The Los Angeles Lakers Celebrate Their 16th NBA Championship: They Raised the Banner, Got the Rings, and Showed the Fans Their on Court Lakers' Flash

Post date: Oct 27, 2010 7:38:35 PM

The Los Angeles Lakers opened their 2010-2011 season last night with a victory over the Houston Rockets; they are on a quest to capture their 17th NBA championship and their third straight NBA championship for the second time in franchise history. They seem to have all the pieces in place; the greatest coach in NBA history, arguably the second greatest Laker in franchise history next to Magic Johnson, in Kobe Bryant, stable ownership and the right mix of young talent, savvy veterans and a top-notch court general in Derek Fisher.

Phil Jackson is chasing his 11th NBA championship as a coach in what is perhaps the last year of his storied coaching career, and I sincerely hope he accomplishes his goal for two very important reasons:

This would be his second three straight titles with the Lakers and is fourth overall since he won three straight championships twice with the Chicago Bulls.

The Lakers 17 championship would tie the Boston Celtics for the franchise with the most championships in NBA history.

For these two reasons I would argue that this would be the sweetest championship in Lakers' history.

On the horizon however are the Miami Heat which had a shocking off-season by signing Lebron James and Chris Bosh, adding them to a team already led by Dwayne Wade. With the Heat fail to realize however is that NBA championships are won as a team and not as a collection of All-Stars. There is no substitute for the experience and passion that Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant, and Derek Fisher bring to the table. I realize that it will take a while for the Miami Heat to cultivate their chemistry as a team. I highly doubt however that they will be able to check their egos at the door. I don't believe they have the right mix of the aforementioned elements to win a championship. The Boston Celtics look more like a team that can challenge the Lakers because they have those elements that it takes to win a championship, of an experienced coach and the right mix of young talent and veterans with championship experience. the Heat experienced that firsthand when they lost to the Celtics last night, a game that was anticipated by many as an easy win for the Heat.

There is no doubt that basketball is the most beautiful sport of all professional sports because it combines speed, athletic ability, power, grace, and aerial maneuvers flawlessly. I can already tell it's going to be a fun competitive season especially in the Western Conference. Go Lakers!

-ICE