The Lakers dynasty way-back machine, fourteen years later

The Lakers have a storied history. If I had the channels my parents do, I might not ever leave my house… . By Howcheng, via Wikimedia Commons

I was born in 1981. The Lakers won the NBA title the year before I was born and in four of my first seven years on the planet. I was raised in a showtime world that was ruled by Magic, Kareem, Big Game, Byron, Coop, and Riley.

Then I turned eight, and for the next eleven years, I sat through what I thought was the most frustrating time.

I have perspective now, well into my 30’s, that what I went through as a fan wasn’t THAT bad. The Lakers only failed to make the playoffs once (a 9th place finish in 1993-94) in the first 23 years of my life (and still only twice in my 32 years). That being said, I wanted another championship. Sitting through them losing every year in the playoffs in the mid-90’s was less than fun.

Let me take that back. Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones, Cedric Ceballos, Vlade Divac, and Sedale Threatt were all fun guys to watch night-in and night-out. They were interesting and probably had as much to do with my love of basketball as anything else. All my Central Coast friends who rooted for the Bulls during that time were bandwagon fans — I even knew that then. I think I feel the same way about California-based Heat fans of today, but I digress… .

The 1999-2000 season was an epic one for me. It was my freshman year of college and the Lakers began a 3-year championship streak. It might not have happened though, without a fourth-quarter that still gives me goose bumps.

Which brings me to something I caught on TV tonight. I don’t get Time Warner Cable SportsNet, (the flagship Lakers channel) at my house — but my parents do at theirs. Last night I was over at their house for dinner and, the 2000 NBA Western Conference Finals were on. It’s a series called “Timeless Lakers.” It was Game 7, the one that Shaq took an alley-oop from Kobe to seal and started the dynasty that was the Lakers of the early 2000’s.

Suddenly, I was right back in my freshman year of college. I was months away from having a cell phone. Years away from texting for the first time. My new computer could download music from Napster, and it took at least 15-30 minutes to download a song.

I definitely enjoyed the way-back machine that the replay of the game took me into, but I enjoyed watching the caliber of play even more. You don’t really see teams with deep talent and fundamentally sound play like the Lakers and Blazers had anymore. Think about it. Rasheed Wallace and Steve Smith (in their prime) along with Scottie Pippen, Bonzi Wells, Arvydas Sabonis, Greg Anthony, Damon Stoudamire, Brian Grant all on the Blazers. A lot has been written about what the impact of losing the 2000 Western Conference Finals was for the Blazers franchise and the city of Portland. Would they have still become laughingstock has-beens? What would Rasheed Wallace vs. Chris Webber match-ups have been like over the next few years had Brian Shaw not banked in a 3-pointer at the end of the 3rd quarter of that game?

On the Lakers, sure, there was Shaq and Kobe, sure. But one forgets contributions from guys like Rick Fox, Robert Horry, A.C. Green, Ron Harper, and Brian Shaw. Watching the game over again, it’s so clear how hungry Lakers fans had become at that point. The noise inside Staples Center is still electrifying.

Assembling depth of talent like that just doesn’t happen anymore — another reason to appreciate channels like the Lakers’ new channel. And another reason why both my family and I should be thankful I don’t have it at home.

Here’s Brian Shaw‘s banked-in 3-pointer at the end of the 3rd quarter (go to about 5:50 into the video)

The short version of the comeback –

If you want to watch the whole game, go here and watch all 12 segments. First, though, don’t forget to tell your loved ones that you’ll see them in a few hours.