Lakers Dynasty: The 1988 Los Angeles Lakers Back to Back

The Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s were a great dynasty for several reasons and more reasons because they had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Earvin Johnson and Pat Riley as their head coach and Jerry West as their general manager. They had the best center of all-time, the best point guard of all-time, one of the best head coaches of all-time in Pat Riley, one of the best executives of all-time in Jerry West. And a great chief executive in Jerry Buss, again one of the best ever. All these people are Hall of Famers and in Jerry West a Hall of Famer as one of the best players of all-time as well as one of the best general managers of all-time.

And you add in James Worthy another Hall of Famer and a guy who played both small forward and power forward at 6'9 225 pounds the size to play both positions and you throw in their fast break, I believe the best ever with their ability to defend, rebound, run the floor. Kareem, Magic, Riley and their fast break is what they are known for, but these are just some of the reasons why they were a great dynasty.

You had Jerry West putting the teams together, Pat Riley leading the teams and then Kareem and Magic, both two of the best players of all-time not just at their positions and you can make a good case for both of them that they are the best basketball players of all-time period as their lead players, with Worthy backing them up, who on most other teams in the NBA would be the best player on the team, but since he played for the Showtime Lakers he was the third best player.

The Showtime Lakers had three of the best players in the league all on the same team with the best head coach in the league at least at the time in Pat Riley with their three franchise players. One or two of them even could have a bad game, not in a championship game, at least not two of them and the Lakers could still win. Because two or just one of them was great enough to pick up the slack for one or two players. The Celtics back then were the only other team in the NBA that had that.

With all that, that's still not enough to be NBA champions, that's most of the pieces, but not all of them. They had great role players as well, Byron Scott great outside shooter and defender, Michael Cooper the same thing and with the ability to play both guard positions and small forward. Kurt Rambis excellent post defender, rebounder and ran the floor very well and a great hustle player. AC Green another excellent rebounder and post defender who ran the floor very well and could score a little as well. Mychal Thompson a great third big man, the ability to play both center and power Forward. Could rebound defend, score and ran the floor very well as well.

The Showtime Lakers are known for their fast break, but what doesn't get mentioned is why they are a great fast break team. Back then the Lakers were also one of the best defensive teams if not the best defensive team as well as a very good rebounding team and the best passing team in the league. Their defense and rebounding led to their fast breaks, with Earvin Johnson the best Point Guard the NBA has ever seen running the Laker show.

But with Kareem, Magic, Worthy, their outside shooters, they were also a great half court team. The Showtime Lakers were like a great movie or TV show with a great producer, director, great lead actors and great character actors with everyone knowing their roles and playing them up to their best ability. Which is why I believe the Showtime Lakers are the best NBA dynasty of all time.

NBA-TV: Vintage NBA- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Source:NBA-TV- NBA writer Peter Vecsey talking about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

"Looking Back: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar NBA Career" 

From VN Breyes 

If the 1970s and 1980s are the two best decades of the NBA as far as the quality of play, the players, the teams, perhaps not every year of the 1970s, but certainly the 1980s, it's hard to argue that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is not the best player ever, simply because he was the best player from the best era of the NBA. You could argue that Earvin Johnson and Larry Bird were better all around players during the 2nd half of the 1980s, but I don't think you can say they were the best players in the NBA for as long as Kareem was. 

I don't think there is a better two-play player than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I think what makes players like Kareem, Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Julius Erving, Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, more special than other great players, is because they weren't just great two-way players, but they were dominant two-way players. 

Kareem is probably the best offensive player ever, but he's also one of the best defensive players ever. That's why I have him over even his own teammate Earvin Magic Johnson who was certainly the best player in the NBA, at least in the 2nd hall of the 1980s. But Kareem was a better two-way player. 

NBA-TV: 'The History of the Lakers vs Celtics Rivalry

Source:NBA-TV- Larry Legend vs. Magic Johnson: the two NBA players of the 1980s.

"A brief video which talks about the Lakers vs Celtics rivalry that began in the early 1960s and continues today." 

From Arch 91 Reborn

To say the Los Angeles Lakers Boston Celtics rivalry is great is a huge understatement. (What's next: water is still wet?) As former Oakland Raiders head coach John Madden said, for a rivalry to be great, two teams have to be good at the same time. The games that the two teams play against each other have to mean something. Championships and playoff positioning has to be at stake. 

The two worst teams in a league or two of the worst teams in the league may hate each others guts but so what. And they may play very close games against each other but so what. Bad teams tend to play close games against each other. And one reason for that, is a lot of times when they play each other, neither team is good enough to actually win the game. It's the team that makes the most mistakes that loses the game, which is different from actually winning the game. And I know that looks different in record books but thats how it is. 

What separates the Lakers-Celtics from everyone else in the NBA, as well as most rivalries in the pro sports, including the long 45 year rivalry between the Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers, is their history that goes back to the early 1960s. 

The Lakers-Celtics rivalry in the 1980s represented the best of the NBA, with the two best head coaches in the NBA in Pat Riley and K.C. Jones, the three best players in Kareem, Magic, and Larry Legend, and the two best franchises of that decade as well. 

When the Lakers played the Celtics and vice-versa, it wasn't about just winning that particular game or NBA Finals, but about beating the best and remaining the best in NBA basketball. Knowing that the other team was always in their way when they played each other. 

When the Lakers beat the Celtics and vice-versa, they knew that they were the best, because they just beat the best. That's why this was the best rivalry in all of pro sports in the 1980s, because they were always playing each other to be the best that the NBA had to offer.