2003-2004 LA Lakers
"Uneasy lies the Head that wears the Crown" is one of my favorite Shakespeare quotes of all-time. For my constituents that don't easily understand what the bard is saying, it's this: When you're the King, sh#t is very stressful! Just think of BIG "mo money mo problems" and you get the jest.
The Kobe-Shaq led Lakers dynasty probably comprehend that quote better than anyone. Coming off a 3rd straight championship in '02, they automatically thought they'd win a ring every year; you probably did too. It appeared as if Shaq thought that as well. Obviously adhering to the cliche of just showing up would equivocate to wins, O'Neal came into the 2002-03 season out of shape and uninspired. If it wasn't for Kobe averaging 40/game in the month of February (*wearing Air Jordans) and playing like the REAL MVP of 02-03 (sorry eventual champ Timmy D), Los Angeles would've been hard-pressed to make the playoffs.
Well they did make the playoffs, even appearing in the conference Finals vs San Antonio. Shaq's lack of conditioning was exposed by Tim Duncan and the last you saw of the 02-03 Lakers was a crying, shocked, and dejected Kobe on the sideline. You knew the brass of LA's organization, spoiled by rings, were going to undergo major plastic surgery on the team during the summer.
Enter the leagues 2nd leading career scorer in power forward Karl "Mailman" Malone and Gary "the Glove" Payton. On paper, the Lakers seemed to be indestructible. When was the last time an NBA team had 4 Hall of Famers playing on the same team at the same time? But what the Lakers didn't know was that Payton was closer to "the Mitten" and the "Mailman"'s delivery schedule drastically changed.
But that didn't affect them during the regular season, or even the first leg of the playoffs for that matter. The individually laden stars of TinselTown ran out of gas versus the Detroit Pistons team in the 04 Finals. Despite having home court advantage and being overwhelming favorites to win it all, the Lakers lost in 5 games and in effect, ending the Kobe/Shaq dynasty.
aww man Dice, I remember that team. Good selection. I'm anxious to see the top 5, b/c I think this team could've been a lot higher.
ReplyDeleteBut other than that, you're so awesome Dice!
*don't you think so too ghost-reader....if you made it this far, voice your opinion...good/bad or ugly.