Los Angeles Lakers: 5 lessons from clinching first postseason berth in 7 years

The Los Angeles Lakers are going to the postseason. Congratulations from Lake Show Life. LeBron James goes nuts in an MVP showdown with Giannis Antetokounmpo as the Los Angeles Lakers obtain an important split with the Milwaukee Bucks. Lake Show Life celebrates with Lakers Nation with Lake Show Life Lessons!

Somewhere in Heaven, Kobe Bryant and Gianna were watching the Los Angeles Lakers. Lakers Nation knows.

They were watching, discussing parts of the game. Kobe talking about the last time the Los Angeles Lakers were in the playoffs back in 2012-13. He mentioned how he gave everything that he had down to his Achilles. How the Lakers haven’t been back to the playoffs since.

It’s over. The drought is over. The Los Angeles Lakers will be in the playoffs for the first time since Dwight Howard had a uniform with the number 12 on it.

Rejoice. Shed tears. Enjoy the moment, because, for the real fans that had to deal with Robert Sacre, Ronnie Price, Jordan Hill, Tyler Ennis, Carlos Boozer, Roy Hibbert, Carlos Huerta and Jeremy Lin, Lake Show Life knows you earned it. Congratulations.

The Los Angeles Lakers took care of a very important mission that will be needed down the line in the postseason, gaining the season split with a win over the Milwaukee Bucks, 113-103. The win now puts the Lakers at 48-13 with the game of the season coming on Sunday against the Los Angeles Clippers.

But that is Sunday. Lake Show Life will shine the light on a franchise that made major overhauls with their mission statement to go from an embarrassment to legitimate championship contenders in less than a calendar year.

1. Everyone knew the Los Angeles Lakers would make the playoffs. No one thought they would clinch about five and a half weeks left in the season.
2. Last summer when they pushed the chips in and traded Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, the No. 4 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, two future first-round picks and a pick swap to pair LeBron James with All-NBA big man Anthony Davis. Many considered it a mistake.
3. As long as they both James and Davis were both relatively healthy, they were always going to make the playoffs. No one thought their chemistry was this strong. This game against the Bucks solidified their position as the most powerful 1-2 punch in the NBA. 
4. The Lakers entered their 2019-20 campaign with a revamped but much-maligned front office, their third choice at head coach and seven new players (Mostly veteran minimum and mid-level contracts), including three new starters.

Well, it worked. The Los Angeles Lakers have owned the No. 1 seed since Nov. 1 and have not been threatened.

Lake Show Life was critical of this franchise last season. The front office was full of drama that leaked stories on a daily basis. LeBron James pouted. Luke Walton was terrible. Magic Johnson was fined on a monthly basis it seemed. The Anthony Davis saga at the trade deadline was a mess that divided the locker room.

But this year, everyone in the organization handled business about as perfectly as an NBA team could, officially washing the stench of the Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak regime forever.

Jeanie Buss:

Three years ago, she was sick of losing. She dealt with the firing of her brother Jim, the lawsuits, Magic Johnson‘s resignation without her knowledge and stayed the course. Her leadership brought back the vision set by her father, the late Dr. Jerry Buss. Showtime is now back in Los Angeles. In business, success starts at the top. Her courage and leadership is a major reason why.

Rob Pelinka:

If this dude doesn’t get NBA’s Executive of the Year Award, the voting process is rigged. Rob Pelinka deserves a ton of credit and every vote for turning things around after Magic Johnson, abruptly quit.

There weren’t many in NBA circles that would have believed Pelinka would have a job this season, much less running the show. He was ridiculed, insulted with his credibility and qualifications questioned. A LOT!

Pelinka just ignored the outside noise, kept his head down and worked on building the best team he could.  Think about it. After the Frank Vogel press conference, have you heard from him? That’s the point.

Frank Vogel:

How many people believed in Frank Vogel after Tyronn Lue and Monty Williams said no to the Lakers? (Yeah, right. Stop lying!). Frank Vogel was put in a peculiar situation with the team handpicking his assistants which included Jason Kidd.

Yes, the Lake Show Life staff was starting a betting pool to see when he was going to be undermined and replaced by Kidd. Well, Frank Vogel will be around for at least two more years.

LeBron James:

Finally, there’s LeBron James. Lake Show Life would not be where it is today without him (Writer at the top of the list!). There is a kind of love/hate relationship between LeBron stans and this website. From game one last year, the post games basically called him out for bad defense, bad attitude and listless play at times.

But you have to give credit where credit is due, LeBron James was on a mission and played his butt off this season. Yes, that “Revenge Season” comment had a lot of people chuckling.

https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1157047766318637057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1157047766318637057&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flakeshowlife.com%2F2019%2F09%2F29%2Flebron-james-4-reasons-revenge-season-work%2F

17 years in the NBA and you can see that he backed up everything he said in this tweet. That ether has been spilling all year-long. Whether “Washed King” was made up by LeBron to inspire himself or not, it inspired the organization to make the changes that got them to where they are now.

Now the Lakers Nation can be proud with a guaranteed postseason berth and a legitimate chance to be around until June. Enjoy the ride, Lakers fans, the Lake Show is back.

Now, let’s talk about the game in Lake Show Life Lessons.