It seems Stupid and Re ed...OOPS, I mean Dazed and Confused and the rest of the frontrunning Laker people don't understand the history of their own team that well.
The success of the Lakers, outside of the the championships of the old Minneapolis Lakers, has been based upon taking advantage of the stupid GMs of stuggling teams.
Look at the trades made for centers. Acquiring Wilt Chamberlain for three players none of you have heard of from the 76ers in 1970. An NBA le came in 1972.
Acquiring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from the Bucks for four players (the best of which were Junior Bridgeman and Brian Winters) - not even remotely equal compensation. Kareem was the MVP of the league many times in LA and five NBA les were won during Jabbar's tenure as a Laker.
Let's go to 1996 - stealing Shaquille O'Neal from an Orlando Magic team offering Shaq more money than LA. In the same year getting Kobe Bryant from the Hornets for Vlade Divac in his contract year - the Charlotte Hornets end up getting one year out of Vlade and he walks to Sacramento as a FA. Once again - getting outstanding players for next to nothing or garbage.
Do you how the Lakers got Magic Johnson? A completely washed up Gail Goodrich signed as a FA with the New Orleans Jazz in 1976 and the NBA League office decided (as was the case at the time) that the Jazz should compensate LA with a No 1 pick in 1979 - which turned out to be the 1st pick overall and Magic Johnson. Once again, a HOFer for garbage.
How did James Worthy get to be a Laker? In 1980, the Cleveland Cavaliers just had to have Don Ford in and a low Laker 1981 1st rounder for Butch Lee and a 1982 first rounder. Low and behold, that 1982 pick turns into the 1st overall again and James Worthy - another HOFer for garbage. See a pattern here? The Lakers essentially have been getting something for nothing since 1970. It sure helps you stay on top when you can do that time after time after time after time. BTW, Byron Scott, another really good player, got to the Lakers in 1984 in a way similar to the Worthy deal.
For Spurs fans back in the 1980s such as me it was extremely frustrating to see this kind of stuff go on and know your team had little to no chance of beating the Lakers in the playoffs. We Spurs fans are a little sensitive when it comes to LA getting something for nothing way too many times.
As far as SA tanking games, I don't think the 1986-1987 Spurs tanked. That team was terrible and lost a ton of games. The Spurs lucked out and won the lottery and got David Robinson. A sidenote - when SA got the rights to DRob, none other than Brent Barry's dad (HOFer and NBA commentator) Rick said that Robinson should not sign with the Spurs, wait two years (until 1989) and sign as an unrestricted free agent with which team? You guessed it - the LAKERS! I'm glad David had some integrity and a sense of obligation to the city San Antonio.
The 1996-1997 Spurs team also stuck because of Robinson's broken foot and a rash of injuries to lesser players on the squad like Chuck Person. Is it possible Robinson was held out late in the season? Yes, but that still didn't guarantee anything on the draft pick. SA just got lucky again and won the chance to draft Duncan. San Antonio at least had to endure really bad seasons to get Robinson and Duncan - they did not get the free ride the Lakers got through the years.
The team that is responsible for the lottery we have today (and not the old coin flip with the two worst teams) is the Houston Rockets, who had the first pick in 1983 (Ralph Sampson) and 1984 (Akeem Olajuwon). The 83-84 Rockets team coached by Bill Fitch was playing Elvin Hayes (in his last year) 40 minutes a game late in the season and doing other weird stuff with the lineup to get a 50% chance at the first pick in '84. Without the Rockets misdeeds, the Spurs likely would not have the 4 NBA championships we currently enjoy today.
Dazed and Confused, the Chuckster should have blamed his own former team for the lottery system and not busted the Spur's chops when he made that 1998 lockeroom quote about the Spurs cheating. Sir Charles doesn't always think when he speaks.
One last thing - guess which team came in 2nd place for the opportunity to draft Kareem in 1969 (by coin flip) and David Robinson in 1987 (by lotto)? The answer is - the poor Phoenix Suns! That should make most of us on this board smile.
(wishful thinking)
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And I thought the trolls were pathetic.
