Over a span of several decades, the Los Angeles Lakers became the gold standard of basketball by winning championship after championship. They did so with a formula that consisted of transcendent leaders, star players, selfless supporting contributors and a healthy team concept.
The Lakers are one of very few teams in sports that have had multiple dynasties. They had one in their embryonic years in Minneapolis, one during the Showtime era of the 1980s and yet another one in the first decade of the 21st century. As such, not every one of their championship teams can be put on a top 10 list, but we will do our best to rank the 10 greatest Lakers teams to win it all.
The list continues with a team that got revenge against the Lakers’ arch-rivals while putting the capper on a legitimate dynasty.
Going after one for the thumb
In 2009, the Lakers won their fourth NBA championship since the start of the new millennium by dispatching the Orlando Magic in five games. While it was a triumphant moment for the franchise, it was ultimately unsatisfying. There remained the task of getting revenge on the Boston Celtics for the assault they administered during the 2008 NBA Finals.
The 2009-10 Lakers were essentially the same as they were the previous year, with one exception — Ron Artest replaced Trevor Ariza as their starting small forward. Artest spent the 2008-09 campaign with the Houston Rockets and even had a mild altercation with Kobe Bryant during the playoffs. While there were concerns that Artest, who was thought to have anger management problems, would be an unstable presence, Bryant and head coach Phil Jackson were confident he would be the final piece to the puzzle, especially when it came to knocking off Boston.
Los Angeles started the 2009-10 season hot, winning 23 of its first 27 games. Bryant averaged 30.6 points a game on 48.5 percent shooting through New Year’s Day, and it seemed he was only getting better with age. But the wear and tear was accumulating. The 31-year-old suffered an avulsion fracture in the index finger of his shooting hand in December, and he had to change his shooting form as a result, which hurt his shooting accuracy.
After losing a bit of steam at midseason, the team went on a seven-game winning streak in March and seemed to be rounding into shape for the playoffs. But Bryant then started having problems with his right knee, which persistently swelled up. He was in and out of the lineup as the regular season came to a close, and when he did play, he turned in some awful performances.
Despite a Western Conference-best 57-25 record, there was some trepidation for the Lakers as they headed into the playoffs.
Vanquishing the men in green
The Lakers’ first-round playoff opponent would be the Oklahoma City Thunder, an upstart team that had almost as much talent as any other squad in the NBA. They had Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, all young and hungry, and Durant had just become the youngest player to ever lead the league in scoring. The Lakers scraped past the Thunder in six games, but it wasn’t easy, and it was clear Bryant was still ailing.
But in the next series versus the Utah Jazz, Bryant and the Lakers rediscovered their mojo. They got past the Jazz in a four-game sweep as the Black Mamba scored at least 30 points in each game. The Phoenix Suns, L.A.’s Western Conference Finals opponent, were full of talent and boasted two-time MVP Steve Nash. But with Bryant playing at the top of his game once again, the Lakers won in six games.
It was now time for their long-awaited rematch with the Celtics. The Lakers took Game 1 rather easily, but the Celtics responded by pulling away for a Game 2 win. After L.A. managed a classic, gutsy Game 3 win in Boston, Kevin Garnett and company won the next two games and took a 3-2 series lead.
With the series heading back to Los Angeles for Game 6, some were counting out the Lakers, as they were one game away from elimination. But they turned the momentum of the series upside-down with a 22-point rout to force a seventh game.
In nine previous finals matchups with Boston, the Lakers had never prevailed in a Game 7, having lost four such contests. Early on, it looked like this would be their fifth winner-take-all loss to the Celtics. They mustered just 34 first-half points and trailed by 13 early in the fourth quarter as Bryant was having a nightmare performance to that point, having missed 14 of 17 shots.
But Los Angeles rewrote the script and took control of its narrative from that point on. As Bryant started to play efficiently on offense, the team came to within four points at the end of the third period, then finally took the lead midway through the fourth quarter. Trailing by six with 90 seconds left, the Celtics made a frantic rally to trim that deficit to two, but the Lakers held on for an 83-79 victory and their second straight world championship, turning Staples Center into party central.
In the final 20 minutes or so of the game, Bryant played excellent all-around ball, and he was named the NBA Finals MVP for the second year in a row. But this was a team effort. In particular, Artest kept the team together throughout Game 7 and finished with 20 points and five steals. He had gone from a social pariah to a champion forever. Bryant, meanwhile, solidified his claim as one of the 10 greatest players in basketball history, bar none.
