My earliest Laker memories are of watching (and marveling at) the games with Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Gail Goodrich as a (very young) kid. How I wanted to grow up and be Wilt! Lemme see, if I'd only gotten another eight inches of height, better feet (my are flatter than flat), bigger hands and a lot more talent, I might of gotten there.
Yeah, right.
Unfortunately, I was a bit too young to see Elgin Baylor play, which is really sad since he was "the Michael Jorden" of his day. Like Wilt, many of his records still stand. Also, like Wilt, we have very little good footage of him. They just didn't film much back then, particularly during the regular season. Think about this: on the day Wilt scored 100 points, all we have are a few post-game pics!
Wow.
Even sadder for poor Elgin, of course, is having been saddled with the woeful Clippers all these years. Yikes! Though technically the decision maker, he is mostly just a figurehead.
I sometimes wonder why he does it at all. It could be for the money, I suppose. In his day, even "superstars" didn't make all that much dough, and I have no idea what he did with his. Perhaps it's ego. Perhaps he's just in it to "stay in the game." Just ask Jerry West – he'll tell you all about that. Most of these guys are incredibly competitive action junkies, and quite frequently they just can't say "No!" So, who knows?
Try as he might, Elgin has only been able to do so much. He's got a great coach now and some good players, but the major problem in my opinion (and I'm in good company with Mark Heisler of the L.A. Times here) is "the Donald." The west coast one, in case you're concerned.
Donald Sterling is no Jerry Buss. Mr. Heisler considers Sterling to be perhaps the worst owner in professional sports, and Buss to be the best! How ironic (and wonderful) that us SoCalers have both extremes right here in our "home town." On the one hand, we have humor (however sad for the players involved), and on the other hand, heroics!
Some of my greatest memories are of the incredible joys and glories of Showtime. Magic is still my all-time favorite player, flanked to one side by Kareem and to the other by Big Game James.
Following right behind this is the drama and excitement of the "non-dynasty" in the Shaq and Kobe days. Today I have no use for Shaq (dont' even get me started), but there's no denying his presence in L.A. was important and special. Between the internal battles going on behind the scenes (often "outed" publicly by "The Big Aristotle") and the on-court antics, it was an both an exciting and incredibly aggravating time.
Having mentioned so many great players, I would be sadly remiss if I didn't mention the hands-down greatest player in the game today, the Mamba, Kobe Bryant. I won't say I saved the best for last -- how could you say that in the company Kobe "keeps?" But I will say that watching him grow and improve year in and year out has been outstanding. Shocking and dismaying at times! But heartstopping, breathtaking and astonishing to be sure!
If Kobe doesn't win MVP this year, there is absolutely no justice whatsoever. Not that I'm expecting it to happen...