by Texas Lakers Fan on Sat Aug 04, 2012 1:55 pm
My Top 5:
1. 2004 Season - After signing the Glove and Mailman I knew we'd be unstoppable. We had just lost to the Spurs in the playoffs. I live in a Spurs family and after we signed Malone and Payton I was running my mouth the entire summer. We got off to a great start. Won 18 of our first 21 games and it looked we would continue to dominate the competition all the way to title #15. Unfortnately injuries to Malone derailed our championship hopes. I still haven't gotten the 2004 loss. I remember I went outside and just stared at the sky for several hours. I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed. Still don't. I grew up idolizing Kobe and Shaq. I loved those guys. They're the reason I started watching basketball. It was so fun winning them win all those championships and it was so sad after the end of the season because I knew it was over. The Kobe/Shaq dynasty was over. It was so depressing. Than seeing Shaq being traded to Miami and winning a championship was very tough to stomach.
2. 2009 Season - After a humilating loss in the Finals to our arch rivals the Boston Celtics I was so anxious for the season start. We were basically getting the #1 pick in the draft with the return of Andrew Bynum who had shown signs of greatness the previous year. From start to finish I really felt that was our year. That was our redemption season. We were out to prove everyone who called us a soft team that we were ready to take that next step. People questioned our toughness in the postseason after we let an undermanned Houston Rockets team to the brink of elimination. I'll never forget Mark Jackson saying he's done picking the Lakers after our embarassing loss in game 6. I'll never forget Magic saying he was embarassed of the Lakers after game 4. Things looked bleak. I didn't lose hope. I knew this adversity we went through would help us in the long run. I was right. I remember crying after we won it all in Orlando. I was so happy. I was real happy for Kobe as well. He finally put that he can't win without Shaq BS to rest.
3. 2010 Season - Not gonna lie after we won that championship in 2009 I was thinking if we just resign one of LO or Ariza I'll be happy. I knew we weren't gonna be able to resign both. I kinda had a feeling we'd let Trevor go and bring back Lamar simply because he was the better and more important player. I had no idea we'd actually be able to sign Ron Artest. It's definitely something that I wanted, but I just thought it was impossible. I remember I was coming home and I saw the news that Ron had signed with us. Couldn't believe it. Needless to say I was stoked for the season to start. Boston also brought in Sheed and I was thinking to myself man how sweet would that be if we met Boston in the Finals again and we got our revenge and beat them in an epic seven game series? That's exactly what happened. Best moment as a sports fan for me by far. Seeing all our guys being so emotional like Kobe, Pau, Fisher, and Phil. That was so great to see. I got emotional myself. It was such a great, great moment for us beating Boston. Not just that we beat them, but the way we beat them. We won a tough, physical and grueling game that no one said we could. I remember thinking to myself where are all the haters who said we're soft?
4. 2011 Season - We had just won back to back championships and finally had gotten revenge over Boston. I was so happy and then when we were able to sign Steve Blake and Matt Barnes who I thought would be great role players for us and also brought back Shannon Brown who played a key role in our championship run once again I was very excited for the season to begin. Like 2004 we got off to a terrific start and it looked like we were primed for a three peat. Then all of a sudden the team got real complacent. Started losing to teams they should've been dominating. I thought to myself look it's just the regular season they'll pick it up when it matters in the postseason just like previous years. I was wrong. Just like in the regular season we looked lackluster against an undermanned and undersized New Orleans Hornets team. We managed to win in six games, but it should've been a sweep. I figured we should be ok until the Finals till we meet Miami or Boston. Once again I was wrong. We underestimated the Dallas Mavericks and they swept us. That final game was just flat out embarassing. The classless cheapshots by Lamar and Drew. That wasn't the way Phil's legendary career was supposed to end.
5. 2013 Season - I can't wait for this season to begin. This offseason has been everything I've hoped for. Going into the offseason I wanted us to do two things. Upgrade over biggest weaknesses. Our PG position and the bench. We did just that. Added one of the best point guards in the game in Steve Nash who'll no doubt make life so much easier for Kobe and the big guys down low Gasol and Bynum. We also added an instant offense type player in Antawn Jamison who is someone who can go off for 40 on a given night. When was the last time we had a sixth man like that? Lamar was probably a better all around player than Jamison, but nowhere near the scorer that he is. Didn't really expect Jordan to be re-signed, but I'm glad we brought him back. He's one of my favorite players. All he does is hustle, hustle, and more hustle. Love guys like that. I don't know about anyone else, but I feel like this could be our year. I feel our guys will be really motivated after two back to back early exits. Getting Steve and Antawn their first ring would be incredible. Those guys deserve it.
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