Prior to Kobe and Shaq winning a title, did you think they ever would?
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CabinCreek44
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 02, 2020 3:03 pm    Post subject:

npz in here dredging up wonderful memories that only recently I thought I had excised from my mind for good. Oh well
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SuperboyReformed
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 02, 2020 3:41 pm    Post subject:

You know, regarding why Kobe shot those airballs...

I think because of the Cancun thing which must have happened that game or right around that time, I think that was punishment to Nick and giving that opportunity to Kobe.
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 02, 2020 11:27 pm    Post subject:

SuperboyReformed wrote:


Now about that 98 series....I would like a discussion on that....You are saying Shaq was the only one who had a decent series...but I remember being specifically disappointed in Shaq at the time, but I don't remember why. The only reason why I remember is that I made a photoshop thing about Shaq and Kobe with the statemtent like "THe good rise, even in the midst of shadows: or something like that, and I had Shaq sort of shadowed out. But I don't remember why. LOLL... probably got to watch the series again. Where's that thread with all the links? I should show you that photoshop lolllll oh man.


I'm just going by memory here, which may have faded over time. I admit that the only loss I ever re-watched from 98 was the finale when I came across it on a tape maybe 15+ yrs ago. Shaq was the only one that seemed bothered by it. Maybe our perceptions are what they are because I still like Shaq, which you may not. I liked Nick, too, but his antics were stale to me by the time he was finally traded. I also understand to this day, more of us than not side with Nick vs Del in that relationship because we are more comfortable blaming Del for all of Nick's problems with him. The fact that West got what he did for him showed Nick's trade value was at dirt level. To his credit, he is one of the best examples of a turnaround in tude in recent history. Artest is probably the best in that regard. Some knuckleheads like Coleman didn't figure out they were one until it was too late. Iverson another like DC. Nick had a great 2nd half of his career, tho he bounced around.
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slavavov
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 02, 2020 11:57 pm    Post subject:

I didn't think that team would win a title because they went out like wimps every year in the playoffs and seemed mentally weak. That team in the late '90s didn't give off any vibes that they were inevitably going to win the world championship.

Even when Phil came here I remember in the summer of '99 no one was picking us to even reach the Finals. Everyone said it would take two years for us to learn the tri and learn how to be mentally tough, and then maybe we would win the title. Or maybe not.

As a little kid back then I saw Malone, Stockton, Barkley, Ewing and others never win a title, so I thought I wasn't something you should expect to happen as a fan. I'm so glad I was wrong about all that.
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Steve007
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 03, 2020 1:17 am    Post subject:

I wasn’t totally confident in Phil. It gave me hope because he had rings and would get more respect, but at the time I wondered if he just won those rings because of MJ and Pippen. I quickly became more confident in him during the season though.

Wasn’t the team talking about holding on to Rambis first before making the move to get Phil?

As for Shaq, people were really tough on him before he won his first ring. Some even wondered if he needed to hit his free throws to win a title. At the time he was seen as a bit of an underachiever. And he kept getting swept in the playoffs.
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 03, 2020 1:29 am    Post subject:

I thought it was around 50-50 to win a title. Yes, the team was talented, but so was OKC with Durant, Westbrook, Harden and Ibaka. The history of the league has plenty of teams that were close and came up short. When Lebron and Durant try to join a super team to really stack the deck in their favor, it shows that even the biggest stars can feel unsure about their chances.

After 1999 things looked much worse. The team got older with the Eddie Jones for Glen Rice trade. And they were still getting owned by Utah who wasn’t going away. To make things worse, Tim Duncan emerged, the Spurs were on fire in 99 and destroyed the Lakers. So it didn’t look like the Spurs could be beaten either. Portland looked like a major problem. The 2000 Lakers looked like they were headed for a 3rd or 4th seed at best.

I remember reading that Phil Jackson teams tend to start of slow too. At the time I thought Kobe was a ballhog and didn’t realize how good he would be.

I agree with the poster that said it looked like the team was at least 2 years away and that was the OPTIMISTIC opinion at the time.
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Steve007
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 03, 2020 1:36 am    Post subject:

Speaking of the 1999 Spurs, I thought we would see an LA-Spurs matchup in the 2nd round in 2000 but Duncan was hurt and they didn’t really have a shot at defending their title until 2001. But by then the Laker team was significantly improved. That would have been a much more interesting matchup to me than the Phoenix series.

I really wanted a Lakers-Jazz conference finals in 2000 to get revenge for 97 and 98. And occasionally I’ll see someone say that Utah could beat the Lakers in 2000 and 2001 which makes me roll my eyes.

The two teams I was most worried about going into the 2000 season never even got to play the Lakers.
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activeverb
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 03, 2020 3:38 pm    Post subject:

SuperboyReformed wrote:

By the way...van exel...the whole Cancun thing is so ridiculous and prove me wrong but I think what happened there is SHaq was jealous of Nick because if you guys remember he was definitely the most popular Laker before Shaq and Kobe, and I think Shaq was a little jealous. He is the one who made a big stink about Cancun. Anyway, just a hunch. Shaq was petty back then.


The Cancun thing may have been overdone, but it there was a broader context of him continually arguing with the coach, being suspended after shoving a ref, and attracting the ire of Jerry West.

Nick had a solid career, but he never really fulfilled his promise -- never made another all-star team. Put up good stats on bad Nugget teams that never made the playoffs. He did have one nice run as a sub for Dallas.

It's anyone's guess what Shaq thought of him (and there have been lots of guesses). But we won a ring two years after trading Nick, so we didn't miss him that much. We didn't get much for him, but it might have been addition by subtraction. Nick was probably too ball-dominant and too much of a gunner to fit in on a Shaq-Kobe team.
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madsen35
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 6:51 pm    Post subject:

Here's another question: if the Lakers don't come back against Portland and go on to win the 2000 title, do they win the next season? Do Shaq and Kobe ever win a title together?
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