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Los Angeles Lakers: Ranking the best teams that didn’t win the title

By Jason Reed

Kobe Bryant (R) of the Los Angeles Lakers moves the ball before Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics during the Game One of the 2008 NBA Finals, in Boston, Massachusetts, June 5, 2008. Pierce shrugged off a right knee sprain to score 22 points, sparking the Boston Celtics past the Los Angeles Lakers 98-88 to open the National Basketball Association Finals. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS (Photo credit should read GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)
Kobe Bryant (R) of the Los Angeles Lakers moves the ball before Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics during the Game One of the 2008 NBA Finals, in Boston, Massachusetts, June 5, 2008. Pierce shrugged off a right knee sprain to score 22 points, sparking the Boston Celtics past the Los Angeles Lakers 98-88 to open the National Basketball Association Finals. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS (Photo credit should read GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

Best Los Angeles Lakers team to not win a championship: 3. 2007-2008 Los Angeles Lakers

  • Record: 57-25
  • Playoffs result: Defeated by Boston Celtics (2-4) in NBA Finals
  • SRS: 7.34

The 2007-2008 Los Angeles Lakers served as the start of a great second chapter for Kobe Bryant. While Bryant was the best player in the league for several seasons after Shaq’s departure, this was the second chapter where Kobe would go and win two championships without Shaq, cementing his legacy forever.

Before winning back-to-back championships, though, Bryant suffered his second loss in the NBA Finals in a row (his last coming in 2004), losing in six games to the rivaled Boston Celtics. Kobe would eventually get his revenge two years later, but this loss was tough to swallow at the time.

This team has the worst record of any of the teams on this list but that is because of Pau Gasol. Gasol only played 27 games for the Lakers in the regular season, proving to be the shot in the arm that the team needed to be a true title contender.

The Lakers went a staggering 22-5 in games that Gasol started in the purple and gold compared to a 35-20 record without Gasol. Kobe might have been the alpha dog, and the relationship might not have been fantastic right away, but Gasol’s impact was undeniable.

The Lakers outlasted the Charlotte Hornets by one game for the first seed in the West and went on to defeat the Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs on their way to the Finals.

Ultimately, this was the Celtics’ year as this was a 4-2 series that Boston controlled throughout, ending the Lakers season with a lopsided 39-point victory.

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