The Lakers (Part 3)

(21) 1997 Los Angeles Lakers (56-26) vs. (40) 1979 Los Angeles Lakers (47-35)

It’s rookie Kobe time! Nothing good from him at all though…8-2-1 is all they got. Shaq played only 51 games (26-13), but they got 17-4-3 from Eddie Jones, and 15-3-9 from Nick Van Excel. Elden Campbell had 15-8.

Decent year, led by Kareem (24-13-5-1-4…great year…), and also had Jamaal Wilkes (19-7) in the foreground. Adrian Dantley completed year two of his Lakers stay, also his last, as he had 17-6. Norm Nixon had 17-3-9, and an aged Lou Hudson had 10-2-2.

The Lakers (Part 2)

(11) 1980 Los Angeles Lakers (60-22) vs. (50) 1993 Los Angeles Lakers (39-43)

This team is still above 60 wins…Boston lasted till 14 till they slipped (and that was because of the shorter year in the 60s…so really 16 teams were above 60 wins…). These guys are getting close to 59…This is Magic’s rookie year (18-8-7), a successful Finals champ, though Kareem really is the alpha-dog (25-11-5). Jamaal Wilkes is good this year, with 20-6-3, and they got 18-3-8 from resident point guard Norm Nixon. Spencer Haywood added 10 points, and Michael Cooper had 9-3-3…but no all-D team.

The Lakers (Part 1)

This may be the best team of all time (says a Celtics fan…). They were consistently great every era…no holes at all (except for short 2-3 year stretches before the next all-time great joins). The Celts were  a better team based team…and these guys have some of the best talents out there…Russell and Bird…they are both definitely top 5…but that is because of extra, all out, hard work. Give them the attitude of Tim Thomas and Bird is like Kyle Korver. Russell is like Joel Anthony. This Lakers franchise has more talent (and I’m not saying that they didn’t work hard…maybe not as much as Boston…but still world class effort). Unfortunately, we miss 28 point a game Mikan because of the 1952 rule (they widened the foul lane for 1952, which brought his PPG down by 5…). Get ready, here come the all-time greats. There’s Mikan, Baylor, West, Chamberlain, Kareem, Magic, Worthy, Shaq, Kobe, and the LA/Minneapolis Lakers! (I actually am really excited about this…as evidenced by the excessive preamble…