Showing posts with label Los Angeles lakers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Los Angeles lakers. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

The G.O.A.T and the Lakers Win the Championship

         The Los Angeles Lakers are the winners of the 2020 NBA Championship which marks their 17th as a franchise putting them in a tie for 1st with the Celtics. In what was an unprecedented season that almost took a full year to complete, the Lakers basically dominated the playoffs. At first, they looked rusty and the doubters had everyone else winning but the Lakers but once the playoffs started they won each of the first 3 series by 4-1 and was up 3-1 in the last before giving up and game and winning it 4-2. The majority of analysts seemed to think the Clippers were the best in the league with the best player in the league. It turns out they were wrong about both. The lakers as a whole are a veteran team with most of the guys playing over 30. Out of the guys who got significant time in the playoffs all of them are over 25 with 8 total players out of the 17 man roster over 30. Anthony Davis needs to be resigned but if they can get the bulk of these guys back and LeBron stays healthy they might have a chance next year. The bubble ran from July to October with no positive tests which was a success but it had to be difficult staying there the whole time and playing without fans. The two key players other than the stars this postseason was Caldwell-Pope and Rondo with Green as probably the worst player. 


        We make our way to the G.O.A.T LeBron James who won his 4th NBA Championship and 4th NBA Finals MVP. After the injury, last year and even when he initially moved to LA analyst said "This is for just the movies, Hollywood lifestyle", "He can't win in the West it is too hard", "The injury is the beginning of the end", "He is done making the finals", and "Kawhi Leonard the best player in the league." That doesn't count the trolls or the Skip Bayless's in the world who want to find something wrong with everything LeBron does. In his 9th NBA Finals in 10 years and his 10th overall he led his team to the best regular-season record in the West and finished second in the MVP race. With all the negativity and the doubters can we blame him for wanting his damn respect or telling all the haters that he did it. We all know the LeBron James story and where his journey began so I don't know what he is going to say at the Hall of Fame speech but with as much hate as he receives because of the platforms the haters have now he should say whatever he wants.  The comparisons with Jordan will continue to happen no matter how many people want it to stop and have this fantasy idea of who Jordan was but one of them continues to add to his resume and the other, well the other retired 3 times. If he ever got to 6 rings the conversation would almost be over because only two main things seem to argue when saying Jordan is better than LeBron which is the 6-0 Finals record and the making of super teams. The first one is true but it is a team sport and it takes a team to when championships. With that said though if he got to 6 and goes to 12 or 13 that is better than the perfect record every day of the week. Right now as it stands LeBron has led teams to the Finals over half his career. The second sticking point the LeBron versus Jordan conversation is the fact he had to create superteams. You can really only make the case he created one superteam and with that said the Cavs organization had 7 years to improve the team and they didn't. The competition he has faced in the Finals by year looks like this 3 HOF, 2 HOF, 3 HOF, 5 HOF, 4 HOF, 3 HOF, 3 HOF, 4 HOF, 4 HOF, and this year he got an easy one with maybe 1 and probably none. At this point, the Hall of Famers are predictions on some of them but the probability for them is high. The talent he went up against in the Finals is easily greater than anything anyone has faced and to come out of it with 4 championships on 3 different teams is a testament to his greatness. The King's reign won't last forever but if you are a fan of the NBA, appreciate a once in a lifetime player because The G.O.A.T only has a few more years.  





Thursday, March 2, 2017

Who is the G.O.A.T - NBA Edition Part 8



Shaquille O'Neal




Next up in the series is "The Big Aristotle", "Diesel", "Superman", "The Big Cactus", "The Big Shamrock", "Shaq" Shaquille O'Neal.


Current Ranks



Regular Season 


Games Played - 35th with 1207
Minutes Played - 24th with 41918
Field Goals - 6th with 11330
FG % - 5th with .582
Total Rebounds - 14th with 13099
Blocks - 8th with 2732
Assists - 196th  with 3026
Points - 7th with 28596




Playoffs


Games Played - 6th with 216
Minutes Played - 6th with 8098
Field Goals - 3rd with 2041
FG % - 5th with .563
Total Rebounds - 4th with 2508
Blocks - 4th with 459
Assists - 41st with 582
Points - 5th with 5250





Accolades



4x NBA Champion
3x NBA Finals MVP
1x NBA MVP
15x NBA All-Star
3x NBA All-Star Game MVP
8x All-NBA First Team
2x All-NBA Second Team 3x NBA All-Defensive Second Team
2X NBA Scoring Champion
1x National College Player of the Year 
1x Olympic Medalist 



Shaq played on 6 teams in his 19-year career which included the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics. He went to LSU where he was a 2-time All-American and National Player of the Year. After LSU Shaq was drafted 1st overall in the 1992 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic where he became Rookie of the Year, 4-time NBA All-Star, 3 playoff appearances and 1 NBA Final appearance. In 1996 he joined the Los Angeles Lakers which turned out to be the best move of his career. O'Neal would go on to win his only MVP along with 3 championships while teaming up with Kobe Bryant. After a 2003 finals loss, the Lakers tried to make a super team which included Karl Malone and Gary Payton to go along with Shaq and Kobe. The Lakers went on to lose to the Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals which led to him getting traded to the Miami Heat. In 2006 while playing with Dwayne Wade, Shaq would capture his 4th NBA Championship. After that, he became a journeyman in a 5-year span that seen him join 4 different teams. Shaq was on of the biggest, powerful and most dominant forces down low and to ever play the game of basketball.  He dominated with pure power and footwork, but is Shaq the G.O.A.T?

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Who is the G.O.A.T - NBA Edition Part 6



Kareem Abdul-Jabbar





Up next in the series is the all-time leading scorer in NBA history and the king of the sky hook Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.


Current Ranks


Regular Season 


Games Played - 2nd with 1560
Minutes Played - 1st with 57446
Field Goals - 1st with 15837
Total Rebounds - 3rd 17440
Blocks - 3rd with 3189
Steals - 93rd with 1160
Assists - 41st with 5660
Points - 1st with 38387



Playoffs


Games Played - 4th with 237
Minutes Played - 2nd with 8851
Field Goals - 1st with 4422
Total Rebounds - 5th with 2481
Blocks - 2nd with 476
Steal - 27th with 189
Assists - 27th with 767
Points - 2nd with 5762




Accolades



6x NBA Champion
2x NBA Finals MVP
6x NBA MVP
19x NBA All-Star
2x NBA All-Star Game MVP
10x All-NBA First Team
5x All-NBA Second Team 
5x NBA All-Defensive First Team
6x NBA All-Defensive Second Team
2x NBA Scoring Champion
4x NBA blocks leader 
3x NCAA Champion 
3x NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding player
3x National College Player of the Year 



 Kareem has a few things that set him apart from the rest which include 20 seasons played, College accomplishments, 6 NBA Championships, and the Sky Hook. He won 71 consecutive games in High School and 3 consecutive Nationals Championships while playing for John Wooden at UCLA. With what many would consider the best college career any player has ever had, Kareem dominated piling up the awards and accolades. He was a number one overall pick in the 1969 draft to the Milwaukee Bucks. He won his first of six championships along with three of his six NBA MVP awards while playing for the Bucks. In 1975 he got traded to the Lakers which became a blessing in disguise because in 1979 they drafted another top 10 players of all-time Magic Johnson. They would form one of the best duos in the history of the NBA winning 5 NBA Championships. Kareem is slightly over looked even as a top 5 player if you take into account all of the accolades and where he is ranked in every category including longevity of his career, but where does he rank as the G.O.A.T?

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Who is the G.O.A.T - NBA Edition Part 4



Magic Johnson




Next up in the series is Magic Johnson. The man who redefined the point guard position.


Current Ranks


Regular Season 


Games Played - 214th with 906
Minutes Played - 93rd with 33245
Field Goals - 98th with 6211
Total Rebounds - 130th with 6559
Steals - 21st with 1724
Assists - 5th with 10141
Points - 75th with 17707


Playoffs


Games Played - 13th with 190
Minutes Played - 9th with 7538
Field Goals - 17th with 2552
Total Rebounds - 18th with 1465
Steal - 3rd with 358
Assists - 1st with 2346
Points - 14th with 3701





Accolades



9x NBA Final Appearances
5x NBA Champion
3x NBA Finals MVP
3x NBA MVP
12x NBA All-Star
2x NBA All-Star Game MVP
9x All-NBA First Team
1x All-NBA Second Team
4x NBA assists leader
2x NBA steals leader
1x Olympic Medalist


In only 13 seasons of work Magic Johnson became one of the greatest to ever do it. Magic wasn't the  highest scoring player but made up for that with steals and assists. Magic made the finals in 9 of his 13 seasons with 5 NBA Championships. Johnson born in Lansing, Michigan stayed near home and went to Michigan State for his college career. While in college he won the National Championship, in that game he faced is rival Larry Bird of Indiana State. Magic was drafted first overall by the Lakers in 1979. He joined forces with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and won the NBA title and NBA finals MVP in his rookie year. Magic won all of his championships with Kareem playing along side of him. The major case against him is that he had another top 10 guy playing along side of him. Kareem makes a strong case for the greatest of all time and both are possibly top 5 of all time. The stats don't add up to some of the other superstars because of the early retirement due to HIV, but the numbers over a 13 year stretch and the NBA titles are worthy of his inclusion in the greatest of all time conversation.