The Los Angeles Lakers were so close to winning five titles in a row

Once upon a time, in a sports galaxy far away, there was a Los Angeles Lakers team that had won three consecutive NBA titles. This team had two of the greatest players of all time in Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. Their coach, Phil Jackson, was very Yoda-like. This team had the ability and the talent to do more and they almost did… but not quite.

It was the 2002-2003 NBA season and the Los Angeles Lakers were just coming off winning their third title in a row. It was not an easy accomplishment but they were able to get it done. Well, the rest of the NBA had enough of the Lakers going city to city and beating every team in sight.

They had enough of the dominant force in the middle called Shaq and the pesky, young, and ultra-talented Kobe Bryant and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers. The other NBA teams were out for blood.

That season, the Houston Rockets drafted center Yao Ming. The San Antonio Spurs had a young talented backcourt made up of rookie Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker as well as a dynamic duo of big men named Tim Duncan and David Robinson.

The Sacramento Kings were still deadly, and in Dallas, a man named Dirk Nowitzki would help lead the Maverick to 60 wins. Teams were taking precautions and beefing up their lineups to improve so they could do battle when they faced the three-time defending champions.

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Things were not going great for the Lakers that season though. Perhaps it was very much like Rocky Balboa in the great Rocky 3 when he took it easy a bit more before he faced Clubber Lang.

There was also the fact that the Lakers really didn’t upgrade their roster a bit or go out and get some more youth because Shaq, Rick Fox, Robert Horry, Brian Shaw, and newly acquired Tracy Murray were all 30 years old or over. Of course, that is not old at all. Plus, O’Neal would miss a good chunk of the games after undergoing surgery on his arthritic toe.

Things did not look good. In the first 20 games of the season, the Lakers went 7-13. Not like a three-time defending champion to play so poorly. Eventually, Shaq would return and the Lakers were able to get themselves under control.

O’Neal averaged 27.5 points per game and 11.1 rebounds as Kobe averaged 30.0 points per game, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.9 assists. The Lakers finished the regular season 50-32. The Spurs, Mavericks, Kings, and the Minnesota Timberwolves all had better records than them.

The Lakers would take care of the Wolves in the first round of the playoffs, but they then found themselves facing the San Antonio Spurs led by the tough and great head coach Gregg Popovich. Tim Duncan was nearly unstoppable in the series as he would average 28.2 points per game, 11.8 rebounds, and 4.8 assists. The Spurs closed the Lakers out in 6 games and went on to win the title that season.

Then came the next year. Things would change for the Los Angeles Lakers.

The word facelift would be a major understatement. The Los Angeles Lakers knew they wanted to win it all yet they knew they had to go out and get some more talent. Well, they did just that.

Have you ever heard of a Super Group when it comes to bands in music? You know, Velvet Revolver, Audioslave etc. Well, the Lakers put together a Super Team!

They went out and signed point guard Gary Payton and power forward Karl Malone. (Think about their team in terms of nicknames. Diesel, The Black Mamba, The Glove and The Mailman. The Avengers and the Justice League haven’t got anything on them!)

Sure, Payton was 34 and Malone was 40, but they were guys who would be going into the NBA Hall of Fame on roller skates and most importantly, they wanted to win! Especially Malone, who had been to the finals twice with the Utah Jazz but had come up short against the Chicago Bulls in 1996-1997 and 1997-1998. Payton got to the finals with the Seattle Supersonics in 1995-1996, only to lose to the Chicago Bulls.

The Lakers also added Horace Grant once again and Byron Russell. Things were looking good for the purple and gold and bad for the rest of the NBA.

On the outside, everything looked all nice and shiny. On the inside, there was a lot of trouble. First off, there was the feud between Shaq and Kobe that was still ongoing. Kobe was also in trouble with his own personal problems from the sexual assault case.

Gary Payton, a wonderful player that had spent a good part of his career being the focal point of an offense was having trouble with Phil Jackson’s triangle offense and Karl Malone and Rick Fox would miss half the season or more with injuries.

Yet, The Lakers were able to pull through and go 56-26 for the season and finish as the number two seed behind the Minnesota Timberwolves. Little did they know that in the east, a Detroit Pistons team was growing stronger. Head coach Larry Brown, who had lost to the Lakers when he was the head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2001, would be leading this Detroit team.

In the playoffs, the Lakers went through the Houston Rockets, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Minnesota Timberwolves as they found themselves once again back in the NBA Finals. (Four out of five years ain’t too shabby huh?)

On the other side of the court waiting, were the Pistons. A well put together team led by Chauncy Billups, Richard Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, and of course Ben Wallace who was built like a mega beast!

It would not be a pretty series for Los Angeles. The Pistons’ defense was intense as they held the Lakers below 100 points in all five games even limiting them to just 68 in Game 3. Detroit would go onto win the series 4-1 and that would end the Lakers’ fabulous run.

After the season had ended, Phil Jackson was fired, Shaq demanded a trade and was sent to the Miami Heat for Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and future draft picks and Derek Fisher signed with Golden State. I guess all great things do come to an end right. Yeah, that is where the greatness ended.

Just imagine if the Los Angeles  Lakers had won five titles in five years or even four. It would have put them ahead of the Chicago Bulls who won 6 titles in 8 years. Still, this Laker team is by far one of the great dynasties and will never be forgotten.