Oh, yes! We can almost reach out and touch that championship trophy!

Fellow Laker fan since the days of Magic Johnson. Have watched all the games. Super excited for the next game..

DiminutiveRocker said:

Oh, yes! We can almost reach out and touch that championship trophy!

Lakers to wear Kobe Bryant-inspired Black Mamba uniforms in Game 5 of NBA Finals

The Lakers originally did not plan to wear them again until Game 7

If they're rocking the Black Mambas they better clinch.

What a surprisingly dominant run for a team that to this Lakers fan looked very uneven on paper. The power of a dynamic duo can never be underestimated, even in the bubble.

I'd dreamed of LeBron in a Lakers uniform for 10 years.

I'd dreamed of AD in a Lakers uniform for several years.

To see them together, on the verge of clinching a seventeenth title for the Lakers, was something I never expected to see

Could this duo be the flip side of Kareem and Magic, with LeBron taking a backseat to AD as he ages? Hopefully, but Bron is playing at a higher level than even Kareem was at this age.

LAL only has 4 players under contract for 2020-21 and they could fill some holes on the roster next season.

namepeace said:

If they're rocking the Black Mambas they better clinch.

What a surprisingly dominant run for a team that to this Lakers fan looked very uneven on paper. The power of a dynamic duo can never be underestimated, even in the bubble.

I'd dreamed of LeBron in a Lakers uniform for 10 years.

I'd dreamed of AD in a Lakers uniform for several years.

To see them together, on the verge of clinching a seventeenth title for the Lakers, was something I never expected to see

Could this duo be the flip side of Kareem and Magic, with LeBron taking a backseat to AD as he ages? Hopefully, but Bron is playing at a higher level than even Kareem was at this age.

LAL only has 4 players under contract for 2020-21 and they could fill some holes on the roster next season.

I thought the same thing! But it is also a show of confidence and can be intimidating for the other team, no?

robertgeorge said:

Fellow Laker fan since the days of Magic Johnson. Have watched all the games. Super excited for the next game..

DiminutiveRocker said:

Oh, yes! We can almost reach out and touch that championship trophy!

Totally exciting to see THIS team take home the championship in light of tragic loss of Kobe this year.
It's SHOW TIME!

JoeTyler said:

I knew it

Ugh!!! it was a good game, though.

DiminutiveRocker said:

Victory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats to the Lakers !!!

Hopefully next year it will be Golden State.

The Legacy Continues; another chapter in the history of the Greatest NBA Franchise of all time; you know that, no matter what (5-8-10 years) they'll be eventually back on top, ruling with Purple and Gold.

JoeyC said:

Congrats to the Lakers !!!

Hopefully next year it will be Golden State.

I think the West Coast is going to dominate the league for some years. The Bucks, the dismantled Raptors, the Celtics and Butler's Heat (which have peaked this 2020) are no match for a healthy Golden State, Davis-Lebron's Lakers and even the Clippers if they get a team pyschologist or something, lol.

Doesn't count. When you pack one team with big money suckas.

2freaky4church1 said:

Doesn't count. When you pack one team with big money suckas.

It does count. Lakers within the salary cap. We had two superstars. This is in line with the Rockets with Harden and Westbrook, the Clippers with Paul George and Kawhai Leonard. Golden State won with Kevin Durant Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. The Celtics won with Kevin Garnett Paul Pierce Ray Allen etc. This is without going to the all star filled lineups of the eighties or even back to the days of Bill Russell when he had teams fillled with hall of famers

You clearly know nothing about basketball. Did not stop you from posting a negative post to try and rain on our parade after ten years of struggling and Laker fans losing Kobe Bryant and his daughter this year. What a stupid and insensitive post.

Winning without earned home court advantage should mean it counts more than other championships.

robertgeorge said:

2freaky4church1 said:

Doesn't count. When you pack one team with big money suckas.

It does count. Lakers within the salary cap. We had two superstars. This is in line with the Rockets with Harden and Westbrook, the Clippers with Paul George and Kawhai Leonard. Golden State won with Kevin Durant Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. The Celtics won with Kevin Garnett Paul Pierce Ray Allen etc. This is without going to the all star filled lineups of the eighties or even back to the days of Bill Russell when he had teams fillled with hall of famers

You clearly know nothing about basketball. Did not stop you from posting a negative post to try and rain on our parade after ten years of struggling and Laker fans losing Kobe Bryant and his daughter this year. What a stupid and insensitive post.

Winning without earned home court advantage should mean it counts more than other championships.

Exactly. Congratulations from a Sixers fan. I definitely was pulling for Bron to win another ring.

He is definitely in the GOAT conversation now. You don't consistently go to NBA Finals 10 times

winning nearly half of them and not be considered in that conversation. Just like I told all the other clowns who claim this was a stacked team who else on this team besides LeBron and Davis would start on a contending playoff team. If Bron or Davis would have been lost at any point in this series Miami more than likely would have won. All the other players are role players. Sure Kuzma and Pope Caldwell could have an occasional good game where they go off for 20 but not often. They remind me of Josh Richardson for the Sixers. This Lakers championship was clearly the LeBron/Davis show.

2freaky4church1 said:

Doesn't count. When you pack one team with big money suckas.

Oh well. I guess every virtually every title won in the last 35 years is out the window too.

[Edited 10/14/20 9:48am]

namepeace said:

2freaky4church1 said:

Doesn't count. When you pack one team with big money suckas.

Oh well. I guess every virtually every title won in the last 35 years is out the window too.

for real...in literally EVERY sport across the Earth's surface, Championship teams have "packed one team with big money suckas"...

JoeTyler said:

The Legacy Continues; another chapter in the history of the Greatest NBA Franchise of all time; you know that, no matter what (5-8-10 years) they'll be eventually back on top, ruling with Purple and Gold.

The Los Angeles Lakers have won 12 titles in 48 years. There were extended droughts from '73-'80, '89-2000 and 2011-2020. But the average of a title every four years for nearly a half century is astounding.

For all the Celtics' storied history, they won most of their titles more than 50 years ago. They've won 6 since 1972. And the Lakers were still in Finals during a couple of those droughts. The only argument the Celtics had for most dominant franchise in league history is now gone. If the Lakers can re-tool and reload before James declines, then they will surpass the Celtics very soon.

namepeace said:

JoeTyler said:

The Legacy Continues; another chapter in the history of the Greatest NBA Franchise of all time; you know that, no matter what (5-8-10 years) they'll be eventually back on top, ruling with Purple and Gold.

The Los Angeles Lakers have won 12 titles in 48 years. There were extended droughts from '73-'80, '89-2000 and 2011-2020. But the average of a title every four years for nearly a half century is astounding.

For all the Celtics' storied history, they won most of their titles more than 50 years ago. They've won 6 since 1972. And the Lakers were still in Finals during a couple of those droughts. The only argument the Celtics had for most dominant franchise in league history is now gone. If the Lakers can re-tool and reload before James declines, then they will surpass the Celtics very soon.

JoeTyler said:

namepeace said:

The Los Angeles Lakers have won 12 titles in 48 years. There were extended droughts from '73-'80, '89-2000 and 2011-2020. But the average of a title every four years for nearly a half century is astounding.

For all the Celtics' storied history, they won most of their titles more than 50 years ago. They've won 6 since 1972. And the Lakers were still in Finals during a couple of those droughts. The only argument the Celtics had for most dominant franchise in league history is now gone. If the Lakers can re-tool and reload before James declines, then they will surpass the Celtics very soon.

My Dad grew up a Lakers fan watching all those losses to the Celtics. I immediately became a Lakers fan when McHale assaulted Rambis in the 1984 Finals. Tying and passing the Celtics' banner count has been a dream of mine for 2 decades (since Shaq and Kobe made me think it was going to be inevitable). We're on the brink.

phunkdaddy said:

robertgeorge said:

It does count. Lakers within the salary cap. We had two superstars. This is in line with the Rockets with Harden and Westbrook, the Clippers with Paul George and Kawhai Leonard. Golden State won with Kevin Durant Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. The Celtics won with Kevin Garnett Paul Pierce Ray Allen etc. This is without going to the all star filled lineups of the eighties or even back to the days of Bill Russell when he had teams fillled with hall of famers

You clearly know nothing about basketball. Did not stop you from posting a negative post to try and rain on our parade after ten years of struggling and Laker fans losing Kobe Bryant and his daughter this year. What a stupid and insensitive post.

Winning without earned home court advantage should mean it counts more than other championships.

Exactly. Congratulations from a Sixers fan. I definitely was pulling for Bron to win another ring.

He is definitely in the GOAT conversation now. You don't consistently go to NBA Finals 10 times

winning nearly half of them and not be considered in that conversation. Just like I told all the other clowns who claim this was a stacked team who else on this team besides LeBron and Davis would start on a contending playoff team. If Bron or Davis would have been lost at any point in this series Miami more than likely would have won. All the other players are role players. Sure Kuzma and Pope Caldwell could have an occasional good game where they go off for 20 but not often. They remind me of Josh Richardson for the Sixers. This Lakers championship was clearly the LeBron/Davis show.

What championship team ISN'T stacked? Look at the the 80s Celtics, Lakers & Sixers, Wilt's team in Philly & LA, etc.? That's just a silly comment.

Three things I'm looking forward to next season -

How the Lakers fare against a healthy Warriors team.

How the Nets do. IMO, it's a trainwreck in the making. Kyrie's no leader, and neither is Kevin "Mr. Sensitive" Durant. Already they're talking about not needing a coach....good luck dealing with those clowns Steve Nash. To quote Shannon Sharpe, "If Kyrie's leading, I ain't going!"

How the league responds to the lousy ratings. Many shut the games off because of all the political messages. Does Adam Silver let that continue next season?

As for Lebron's greatness, he's definitely in my top 12, but not top 5. That's for cats like Kareem, Jordan, Wilt, Russell & Oscar. Younger fans would obviously have a different take.

uPtoWnNY said:

As for Lebron's greatness, he's definitely in my top 12, but not top 5. That's for cats like Kareem, Jordan, Wilt, Russell & Oscar. Younger fans would obviously have a different take.

I didn't see Wilt, Russell, Oscar or West. But having watched many of the players in the top 10, including Jordan and Kareem, I think LeBron;s case for top 5 (at minimum) is growing year by year. Only Kareem has played at the level James has so late in his career.

What separates Jordan from everyone is that he built a dynasty without a dominant big man. The other players in the top 10 won titles with a HOF-level 4/5 and in the case of Magic and Bird both a 4 and 5.

namepeace said:

uPtoWnNY said:

As for Lebron's greatness, he's definitely in my top 12, but not top 5. That's for cats like Kareem, Jordan, Wilt, Russell & Oscar. Younger fans would obviously have a different take.

I didn't see Wilt, Russell, Oscar or West. But having watched many of the players in the top 10, including Jordan and Kareem, I think LeBron;s case for top 5 (at minimum) is growing year by year. Only Kareem has played at the level James has so late in his career.

What separates Jordan from everyone is that he built a dynasty without a dominant big man. The other players in the top 10 won titles with a HOF-level 4/5 and in the case of Magic and Bird both a 4 and 5.

Also, Jordan never lost in the Finals. I can't kill Lebron for losing to the Spurs in 2007 (that Cavs team was overmatched), but no way should he have lost to Dallas in 2011.

uPtoWnNY said:

namepeace said:

I didn't see Wilt, Russell, Oscar or West. But having watched many of the players in the top 10, including Jordan and Kareem, I think LeBron;s case for top 5 (at minimum) is growing year by year. Only Kareem has played at the level James has so late in his career.

What separates Jordan from everyone is that he built a dynasty without a dominant big man. The other players in the top 10 won titles with a HOF-level 4/5 and in the case of Magic and Bird both a 4 and 5.

Also, Jordan never lost in the Finals. I can't kill Lebron for losing to the Spurs in 2007 (that Cavs team was overmatched), but no way should he have lost to Dallas in 2011.

It took him longer to get there. But that can't be overlooked. While he shouldn't have lsot to Dallas in 2011, and a lot of greats have "bad" Finals (Magic 1984), LeBron's win in 2016 almost counts for 2.

namepeace said:

uPtoWnNY said:

Also, Jordan never lost in the Finals. I can't kill Lebron for losing to the Spurs in 2007 (that Cavs team was overmatched), but no way should he have lost to Dallas in 2011.

It took him longer to get there. But that can't be overlooked. While he shouldn't have lsot to Dallas in 2011, and a lot of greats have "bad" Finals (Magic 1984), LeBron's win in 2016 almost counts for 2.

You could say the Pistons had a hand in helping to develop Jordan & the Bulls. As he said, "you had to be mentally and physically tough to beat them". That 1990 eastern conference finals was like a blood feud...that's the NBA I miss.