Lakers-Spurs: What Will Happen If…?

Fans all over Los Angeles are in love with their Lakers. Ever since Pau Gasol rolled into Tinsel Town to take over for the injured Andrew Bynum, the Lakers have been the hottest ticket in town.

The bandwagon, which had temporarily broken down when Bynum’s knee popped out of place, has been back on the road for several months now, and rolling toward an NBA Championship.

Or so those aboard it seem to expect.

But what happens if the Lakers, who are now halfway there, are suddenly eliminated? What happens to that bandwagon and its passengers should the Spurs win the Western Conference?

And even worse, what happens if they sweep the Lakers or win in five games?

Impossible? In the NBA, where, David Stern tell us, amazing happens, anything is possible. Back in 1999, the Spurs, on their way to an NBA Championship, swept the Lakers.

Then in 2001, the Shaq and Kobe Lakers returned the favor.

But this is 2008. The Spurs are older now, and a step or two slower. Tim Duncan, their All-Star center and last year’s MVP in the Playoffs, is not the player he used to be.

Lamar Odom’s not buying it. "If you go back to 1988, 1992, the best players in the league were always 31, 32, 34 year olds," the Laker forward said.  "They get it.  They execute.  They make up for speed with their IQ as a basketball team.  They're all smart, heady players out there."

But when it comes to fans and pundits, most of them are expecting the Lakers to dethrone the champion Spurs and go all the way.

In a recent ESPN poll, six out of ten experts picked the Lakers over the Spurs. However, five of them did expect the series to go the full seven games.

The Lakers are so loved by their fans that every A-list performer in town is trying to get courtside tickets, just so their mugs can be seen on national television.

Nothing like riding the coattails of Kobe Bryant’s popularity.

But what will happen should the Lakers lose? What if they get humiliated? Where will all those celebrities be then? Probably trying to get sideline passes for the USC-Ohio State game this fall.

No, I’m not talking about the Jack Nicholsons, the Dyan Cannons, or the Penny Marshalls. They’re the true fans who have been there through thick and thin, through all the pain and disappointment, as well as the glory.

I’m not talking about the die-hards and the homers. Sure, they will criticize and lay blame. But they are entitled to do so. Those privileges come along with their fan club membership.

But the one thing they won’t do is desert like the ones who will be jumping off the bandwagon in droves and running for the hills of Chavez Ravine to cheer on the Dodgers.

If the Lakers lose, you won’t even be able to find a B-list celebrity scrounging around for a 2008-2009 season ticket.

In Tinsel Town, you are only as good as your last movie—or gig. And if that happens to be a loss, well, bye-bye.

Then there are the tweeners. The tweeners are in between the homers and the deserters. They’re half on the bandwagon and half off. Should the Lakers lose the series to the Spurs, they will say something like, "Well, the Lakers would’ve won if they had Bynum."

But the truth of the matter is that they expect the Lakers to win without Bynum.

Next year, if Bynum is not able to make a full recovery and the Lakers fail to win the championship, the tweeners will quietly slide the rest of the way from the bandwagon, from the message boards, and from the blogs. Never to be heard from again—until, of course, the Lakers make another bonafide run at the title.

Then there is the media, the experts and pundits, who will scream, "Upset!" and "Overrated!" should the Spurs take this series from the Lakers.

Upset? Give me a break. A number three seed and reigning champion beats a number one seed, so what? That’s an upset? No way!

An upset was last year’s number eight seed Golden State Warriors beating the number one seed, the 67-win Dallas Mavericks.

Whenever a team has players of the caliber of Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker, no matter which NBA team they beat, it could never be considered an upset.

Should the Lakers lose to the Spurs, do they deserve to be called "Overrated"? I don’t think so.

They're a team that has won 57 regular season games, the only team so far to sweep a Playoff series.

They're a team that has made it to the conference finals with an 8-2 record, a team that lost their outstanding young center and small forward for most of the season. Overrated?

The only thing that is overrated are the expectations of the fans and the media. The fans, especially the die-hards and homers, I can understand, but not the sports media.

After all, the pundits and experts are the ones who rate the teams in the first place. If anything, it is their rationale that is overrated, not the Lakers. In fact, before the season began, most experts had the Lakers pegged for a seventh or eighth seed and a .500 season at best.

So, whether they win or lose, the Lakers have to be considered an underrated team. But that is not what you will hear shouted in the media, or screamed on message boards and blogs.

Should the Lakers lose, many will write their season off as a disaster, mainly because they have the best player on the planet, Kobe Bryant, and still couldn’t win it all.

The same is true of the Spurs, should they lose to the Lakers. These same pundits will say the Spurs are over-the-hill—too old and too slow—and call for an overhaul of the entire team.

But how many will just sit back and enjoy the series, no matter who wins, and realize that neither team is overrated? How can they be?

This is a series of tried-and-tested champions pitted against one another. A match up between future Hall of Fame players and two Hall of Fame coaches. Everywhere you look, there are nothing but championship rings.

True fans from the Sunset Strip all the way to the River Walk can appreciate the contest that is about to take place. This is the NBA’s finest hour. The Lakers and the Spurs. Enjoy!