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DROP ‘EM LANCE 😳

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Rajon Rondo — Los Angeles Lakers

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Out of all the thirty teams that has played for the NBA in it seventy two years of existence, one team has proved to be better than the rest. Some may disagree but the answer is obvious, the Los Angeles Lakers are the best team in NBA franchise history. As I said before, some may disagree but the facts make this debate almost worth not having. Over the years the Lakers have become one of the most popular teams, if not just the sport of basketball but in all teamed sports. I guess it may not be as obvious to others, but this argument is almost more a matter of truth vs fiction rather than a state of opinion.

For one, the Lakers have had some of the most influential players that have changed the game and raised the bar of greatness. With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar trademarking his nearly unstoppable skyhook shot, having more points than anyone else in NBA history and Magic Johnson to give him some of the most highlightful passes that we have ever seen before, it is no wonder these two played together and won five NBA titles. Before that duo, we had another set of two great Hall of Fame players to lead us to multiple championships. Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain most known for scoring a hundred points in a game and Jerry West also known for being “The Logo” for the NBA brought Los Angeles its first NBA championship win back in 1972. Making it to the NBA championships a total of thirty one times and winning sixteen, the Lakers have won titles all throughout the different eras in basketball.

There are some teams that gave the Lakers a harder time than others. Some will say the Boston Celtics are a more successful franchise for having just one more title win than the Lakers. Understand they won eight straight NBA finals from 1959 to 1967 in a very undeveloped organization at a time where smoking cigarettes was advertised to pregnant women as a way to regulate body weight. The Celtics did beat the Lakers once again in the 2008 finals but the Lakers came back the next year to defeat their rivals. Before this, the Celtics had not won a championship since sometime in the 1980s when Ronald Reagan was the president.

Some may argue the Chicago Bulls are a better franchise than the Lakers, being undefeated in the NBA finals with six championship titles, a 72-10 record and Jordan defeating Magic in one of those six. The issue is the Bulls were only great for one era of basketball, and the titles can be accounted to one player. That may sound selfish but the truth is the Chicago Bulls won three titles with Michael Jordan. Once he retired, they were absent from the NBA finals until he returned. The Bulls went ahead and won another three championships from 1996-1998, but that was the last time they would make an appearance in the NBA finals. The Detroit Pistons also has beaten the Lakers in the two out of three appearances they made in the finals. Both occasions the Lakers were about to go on a decline with going through a developing stage rebuilding a team. In 1989 Magic Johnson had began aging and his partner in crime Kareem had already retired, while in the 2004 season the Lakers have already had rumors of “trouble in paradise”, with tensions building between Kobe and Shaq, plus an additional cast of help that was not the most helpful.

To new watchers and fans of the sport, they may say the Golden State Warriors are the best team in the NBA history. Currently, the Warriors have consecutively been to the last four NBA championships, breaking a bunch of records, whether it be a team record or for individual players. They have an all-star starting five, with four of the players being almost sure future Hall of Famers and accomplishing the record of 73-9. The Warriors are may be one of the greatest teams to play. Fact is, they are not greater than the Lakers. Out of there 47 seasons in the NBA, they only have had seventeen playoff appearances and four championship wins. The Warriors have only made the playoffs thirty six percent of the time, while the Lakers have a title win for almost every year the Warriors went to the playoffs.

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#Kobe #BlackMamba

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#ElginBaylor #MrInside #JerryWest MrOutside #MrClutch #TheLogo #WiltTheStiltChamberlain

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Lonzo Ball and LeBron James — Los Angeles Lakers

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I first became a fan of the Lakers when I witnessed my first NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers facing the Philadelphia 76ers back in 2001. Allen Iverson and Dikembe Mutombo had battled Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in a five out of seven game series, with the Lakers winning four games to the 76ers winning one. One year before, the Lakers were able to defeat the Indiana Pacers in the 2000 NBA championship and the year after I seen them win another NBA championship in 2002 against the New Jersey Nets. Having accomplished a “3peat” making this team a dynasty.

Being in the league for 58 years now, having appeared in the NBA finals thirty one times and winning sixteen, the Los Angeles Lakers are no strangers to the big stage. With Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, the Los Angeles Lakers made their first debut in the NBA finals in the 1961 season. Just to name some other Hall of Fame players that wore purple and gold, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, James Worthy, AC Green, Magic Johnson and the list continues. Also having a couple of coaches inducted into the Hall of Fame, multiple players winning MVP and a total of twelve jerseys retired, the Lakers have had a fair share of success. Playing in Los Angeles, a city full of actors, musicians, and models, the successful organization has made some of the most famous celebrities, fans of their basketball team.

The team history is extensive and has a lot of stories to be told. In the recent past though, the Lakers have acquired other talented players that changed the sport of basketball such as Kareem and Magic once did, with players like Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant keeping the Los Angeles Lakers success going. In my earlier years, Shaquille O’Neal scored a dominating 61 points in a game against the Los Angeles Clippers which had happened to be on his 28th birthday. That year he won a MVP award and a NBA finals award as well. About six years later, Kobe Bryant had put up an astounding 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, which has only been seen but once before. In 2009 he led his team to back to back championships just like Magic Johnson had done 20 years prior. Recently, in the 2018 season the Lakers team brought on a new high caliber superstar player, Lebron James. Some argue that he is the best to ever play the sport, let alone the best to play for the Lakers. I personally disagree, but with big shoes to fill and nothing but the future ahead, only time will tell if he will be seen as one the team’s greatests.

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Byron Scott, Magic Johnson and James Worthy — Los Angeles Lakers

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Magic was special

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Staples Center rafters.