It was the summer of 2003, and Michael Jordan re-re-retired. After being ousted in the 2nd round, the Lakers added Karl Malone and Gary Payton, moves that everyone involved with and fans of the NBA thought would bring the title back to the city of Los Angeles.
Despite a rigorous traveling schedule Kobe Bryant had to maintain due to legal issues, he was still able to average 24 points 5 rebounds & 5 assists for the season, playing alongside 3 potential Hall Of Fame players.
The Lakers captured the Pacific Division title (thanks to a Kobe game winning 3 pointer in Portland) and stormed through the West in the Playoffs, including defeating the then MVP Kevin Garnett.
Mayor Jim Hahn had already scheduled the parade, and I’m sure I remember Jannero Pargo & Kareem Rush shooting “I’m going to Disneyland!” commercials.
Waiting was another shooting guard from Philly on his own quest. He and a kid form Dominguez High School in Compton were able to do the unthinkable and defeated Kobe Bryant in the NBA Finals.
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It is time for Kobe Bean Bryant to get his Kyra Sedgwick on. It’s time to be The Closer.
He’s been here before. He has experienced triumph, like eliminating the Sacramento Kings in overtime of game 7 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals. He has also failed, blowing a 3-1 lead against the Phoenix Suns in 2006.
But for Kobe to remain a relevant top tier superstar, he must continue to close out cases.
He must keep making hit records or soon he will become the NBA’s version of hip-hop’s Big Daddy Kane; well respected and revered in the game, but far removed from making hit records again.
The new youth movement ushered in by Kobe has caught up with him. It is nothing now for rookies to come in and score 30 to 40 points on any given night.
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A funny thing happened in Inglewood one day. A young upstart duo made up of
a savvy point guard and an athletic country boy busted onto the national scene by defeating Magic Johnson and the flashy world champion Los Angeles Lakers in game 2 of the NBA Western Conference Semifinals.
The Lakers couldn’t guard the pick and roll.
The Utah Jazz shockingly pushed the series to 7 games with their hard nosed style of ball.
They would go on to lose in 7, but a new era in the Western Conference was dawning just as the Lakers golden sun was begging to set.
Nearly 10 years after their epic 1988 7-game battle, the Lakers/Jazz rivalry experienced a re-birth.
The Lakers were eliminated in the 1997 NBA Western Conference Semifinals (4-1) by the Jazz in what will forever be remembered for the most famous pair of air-balls ever.
Vengeance would soon come. The bad blood was apparent at beginning of the 1998 season. In the first game of the season, Shaquille O’Neal slapped Greg Ostertag in a pre-game scuffle.
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Shaq might have gotten some chuckles with his rap over the summer, but Kobe and the Lakers are the ones doing the laughing.
Kobe Bryant has led the Lakers to a better regular season record than 6 of the Shaquille O’Neal led Lakers teams, and is slowly etching his Lakers era in stone.
1996-1997 – 56-26 (Lost in Semi-Finals to Jazz)
1997-1998 – 61-21 (Lost in Conf-Finals to Jazz)
2000-2001 – 56-26 (Won Championship)
2001-2002 – 58-24 (Won Championship)
2002-2003 – 50-32 (Lost in Semi-Finals to Spurs)
2003-2004 – 56-26 (Lost in Finals to Pistons)
2008-2009 – ?
It has been said that he who laughs last laughs best. In the wake of the Shaquille O’Neal trade, it looked as if Shaq and Lakers haters would get the last laugh when the Miami Heat won the 2006 NBA Championship. Shaquille earned his fourth ring (which he won without Kobe moreover), Caron Butler was an All-Star, and all the Lakers had to show for it was Kwame Brown.
The Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak apparently didn’t pull the trigger on deals that would have landed the team the likes of Carlos Boozer and Baron Davis. This eventually led to the summer of 2007. After another disappointing playoff appearance, Kobe Bryant finally said he wanted out.
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