Champions Series: The Los Angeles Lakers

From NHL to NBA

After the NHL season wrapped up in a nice tidy bow and the Tampa Bay Lightning took home the biggest prize in hockey, the sport of basketball finished up its run and crowned a champion of its very own. That champion being the Los Angeles Lakers, who earned their championship in a best-of-seven series against the Miami Heat. Of course, even those who have the vaguest idea of what a basketball is know the Lakers big win means another title for the man, the myth, the legend, Lebron James, as well as a talented core of others.

Before getting into that core or James himself, let’s take a bit of a dive into the championship history of the Lakers. With this win, the Lakers franchise has now earned 17 NBA championships all-time. However, this is kind of technicality as five of those titles were earned as the Minneapolis Lakers, but considering the organization is a continuation of that team, the official count is 17 altogether. What should be brought to attention with regards to those wins are the players that have come through the Lakers on their way to said titles – players like Shaquille O’Neal and Magic Johnson being just two out of the many legends that have played for them.  

Moving from the organization itself to the competition the organization faced throughout the league, the rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics is arguably the greatest in the game of basketball. That being said, the Lakers also had their fair share of rivalries with other teams that left their mark on history. Notable ones include the Lakers and the Detroit Pistons (which saw the Pistons win two championships). Then there’s the Lakers and fellow Los Angeles team, the Clippers, making for some inter-city competition which is also fun to witness. Finally, there’s the Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs, which, being an interdivisional rivalry, always seems to get ugly fast. Going back quickly to the Celtics and the Lakers, the most interesting thing with regards to their rivalry (which last saw them playing against each other in 2010 in the NBA Finals) is that now, after the 2020 NBA Finals, the two teams have 17 championships a piece. Pretty staggering all in all.

With the history lesson out of the way, it’s not hard to see why the Lakers have found their way to new glory under the leadership of Lebron James and Anthony Davis. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Danny Green were also key players for the Lakers, as they averaged around 10 to a dozen points each night. Frank Vogel should also be given props as his win over the Heat marks his first NBA championship ever, always great to get off your back.

All in all, this win for the Lakers shows a couple of things, Lebron isn’t done yet, the Lakers aren’t done yet (despite the decade long drought), and hopefully for Frank Vogel, he isn’t done yet. In any professional sport, you want to continue the momentum that you have whenever you can get it, and I firmly believe that the Lakers will keep riding this momentum into the next season