2008 Outlook

The Los Angeles Lakers mid-season trade to acquire forward/center Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies catapulted the Lakers to the top of the Western Conference and the Pacific Division. Questions were lingering about whether superstar Kobe Bryant could lead a team of unproven young talent deep into the playoffs for the past two years, but the trade and the development of Andrew Bynum silenced any doubters. Bryant has gelled nicely with versatile Lamar Odom and talented sixth man Luke Walton to avoid the downfall many thought was coming after the controversial Shaquille O’Neal trade.

Team History

Few franchises have had the success or star power as the L.A. Lakers. The actually started out in Detroit, but moved after one season to Minneapolis. There the Lakers were led by basketball’s first true big man and first superstar George Miken. Miken towered over opponents at 6 foot 10 and led the team to five championships in six years in the Basketball Association of America, the precursor to the NBA.

The moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in 1960 and built great teams around Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Gail Goodrich, and Wilt Chamberlain. These great teams had the unfortunate luck of playing in the Celtics eight-championship run during the 1960s. The first championship in the new city had to wait until 1972 in a season marked by an incredible and unmatched 33-game winning streak.

The Lakers continued the tradition of adding dominant big men by acquiring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in trade in 1975. Abdul-Jabbar would have to wait four years until the arrival of Earvin “Magic” Johnson before the Lakers would again challenge for the NBA Championship. The Lakers dominated the 1980s with the seemingly immortal Abdul-Jabbar, tremendously gifted pint guard Magic Johnson, and the rest of the “Showtime” Lakers, winning five championships.

The Lakers would rebuild in the 1990s until the arrival of Shaquille O’Neal and drafting of pre-ordained superstar Kobe Bryant. The duo would combine to win three straight NBA titles from 2000 to 2002. Increasing tension eventually broke the team up before the 2004-05 season. The Kobe-led Lakers spent a couple of years rebuilding and now are set to fight for the title for quite some time in the future with the young building blocks of Bryant and Gasol. Get a Los Angeles Lakers ticket for yourself and watch the team continue to dominate the league.