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Seriously, the Lakers have been so extremely consistently great for decades now, they are just an organization that will never allow or tolerate mediocrity, futility, losing, etc., and they are very smart at doing that. How are the Lakers always able to attract any Superstar player they want to join them, play for them? because I'm hearing all this talk and rumors for the past several months that Dwight Howard will very likely join the Lakers, that if Dwight Howard leaves the Orlando Magic, the Lakers are the front-runners. Other great NBA teams like the Bulls and Celtics, when Michael Jordan and Larry Bird retired, they went through a long-rebuilding phase, meanwhile this never happens to the Lakers. The Lakers have always had the best Big Man Superstar Centers in their entire history, and they all acquired them through trades, from Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal, and now potentially Dwight Howard. How come other NBA teams are unable to make successful trades like the Lakers are? The Lakers have missed the Playoffs only 5 times in their entire franchise history, in over 60 years. Are the Lakers simply the Yankees of the NBA? People always say the Yankees buy the World Series, but they never make any arguments or comments saying the Lakers buy the NBA Finals.
Jerry Buss wants to win Chick Hearn: educated Southern California on basketball and he popularized basketball the way Vin Scully popularized baseball here. A lot of people took interest in basketball here during and after the UCLA college basketball dynasty.
Maybe Buss makes more money from his more expensive seats? Lots of rich movie stars and entertainers who want to be easily seen show up. They get publicity, Buss gets money, Buss makes a winning team. Not sure if this is true due to profit sharing and salary caps but the incentive to win never goes down.
We've also been lucky with smart GMs like Jerry West and Mitch Kupchak.
Another thing that may be meaningful are the stinging losses to boston in the 1960s. When you get thisclose to it every year but never get it, you want to get it real bad and keep it.
Jerry Buss wants to win Chick Hearn: educated Southern California on basketball and he popularized basketball the way Vin Scully popularized baseball here. A lot of people took interest in basketball here during and after the UCLA college basketball dynasty.
Maybe Buss makes more money from his more expensive seats? Lots of rich movie stars and entertainers who want to be easily seen show up. They get publicity, Buss gets money, Buss makes a winning team. Not sure if this is true due to profit sharing and salary caps but the incentive to win never goes down.
We've also been lucky with smart GMs like Jerry West and Mitch Kupchak.
Another thing that may be meaningful are the stinging losses to boston in the 1960s. When you get thisclose to it every year but never get it, you want to get it real bad and keep it.
i thought i'd get more replies than this, so do the Lakers get superstar players similiarily the way the Yankees do for Baseball? or is it completely different?
-I think it starts at the top (the man making decisions and writing the checks). I.e. Jerry Buss. Look at the difference between Buss and Donald Sterling. I'd say it starts with leadership.
-Then goes down the ranks into smart gm's (jerry west, kupchak).
-I think guys like Shaq want to play for the lakers because they see the vision from the top. Maybe a lack of vision hurts other teams.
-By building up a reputation, you get more talent (i.e. a guy like pau gasol). Plus you can have fun in LA.
-I wonder how the lakers compare to other sports teams, in terms of playoff appearances in the last 50 years.
I think long term ownership helps. They've only had 2 owners since the 70's, jack kent cooke and buss. I think the owners set the foundation. They have a long time frame. They're more likely to stick with whats working?
-Plus, Kupchak, he's probably one of the smartest executives in sports. Look what kwame brown has done since LA, lol. Averaging 3-5 points a game. Look at the Kareem trade. It seems like they've gotten a lot of good trades through the years.
do the Lakers get superstar players similiarily the way the Yankees do for Baseball?
In addition to strong management, I think this is a factor as well. There's a certain 'prestige' that comes from being a 'Yankee', a 'Laker', a 'Celtic' etc etc.
i thought i'd get more replies than this, so do the Lakers get superstar players similiarily the way the Yankees do for Baseball? or is it completely different?
What you must realize is that there are many, many NBA fans who do not give a squat how the Lakers are doing in any given year. The media focuses so much attention on only the Lakers, Celtics and Heat that it is nauseating to me. Meanwhile excellent teams in other parts of the country have to fight, kick and scratch just to get a mention in the media. It's ridiculous and very unfair.
Not just the Spurs. The Mavericks won the Title this year but you wouldn't know it by following the national media. Because it wasn't the Lakers, Celtics or Heat it's no big deal.
Not just the Spurs. The Mavericks won the Title this year but you wouldn't know it by following the national media. Because it wasn't the Lakers, Celtics or Heat it's no big deal.
I don't think David Stern or ABC likes it when small market teams like San Antonio, Milwaukee, etc make the finals. I'm sure when the ny knicks played Houston it probably did well on TV as those are two big cities.
Same for baseball and probably hockey but not so much for football.
The Lakers have always had the best Big Man Superstar Centers in their entire history, and they all acquired them through trades, from Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal, and now potentially Dwight Howard.
You forgot the player voted the greatest of the first half of the 20th century, George Mikan.
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