Ranking the Lakers' championships
10
2001-02
The
Lakers didn't play with much urgency during the regular season and
didn't have to play with any urgency in the NBA Finals vs. the Nets. In
between, there was an exciting seven-game series with the Kings in the
Western Conference finals. But if not for Big Shot Rob's game-winner in
Game 4 of that series and the OT win in Sacramento in Game 7, it would
have been a largely forgettable postseason. Or as largely forgettable
as any postseason ending in a championship can be.

9
1981-82
After
an early exit from the postseason in 1981 and a slow start to the
1981-82 season, the Lakers fired head coach Paul Westhead and replaced
him with assistant Pat Riley. The move paid off in a second
championship in three seasons, as Magic Johnson once again vexed the
76ers in the Finals, earning Finals MVP honors for the second time in
his young career.

8
2008-09
From
a talent standpoint, the current Lakers squad may not hold up when
compared to its predecessors. But it did win 65 regular-season games
(tied for the third-highest total in franchise history), it did provide
a "for the ages" moment (Derek Fisher's 3-pointers in Game 4) and it
allowed Kobe Bryant to claim a ring to call his own AND Phil Jackson to
pass Red Auerbach with his 10th title. That isn't too shabby.

7
1999-2000
After
falling short of expectations for several seasons since acquiring
Shaquille O'Neal in 1996, the Lakers finally got a Hall-of-Fame coach
to go with their Hall-of-Fame center. With Phil Jackson calling the
shots, L.A. won 67 regular-season games, Shaq won his first MVP award
and (after a miraculous comeback against Portland in Game 7 of the
Western Conference finals) the Lakers won their first post-Showtime
title.

6
2000-01
For
much of the season, it appeared as if the Lakers' run of titles was
going to end at one. But fueled by the return of Derek Fisher (who'd
been injured for most of the year), the Lakers followed up their
lackluster regular season with a truly dominant postseason. L.A. swept
Portland, Sacramento and San Antonio on its way to the Finals, where
only an OT victory by Philadelphia in Game 1 kept them from becoming
the first team to go 15-0 in the playoffs.

5
1986-87
Magic
Johnson won his first MVP award during the regular season, but it was
in Game 4 of the Finals that he really hammered home how valuable he
really was. With the Celtics leading 106-105 and seven seconds away
from evening the series, Johnson hit a "junior, junior skyhook" over
Kevin McHale and Robert Parrish to give L.A. the win and the momentum
necessary to win the series.

4
1979-80
With
their captain nursing a sore ankle, the Lakers turned to a rookie in
Game 6 of the Finals. Of course, Magic Johnson was no ordinary rookie.
With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar watching from home, Johnson clinched the first
title of the Showtime era with a performance for the ages -- 42 points,
15 rebounds and seven assists, while playing all five positions.

3
1987-88
After
L.A. won it all in 1987, head coach Pat Riley guaranteed they were
going to do it all again. The Lakers made good on their coach's
promise, becoming the first team to win back-to-back titles in 20
years. It wasn't an easy road, however, as L.A. was extended to seven
games by the Jazz, Mavericks and Pistons. And Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made
certain Riley couldn't guarantee a third straight, stuffing a towel in
his coach's mouth when he took the podium at the victory parade.

2
1984-85
The
ninth time proved to be a charm for the Lakers. After eight losses to
the hated Celtics in the NBA Finals (including a particularly
disheartening one just the season before), L.A. finally beat Boston. A
38-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar helped the Lakers bounce back from the
Memorial Day Massacre and became the oldest player to earn Finals MVP
honors.

1
1971-72
The
regular season included a then-record 69 wins and a 33-game winning
streak (which will likely ALWAYS be a record). But Jerry West finally
getting his ring (after eight unsuccessful trips to the championship
round, including one in which The Logo was named Finals MVP in a losing
effort) is what puts L.A.'s first championship team over the top and
atop our list.

[uredio madmax17 - 15. lipnja 2009. u 23:19]