Which is your favorite team in the NBA? Of course, many of you would say L.A. Lakers!
The franchise for the Lakers was initially began in Detroit prior to it being moved to Minneapolis. That is when the team received the famous title that they are renowned for and that the state is nicknamed – Land of the ten thousand Lakes.
The infamous team won five different league championships before the were than moved to L. A. From this draft they chose George Mikan who later in life became one of the basketball’s best center.
With the assistance of coach John Kundla the Lakers team was ready to the NBL championship in the ‘47-’48 season. It was in this time that they were chosen with 3 other groups to challenge in the Basketball organisation of America. From this they won the ‘48-’49 BAA championship. George Mikan wasn’t the sole player that would help to bring greatness to the Lakers. When the team moved to L. A. In 1960 their game only got better. It was than that Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Shrivel Chamberlain, and Gail Goodrich all made their way into the Hall-Of-Fame also.
Even allowing for this success the Lakers they appeared to be frustrated by one team – the Boston Celtics.
They went up in contrast team 6 times and each time they lost the championship. Fans were certain that the Lakers would ultimately secure their win against the Celtics in 1972 when Bill Sharman had taken charge of the team.
Sharman was one of the best coach ( he won Coach of the Year award ) and along with his best player – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – the team looked unstoppable. Yet, the Lakers were still unable to win a championship. That is until Earvin “Magic” Johnson joined the team. Under Coach Pat Riley the Lakers managed to head to the championship finals 8 times in the 1980’s. They won five of those championships out of eight. Things started to look up for them in 1996 when they signed on the greenhorn from the Charlotte Wasps – Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.