Everything was going to plan as the whole league was intimidated by the “Hall of Fame Team.” Team being the operative word, the Lakers were actually playing like one. That’s right… they were on pace for 70 wins. The Lakers started out of the box with 18 wins and only 3 losses. These guys were labeled as the “Hall of Fame Team” and years later it seems they should be labeled as the All Misrepresented Team. Here are the reasons the 2004 Western Conference Champion Los Angeles Lakers did not underachieve and why history should rewrite itself. It is time that misconception and a bunch of others are laid to rest.
When any team adds star player(s) to a team with other star players, the line “Look at the 2004 Lakers!” is readily used. Now, you add a hall of fame PG and a hall of fame PF to a team already consisting of a hall of fame SG and a hall of fame center-even Bill Plaschke could tell this team was as loaded as Lindsay Lohan.Īs of today, this team is laughed at within several basketball circles. Even while dominating the field, Los Angeles had long been outplayed by PG’s and PF’s. The Lakers were freshly removed from three straight championship titles achieved by surrounding their two all universe talents with quality roll players that sat on the perimeter and made opponents pay for double teaming Kobe and Shaq. Lakers fans everywhere began to envision basketball perfection, perpetually on display, performed by four of the games all time greats on basketball’s biggest Staples sponsored stage. The first time you saw Mitch Kupchak sandwiched between Gary Payton’s mouth and Karl Malone’s rippling biceps, the Lakers were officially welcoming one of the best Point Guards and Power Forwards in NBA history to the city. Today it’s time to think about the Lakers team that we have repeatedly been told not to miss: The 2003-2004 Los Angeles Lakers. Recently Kurt wrote about the Lakers team he missed. Enjoy, and don’t forget to check out the Lakers podcast with the LA Times/ESPN where Brian and I talk some about the point guard position this year and a little about teams like this.
Today we turn this space over to Aaron, who reached out to me wanting to write about the 2003-04 team.
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