LA Lakers-Team of the Decade

For my inaugural blog here on red, white and blue sports I chose to write about the best team of the decade. As much as it pains me to say, the Lakers seem to be the sexiest team of the past ten years. The Kobe led franchise has posted some gaudy numbers since the year 2000. It’s easy to remember their most recent championship; however the most impressive years were early on.

        To start the 1999-2000 season, the Lakers started out 31-5 and ended the season with 67 wins overall. They opened up the playoffs beating the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns, followed by a classic seven game series against the Houston Rockets that punched their ticket to the NBA finals. The only team left in their way of the trophy was the Reggie Miller led Pacers, which the Lakers handled with ease, winning the Finals four games to two.

        Now, after winning a championship some teams become satisfied or complacent with their one ring. This was not the case with the Los Angeles Lakers. It actually seemed to be quite the contrary, as they went on to win the 2001 and 2002 NBA Finals to complete the “three-peat”. In 2001, the Lakers won 11 less regular season games but swept through the entire playoffs up until the Finals, where they easily handled my beloved Sixers, four games to one. This impressive 15-1 run in the playoffs was and is the best in NBA history. More of the same followed in 2002, where the NBA saw the Lakers hoisting the trophy once again, this time handling the New Jersey Nets in sweeping fashion, four games to none.  2004 to 2007 saw the Lakers fall into a semi “rebuilding” form. They missed the playoffs in ’05 for only the fifth time in franchise history. The following couple season saw the Lakers make the playoffs, only to fall to the Phoenix Suns in back to back years.

        2007 saw the Lakers return to the form they were used to being, dominating opponents in convincing fashion. They finished the regular season 57-25, then ripped through the Western Conference beating the Nuggets, Jazz, and Spurs respectively. That’s where the winning stopped for the Lakers in ’07 however, as the favored Celtics took the trophy in six games. Although the Celtics had managed to oust the Lakers, there was a sense of feeling around the league that the Lakers were close to becoming the class of the NBA again.

        Fast forward to the ’08-’09 season. Kobe and the Lakers were on a mission. They finished the regular season going 65-17, then handled the Jazz, Rockets, and Nuggets to get back to the Finals once again to face the Orlando Magic. The Magic couldn’t even make a series out of it, as the Lakers dominated the series four to one. This championship was no doubt the most special for Kobe, even though he will never admit it. It was the first ring he had won since Shaq had left for Miami and Phoenix, and this championship subsequently put the whispers to an end that Kobe could not win the “big one” without the big man underneath.