Nothing better for us old-timers that felt the sting of the 1960s and getting clocked by the Celtics every year.
A game 7 victory over the Celtics is the greatest gift a Laker fan can experience.
Thanks EP.
Even for us young(ish)sters that lived through the '80s (not to mention 2008 and all the demons that resuscitated) 2010 was absolutely cathartic.
I'm never quite sure how to phrase this, but it's true: the 2010 title was the greatest thing to ever happen to me that I didn't have anything to do with.
My favorite as well. That series started in the Finals in 2008, continued in the regular seasons of 2008-2009 and 2009-2010, where every game was extremely tense and close _________________ Double rings > Double rainbow
Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 35855 Location: Santa Clarita, CA (Hell) ->>>>>Ithaca, NY -≥≥≥≥≥Berkeley, CA
Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 2:50 pm Post subject:
The 2010 championship really was so much better than the 2009 one. That Magic team really felt like the worst team to have made the Finals since the New Jersey Nets.
I remember that we were all concerned going into the playoffs, and even afraid that we would lose to the Thunder. _________________ Damian Lillard shatters Dwight Coward's championship dreams:
The 2010 championship really was so much better than the 2009 one. That Magic team really felt like the worst team to have made the Finals since the New Jersey Nets.
I remember that we were all concerned going into the playoffs, and even afraid that we would lose to the Thunder.
how are you forgetting the 2007 cavs? _________________ Kobe Bryant on if he had hit a wall - "So what if I did- I'll go right through it"
Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 35855 Location: Santa Clarita, CA (Hell) ->>>>>Ithaca, NY -≥≥≥≥≥Berkeley, CA
Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 7:38 pm Post subject:
faze wrote:
CandyCanes wrote:
The 2010 championship really was so much better than the 2009 one. That Magic team really felt like the worst team to have made the Finals since the New Jersey Nets.
I remember that we were all concerned going into the playoffs, and even afraid that we would lose to the Thunder.
how are you forgetting the 2007 cavs?
Oh, right. That team was by far worse.
My point stands that the 2009 Magic didn't really deserve to be in the Finals, though. That East was just so weak. _________________ Damian Lillard shatters Dwight Coward's championship dreams:
Nothing is sweeter than beating the Celtics...especially in the Finals.
Conversely, nothing is worse than losing to the Celtics in the Finals...the 1984 and 2008 series especially still bother me to this day as the Lakers should have won both. _________________ Love, Laker Lanny
The NY Daily News has published an excerpt today from what it calls a "newly updated" version of Phil Jackson's book. Lots of interesting stuff here about the D'Antoni hiring, the D12 mess, etc. etc. The link is at http://nydn.us/1jRSQeu .
I was particularly interested in what Jackson has to say about the new CBA and how it changes the potential for team chemistry:
Quote:
One reason this idea interested me was that it seemed like an antidote to the transformation that was occurring in the NBA due to the league’s most recent collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union. That agreement, which was designed to create more parity in the league, put strict limits on how much teams could spend on talent — levying escalating fines on those that exceeded the designated salary cap and rewarding those that kept their payrolls below the line. The idea was to give the small-market teams, some of which are losing money, a greater chance to compete against well-heeled teams such as the Lakers.
In response, most teams have already begun to change the way they recruit talent. The Oklahoma City Thunder, for example, unloaded star guard James Harden to Houston because, under the new agreement, the team wouldn’t be able to afford him, given what it was already committed to paying their other stars, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Similarly, the Lakers retooled their roster so that they would have only three players under contract at the end of 2013-2014, and would be able to make a serious bid for players in the upcoming free-agent market.
Sadly, what inevitably is getting lost in this shift is a sense of continuity over time. Not only will the new agreement make it virtually impossible for teams — no matter how fat their wallets — to assemble lineups with more than two or three bona fide stars, it will also significantly reduce the number of players who can play the bulk of their careers on the same team. When I was with the Knicks, most of the key players on our championship teams — including Bill Bradley, Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, and Dave DeBusschere — were together for six years or more. That may never happen again. Instead we’re going to see a lot of teams made up of one or two stars and a cast of interchangeable specialty players on short-term contracts. As a result, it will be even more difficult to build the kind of group consciousness necessary to excel. The only remedy is to create a culture that empowers the players and gives them a strong foundation to build upon. Otherwise they’ll be too insecure to focus their energy on bonding together as a team.
anyway, I thought the excerpt was really interesting and I'll probably track the book down at some point and read the whole thing.
Still, the idea of going after one more ring with Kobe, Pau, and my other former players intrigued me. My biggest concern was whether this team could beat the reigning champs, the Miami Heat. In my mind, there’s nothing worse than making it all the way to the Finals and losing. As they were leaving, I told Jimmy and Mitch that I needed time to think it over, but I’d be ready to give them an answer on Monday.
Most fans know what happened next. Mitch called me around midnight on Sunday and told me they had decided to hire another coach, Mike D’Antoni. I was a little stunned at first, but, on reflection, I realized why things fell apart so quickly. I was thinking of the job as a one-season gig, but Jimmy and Mitch were looking for a coach who could help them rebuild the team over the long haul. They were also eager to turn the Lakers back into the sort of fast-paced, high-scoring team they were in the Magic Johnson “Showtime” era — and D’Antoni was certainly a coach who could make that happen.
The overriding issue, however, was the state of owner Jerry Buss’s health. He’d been in and out of the hospital during the previous several months battling prostate cancer and other ailments. But things had taken a turn for the worse recently, and his family hoped that a turn in the Lakers’ fortunes might bring some joy into his life and, with luck, help speed his recovery.
Several weeks later, the story came out that Dr. Buss, not Jimmy, had made the decision to go with D’Antoni. This seemed unlikely to me given the state of Jerry’s health — not to mention, Jimmy’s long history of impetuous decision-making — but it was impossible to verify that story one way or the other. In the end, it didn’t matter that much anyway. I was ready to move on.
The Lakers invited Kobe and Steve to the final pitch meeting to help persuade Dwight to come on board. It sounded like a good idea. Steve sent out an amusing tweet before the meeting: “Dwight Howard we’re coming for you. You’re going to love the statue we build for you outside Staples in 20yrs!” And Kobe made a moving speech during the pitch, promising to teach Dwight the secret of winning championships that he’d learned from the best in the game.
If the meeting had ended there, it might have worked. But after the presentation, Dwight asked Kobe what he was planning to do after he recovered from his Achilles injury. Was this going to be his last year? “No,” replied Kobe. “I’m planning to be around for three or four more years.”
At that point, according to others in the room, Dwight’s eyes went blank and he drifted away. In his mind, the game was over.
A few days later he announced that he was signing with the Rockets.
The Lakers invited Kobe and Steve to the final pitch meeting to help persuade Dwight to come on board. It sounded like a good idea. Steve sent out an amusing tweet before the meeting: “Dwight Howard we’re coming for you. You’re going to love the statue we build for you outside Staples in 20yrs!” And Kobe made a moving speech during the pitch, promising to teach Dwight the secret of winning championships that he’d learned from the best in the game.
If the meeting had ended there, it might have worked. But after the presentation, Dwight asked Kobe what he was planning to do after he recovered from his Achilles injury. Was this going to be his last year? “No,” replied Kobe. “I’m planning to be around for three or four more years.”
At that point, according to others in the room, Dwight’s eyes went blank and he drifted away. In his mind, the game was over.
A few days later he announced that he was signing with the Rockets.
The Lakers invited Kobe and Steve to the final pitch meeting to help persuade Dwight to come on board. It sounded like a good idea. Steve sent out an amusing tweet before the meeting: “Dwight Howard we’re coming for you. You’re going to love the statue we build for you outside Staples in 20yrs!” And Kobe made a moving speech during the pitch, promising to teach Dwight the secret of winning championships that he’d learned from the best in the game.
If the meeting had ended there, it might have worked. But after the presentation, Dwight asked Kobe what he was planning to do after he recovered from his Achilles injury. Was this going to be his last year? “No,” replied Kobe. “I’m planning to be around for three or four more years.”
At that point, according to others in the room, Dwight’s eyes went blank and he drifted away. In his mind, the game was over.
A few days later he announced that he was signing with the Rockets.
damn. kobe's fault?
Most likely. It flat out says Dwight left LA because he didn't like to play with Kobe.
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