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RIP Lakers.
All trolling aside, there is no question the Lakers is one of most storied franchise in the history of the league. 64 years, 31 finals appearances, 16 championships. It's nothing short of amazing.
From Kareem (not willing to play for any franchise other than the Lakers and the Knicks) to Shaq (all that Hollywood money), the lifestyle and diversity of the city made LA second to none. Add to that the wizardry of Jerry West and Dr. Buss, making moves that are 2 steps ahead of the compe ion, and you have the most successful franchise in league history, and arguable, in North American professional sports history.
The success of the franchise is more apparent when you look at the lack of failure. The team only missed the playoffs 5 times. 5 times in 64 years.
Missing the playoffs is such a rare occurrence that it only takes me a few seconds to look up and type up the years:
1) 57-58: That was the final year the franchise was located in Minny. The leading scorer of that year was Vern Mikkelson, For those who are too young to remember, he was a vital player in 4 championships along the great George Mikan, one of the forgotten great supporting players in NBA history.
2) 74-75: The league was in disarray at that point. Drugs and the ABA was ravaging the talents of the league. Still, the Lakers fought hard, and missed the playoffs despite having another great supporting player, Gail Goodrich. Gail won a championship on one of the greatest teams of all time, the 72 Lakers, playing a supporting role to Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain.
3) 75-76: The only b2b playoff miss in Lakers history, the team traded most of its talent away for the great Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Despite finishing 40-42, good enough for 4th in the West (tied for 9th best in the league), the league's wonky format of making the playoffs by division screwed the Lakers. In my books, the Lakers shouldn't have missed the playoffs this year.
4) 93-94: The promiscuous lifestyle of the great Magic Johnson (apt name, I might add) caused him to miss the tail-end of his prime years. And with another second banana in James Worthy (who won 3 championships, including a finals MVP) leading the Lakers, the team put up a valiant effort before falling short with a 33-49 record.
5) 04-05: Led by the greatest 2nd banana in league history, Kobe Bryant (who won 5 championships, including 2 Finals MVP), and supported by talented players such as Caron Butler and Lamar Odom, the team just couldn't overcome individual ego and finished an embarrassing 34-48 (tied for 11th in the West) and missing the playoffs.
The Lakers are such a phenomenal team that they only managed to miss the playoffs by either:
a) Being led by legit career second bananas
b) Wonky playoff format
And only managed to do it 5 times. All the other 59 times, the franchise have a legit franchise player leading the way.
Simply amazing.
So here is my eulogy to the great franchise in league history - The LA Lakers.
RIP Lakers.
Bravo, OP. +100 points.
Dale has 11 rings, you can't take that away from him.
Tim Tam
Not reading that wall of text. Could you boil it down?
Boiled down: 2 sweeps in 3 years.
Boiled down:
1
Boiled down. 3 skunks in a row.
why u rocking old pics in your avatar MJ? that's false advertisement..Can we see the real you:
Boiled down:
Boiled down: Pringleswhy u rocking old pics in your avatar MJ? that's false advertisement..Can we see the real you:
Boiled down:
.
Bynumite. Can you name the roster?
No but i can boil it down:
16
can't even named who played for the Minnesota Lakers.
Guys, guys, guys. Please.
This is an appreciation thread for the Lakers, can we just calm down and celebrate a franchise that has been dominant in the league for 64 years?
And to those who thinks a few paragraphs to appreciate a 64 year old franchise is too much text, it all boils down to:
The Lakers only miss the playoffs when they were led by second bananas or when the playoff format is messed up.
Also, you should see a doctor to see if you have ADHD if you can't concentrate and read for more than 30 seconds. It sounds like a serious problem.
What about the 85 champion roster? Bynumite
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