe we shouldn't laugh.

If we limit the discussion to pro sports, Los Angeles isn't exactly racking up the championships in baseball and hockey these days - to say nothing of football. If it weren't for the Lakers, Los Angeles would be going on 14 years without a pro title. L.A. needs the Lakers as much as Sac-town needs the Kings.

In the era of freer player movement, it's easier for a city to assemble a dozen mercenaries and call them the home-town team. It's true that none of the current Lakers was born in Los Angeles, and only Jelani McCoy, the UCLA product who wasn't active for the NBA Finals, was educated here.

At the same time, players take their environments into account when they choose new teams, and the fact that a free agent like Shaquille O'Neal (in 1996) chooses Los Angeles says good things about the city.

Los Angeles, which didn't have major-league baseball until 1958, pro basketball until 1960 or pro hockey until 1967 - and hasn't had pro football since 1994 - will need years to catch up to New York and Boston in the titletown tally. For this moment, though, L.A. can proudly and rightly say it's No. 1.

LAKERS CHAMPIONSHIP CELEBRATION

When: Friday, 10:30 a.m.-1:20 p.m.

Where: Kickoff ceremony is at City Hall at 10:30 a.m. The parade will begin at Third and Figueroa Streets at 11:30 a.m. and will continue to Staples Center at 11th and Figueroa. The Rally at Staples will begin at 12:50 p.m. There also will be a pre-rally celebration outside of Staples from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Who: Chick Hearn, coach Phil Jackson, each member of the Lakers, Staples Center president Tim Leiweke and mayor James Hahn will address the crowd.

TV: Channel 9, with James Worthy and Alan Massengale hosting. Coverage begins at 10:30 a.m.

CAPTION(S):

box, map

Box:

LAKERS CHAMPIONSHIP CELEBRATION (see text)

Map:

LAKERS CHAMPIONSHIP PARADE