Trying to separate the five best Los Angeles Laker championship teams (sorry, Minneapolis, I'm putting your rings aside because I have no concept of the NBA in its infancy) is kind of like the Octomom trying to pick her five favorite among her 14 children.
Oh, wait. I probably treasure the 10 L.A. titles more.
First, a tip of the cap to the current Purple and Gold, who won the franchise's 15th overall (and 10th in L.A., obviously) with their 99-86 victory over the worthy Orlando Magic on Sunday night for a 4-1 series triumph.
It was good to see this edition make good on its vow that it needed to be tested to bring out its best. Seven losses, including three to the pesky Houston Rockets, certainly toughened the Lakers.
But does the latest title even make the Lakers' top five?
Let's find out.
No. 5: 1999-2000 Lakers
Regular-season record: 67-15. NBA playoff record: 15-8
This team had, perhaps, the best rival of all the L.A. teams in the Portland Trail Blazers. A 19-game Laker winning streak helped them win the Pacific Conference and the all-important home-court advantage in the playoffs.
Boy, did the Lakers need that. Sacramento pushed them to five games in the first round, and the Trail Blazers came back from a 3-1 series deficit in the conference finals to take a 13-point lead going into the fourth quarter of Game 7 at Staples Center. The Blazers upped the lead to 15, 75-60, before the Lakers went on an improbable 15-0 run behind Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant to steal an 89-84 win.
"This is what makes champions,"' a 21-year-old Bryant was quoted as saying. "We watched Game 7s growing up all the time, and to finally play in one is a real thrill."
L.A. then dispatched the Indiana Pacers in six games for its first title since 1988.
Even though this group had the second-most losses for a Laker championship team, it did win 67 games and showed the heart it had seemingly lacked the previous two seasons.
No. 4: 1984-85 Lakers
Regular-season record: 62-20. NBA playoff record: 15-4
The 62 wins were rather pedestrian for a Laker championship team, but the disappointment of the loss to the Boston Celtics in the Finals of the 1983-84 season added to this team's lore.
The Lakers won the Pacific by an NBA record 20 games, despite losing Jamaal Wilkes for the year at midseason because of torn knee ligaments.
After losing only two playoff games going into the Finals rematch with the hated Celtics, L.A. started the series on the wrong end of the 148-114 Memorial Day Massacre at the Forum. Not only did the Lakers come back and win the series 4-2, but it won the deciding game on Boston's parque floor.
Sweet.
No. 3: 2000-01 Lakers
Regular-season record: 56-26. NBA playoff record: 15-1
Forget the regular-season record -- although these guys were able to turn it on at the end of the season when they needed to. L.A. won its last eight games to eke out a Pacific Division title over the Sacramento Kings by a game.
The Lakers' playoff run puts them so high on the list. They were more dominant than any other championship team. Ever.
Just think about it. They swept Portland one year after almost losing to the Blazers in the Western Conference Finals. They swept the Kings after needing all 82 regular-season games to run them down for the division crown. And any sweep of San Antonio is extra special.
Only Allen Iverson's heroics in Game 1 of the NBA Finals -- leading Philadelphia to a 107-101 overtime win -- prevented the Lakers from ending the year on a 23-game winning streak. They ended up going 23-1 at the end of the season and made it look like they could run off five or six straight titles with Shaq and Kobe going strong.
No. 2: 1986-87 Lakers
Regular-season record: 65-17. NBA playoff record: 15-3
Another bounce-back season after a shocking Western Conference Finals loss to the Houston Rockets in 1986 (that shot that Ralph Sampson put up to beat the Lakers by one in the clinching Game 5 still makes me gag).
Some were calling this group -- the Magic Johnson-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar-James Worthy triumverate -- the best Laker team ever. They added Mychal Thompson and rolled along all season, with Magic clearly replacing Cap Kareem as the team's leader.
Only a 51-point effort by Golden State's Sleepy Floyd (29 coming in the fourth quarter) in Game 4 of the Western Conference semis (a 129-121 Warriors win) prevented L.A. from going unbeaten heading into the Finals.
There, the Lakers did stumble twice against the heralded, hated Celtics that overcame a rash of injuries on guts alone just to get to the finals, much less win two games from L.A.
The championship will be remembered for Magic's baby hook in the Garden that gave the Lakers a 107-106 win in Game 4 that put L.A. up 3-1.
And now, drum roll, please.
No. 1: 1971-72 Lakers
Regular-season record: 69-13. NBA playoff record: 12-3
Until somebody named Jordan came along, this season set the standard as the greatest regular season in NBA history.
The Lakers, of course, won 33 straight games -- they did not lose in November and December! -- which is still a record for all professional team sports.
On a team that included Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, it was Gail Goodrich who led the team in scoring at 25.9 points per game. L.A. averaged 121 points per game as a team.
The Lakers dispatched of defending champion Milwaukee (and its hot-shot center, Kareem Abdul Jabbar) in six games in the conference finals, then dispatched of the New York Knicks for the title.
The championship was the Lakers' first in Los Angeles, and you know what they say. The first one is always the most special.
Unless the Octomom says otherwise.
As for the current Lakers? No shame in their victory. Just string three or four more, and then they'll be in the discussion.
Keywords: Elgin Baylor, James Worthy, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Wilt Chamberlain
