My Least Favorite Team

I’ve had some time to think about the Lakers victory over the Magic to win the NBA Championship. I was upset by it. It didn’t bring joy to me like last years NBA Finals did. I’ve thought about ways to cope with their victory and initially did so by hating on Kobe - the way he celebrated, bringing his family to the forefront to show how whatever he is, etc. Now that I think about the Lakers in general and hear on ESPN about how they have dominated the decade, I decided to investigate their dominance in the new millennium.
The Lakers started off the decade by winning the 2000 NBA Finals over the Indiana Pacers in six games. The Spurs won the title the previous year led by Tim Duncan & David Robinson. Tim Duncan was absent during the 2000 Playoffs due to a knee injury and, as a result, the Spurs failed to defend, losing in the first round. The Spurs lost to the Suns who then played the Lakers in the second round. The Lakers had no trouble with them and got to avoid Duncan and the Spurs. The Lakers won the Western Conference Finals over the Portland Trail Blazers, the 3-seed, in seven games. Game 7 was when the Kobe to Shaq alley-oop happened, I believe. Portland was clearly their toughest test and really their only test in the 2000 Playoffs. The Easter Conference was extremely weak which it remained until about 2007 with the exception of the unlikely Pistons teams. The Pacers in 2000 were lead by Reggie Miller, Rik Smits and Mark Jackson. Not really the most talented bunch or most intimidating. Basically they beat a scrawny Reggie Miller who shot crazy threes and is overrated according to Bill Simmons. Not one Pacer made the 1999-2000 NBA 1st, 2nd or 3rd teams.
The Lakers dominated the 2001 Playoffs losing only once and that was in the Finals to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Lakers were actually the 2-seed and swept the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, clearly the Lakers were the best team that year. The Eastern Conference had Philadelphia and the Milwaukee Bucks as their top two teams and the Bucks probably should have won the Eastern Conference Finals, but lost in seven. The Lakers dominated an Allen Iverson led 76ers team whose second best player was Aaron McKie. Dikembe stood no chance against Shaq. Todd MacCulloch was also on that 76ers team.
The 2002 Playoffs saw the Lakers win a questionable Western Conference Finals over the Sacramento Queens in seven games. Game 6 played out really weird and has since been tied to the Tim Donaghy scandal. From Wikipedia: “The Lakers shot 40 free throws overall, 27 in the fourth quarter, and the Kings' big men were plagued with foul trouble (Divac, Webber, Scot Pollard, and Lawrence Funderburke were called for 20 fouls, Divac and Pollard both fouling out.)” Lawrence Funderburke!!!! The series was highly entertaining with Vlade Divac memorably tipping a rebound right to Robert Horry in Game 4. With that said, the Lakers then swept the New Jersey Nets in the Finals to cap-off the Three-Peat. The Nets had trouble with a Celtics team led by Antoine Walker in the Eastern Conference Finals. Keith Van Horn, Kenyon Martin and Jason Kidd led the Nets. Jason Kidd was in his prime like AI was, but every team the Lakers played in the Finals had only one good player. The Nets would go on to play in the Finals the next year too, and got swept by the Spurs. The Eastern Conference was the worst shit ever during the first half of the 2000’s.
To recap, the Lakers beat the Pacers, 76ers, and Nets to win their three titles.
The Lakers surprisingly lost the 2004 Finals to the first good team the Eastern Conference had in many moons, the Detroit Pistons. The Lakers lost last years Finals to the Boston Celtics, the second Eastern Conference team that actually had a shot in the Finals against the Lakers this decade. The Lakers won three straight titles, yet faced only two legitimate opponents, the ’00 Blazers and the ’02 Kings, and then ate up three random Eastern Conference teams. When challenged in the Finals, they crumbled. The Magic, another random team, had no shot against this years Lakers. The Lakers benefited from not having to face LeBron and benefited from the Kevin Garnett injury. The Lakers have won four titles this decade and that cannot be taken away from them, but I just want you to LOOK AT WHO THEY HAVE BEATEN!!!