NBA NOTES Part 2 - LAKERS 15 NBA TITLES

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

During the 52 years of the NBA the Lakers franchise has won 15 NBA titles. The questions are: How did it start? What team was the best? Who had to overcome the stiffest competition? Read on…

Wednesday June 17, 2009

The strange thing about the Lakers defeating the Orlando Magic for the NBA title is that the Lakers aren't that good of a team though they won the franchises 15th title. This is not about cheerleading or being an LA frontrunner. Our opinion is based on eye witness experience and facts.

Their dominance of the league points out that overall the NBA as a whole is not up to standard as it was during the 60,s (Boston Celtics) 80,s (Lakers, Celtics and 76ers) and 90's (Chicago Bulls & Houston Rockets) eras.

This Laker squad is not up to the standard of the 2000, 2001 & 2002 teams that we deemed the worst three-peat teams ever. But the bottom line is the Lakers did what they had to do and are the champions for the fourth time during this decade and the 21st Century making them the king of the NBA hill. They can now ride off into the sunset singing Queen's 'We Are the Champions.'

Looking back on the previous 14 Lakers NBA championship teams starts with the Minneapolis Lakers teams of the 50's led by George Mikan the Bill Russell/Wilt Chamberlain of his day. At 6'10" Mikan was a giant and a dominate force in the league. He won the leagues scoring title six consecutive seasons 1947 to 1952. Injuries made a difference until he retired after the 1956 season. He was selected for the Naismith Basketball Hall of fame in 1959.

The Miken led Lakers won their first title in 1949 the NBA's third season of existence. They did it again in 1950. They became the leagues first three-peat team by winning the title in 1952, 1953 and 1954.

Those Lakers teams could never be competitive with the NBA tams of today. The players were not as talented or athletic. They lacked the strength and conditioning of today's athletes. They were paid so poorly that many of the players had to take day jobs as school teachers, milk men and whatever they could get. Some NBA games were played in high school gyms and couldn't draw enough of a crowd to fill 4,000 seats. They league also played double headers featuring four NBA teams and failed to fill arenas.

The NBA really started to develop into the league it is today when the Boston Celtics traded with the St Louis Hawks for their draft pick Bill Russell and the Philadelphia Warriors signed Wilt Chamberlain from the Harlem Globetrotters. They two became the giants of the sport and top draws.

The Lakers moved their franchise in 1960 and relocated from Minneapolis to Los Angeles.

During Russell's and Chamberlain's formative years in the league the Lakers failed to win another title. They failed to win in the 60's. The Russell led Celtics won nine of 10 NBA titles during that period. The Chamberlain led Philadelphia 76ers were the only other team to win the title during that decade when they took the title in 1967 with a team that has been described as the best ever NBA team for one season.

Ironically during the 60's the Lakers had their second best ever team led by Elgin Baylor and Jerry West. They were bolstered with the addition of Gail Goodrich and they were a formidable trio who always had a strong supporting cast. Their undoing was their inability to defeat the Celtics in the finals six times 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968 & 1969. Baylor and West are two of the best ever NBA players who are in the basketball Hall of Fame but together they couldn't defeat their arch-rival Celtics.

The Lakers fortune turned around after they acquired Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor succumbed to injuries early in the 1971-72 season. Baylor played only nine games that season before retiring due to a knee injury. Gail Goodrich and Happy Hariston were major contributors to their success and Pat Riley was a role player on the team playing 926 minutes during the regular season.

An Ivy League player form Columbia University Jim McMillan replaced Baylor. McMillan was a solid forward who blended in well with the system. He was never close to being the caliber of player that Baylor was but that season the Lakers won a record 33 straight games and the 1972 NBA title their first title in 18 years.

It would be eight years on before the Lakers would win the title again. They did so being led by Kareem Abdul Jabbar and then rookie Ervin Magic Johnson who was the leagues tallest ever guard at 6'9". The team was strong with Norm Nixon, Jamal Wilkes and Michael Cooper.

They played the Philadelphia 76ers who were a formidable group staring one of the greatest NBA players ever Dr. J (Julius Erving) as well as 7' center Darryl Dawkins aka the Chocolate Thunder. Dawkins was one of the first high school to NBA players to be successful in the league.

The Sixers had a strong lineup that included Doug Collins, Bobby Jones, Lionel Hollins, Steve Mix, Maurice Cheeks, Henry Bibby and Caldwell Jones. The Sixers were a slight favorite with Hollins and Bibby having been on NBA title teams. Bibby was a teammate of Laker coach Phil Jackson on the 1973 New York Knicks title team who defeated the Lakers in the finals. Hollins was an integral member of the 1977 title winning Portland Trailblazer squad who defeated the Erving led Sixers in the finals.

The table was set and this would become the series that redefined the NBA to a new era. It was the changing of the guard where the league took a giant step forward in its growth and attracting crowds with a new breed of marquee players.

Prior to one of the greatest games in NBA history Jabbar suffered an injury in game five and had to fly back from Philadelphia to Los Angels for treatment. It seemed as if the Lakers were doomed to lose without their 7'3"star center. The question was who would play center.

Part 3 - THE LAKERS SHOWTIME ERA

LAKERS CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS