5 Greatest Lakers Moments Fans Can Relive During NBA Hiatus
By Michael Luciano
If there is one fanbase that is particularly peeved that the NBA is currently suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic gripping the nation, it's the Los Angeles Lakers' faithful, as LeBron James and Anthony Davis had them perched atop the Western Conference as they eyed another banner for the Staples Center. While the league waits for America's containment efforts to move forward, Lakers fans can make the wait for the NBA's return seem less drab by remembering these five legendary Laker moments.
5. Magic Johnson Returns to Basketball at All-Star Game
After retiring from the NBA following his HIV diagnosis, Johnson left the whole NBA world speechless when he suited up in the 1992 All-Star Game. Behind 25 points and nine assists, Johnson led the West to a convincing 40-point win while taking home MVP honors. Johnson would make a brief return in 1996, but this stands as one of the seminal moments of the last few decades.
4. Lakers Take Down the Celtics in 2010
In the first post-Magic and post-Bird version of the league's most storied rivalry, it was Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and the Lakers who ended up on the winning side. After falling behind three games to two, LA mounted a furious comeback, winning two low-scoring games in Los Angeles to seal yet another championship for the purple and gold. This win would give Kobe his fifth, and final, title.
3. The Comeback vs Portland in 2000
The Shaquille O'Neal/Kobe Bryant Lakers went into the fourth quarter of the 2000 Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers trailing by 15 points, but anyone with half a brain knew not to count these two superstars out until there were zeros on the clock. Portland was held to just 13 points in the final stanza, while Shaq and Kobe combined for 48 of the Lakers 89 points in one of the great comebacks in NBA history, punctuated by a legendary alley-oop from Kobe to Shaq.
2. Rookie Magic Plays Center, Leads Lakers to a Title
With Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scheduled to miss Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals, at which point the Lakers led the Philadelphia 76ers three games to two, the 6-9 Magic Johnson stepped in and filled his role at the center position. Johnson not only held his own, but he thrived, scoring 42 points while grabbing 15 rebounds in a win that handed the Lakers their first title since 1972. On this day, one of the great legends of the game in Magic announcing his arrival to the world.
1. Kobe's 81-Point Game
Only Wilt Chamberlain can claim to have scored more points in an NBA game than the Black Mamba did on that night against the Toronto Raptors. Bryant exploded in the second half, dropping 57 of his 81 in the second half, as Jalen Rose and the Raptors could only look to the heavens in disbelief. This was one of the trademark moments of the 2000s before Bryant's passing, and it's taken on even greater significance following that unthinkable tragedy.
Check out Knuckleheads featuring Shaq and hosted by Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles.