Could LeBron James' Lakers Be Franchise's Best Team Since 2000?
LOS ANGELES — Heading into the NBA's coronavirus pandemic hiatus, the Los Angeles Lakers (49-14) had the top record in the Western Conference, just two losses behind the league-best Milwaukee Bucks' 53-12 mark. Over the final stretch of games, the Lakers beat the Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers (44-20), looking like a team ready for a lengthy postseason.
Hopefully, the season will continue, be it with a truncated schedule or even by going straight to the playoffs—where the Lakers would face the Memphis Grizzlies (32-33) in the first round followed by the winner of the Utah Jazz (41-23) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (40-24) series. A canceled postseason would rob this year's squad from measuring up to the best Lakers teams of the last two decades.
The Shaquille O'Neal-Kobe Bryant Lakers won three titles (1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2001-02), and the Bryant-Pau Gasol Lakers won two (2008-09 and 2009-10). This year's LeBron James-Anthony Davis squad needs a championship to be mentioned in the same breath. Ideally, they'll have the opportunity.
Without a postseason to prove themselves, they'll forever remain a great "what if." Win a title, and this squad will take a significant step toward equaling the Bryant-Gasol run but still have miles to go before it nears the O'Neal-Bryant three-peat Lakers.
Most Like 2008-09?
The best perimeter player of his generation paired with a frustrated but extremely talented power forward. Which era are we talking about?
Gasol spent six-and-a-half years in Memphis, advancing to the playoffs three straight seasons but never winning a game. Less than two years after that stretch, the Grizzlies pulled the plug by making the controversial Gasol-Kwame Brown trade (in which Memphis landed a future franchise big with the draft rights to Marc Gasol).
Similarly, Davis spent seven years with the New Orleans Pelicans but had only two postseason appearances to show for it. The Pelicans were swept by the Golden State Warriors in 2014-15. Three years later, Davis averaged a monstrous 33.0 points, 11.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game in a sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers before the Pelicans fell in five to the Warriors.
The resumes of Bryant and James are different but similar. Bryant was one of the greatest scorers in history and won five titles with the Lakers. James is one of the best playmakers ever and an overpowering scorer with three championships (two with the Miami Heat and one with the Cleveland Cavaliers).
If rings weigh heavily in the discussion, James needs two more just to equal Bryant.
At 7'0", Gasol was taller than Davis (6'10"). He got more time at center, especially with Andrew Bynum in and out of the lineup with knee injuries. Gasol also had more of a low-post game; Davis is the superior defender.
Bryant played for 20 years, averaging 25.0 points with 4.7 assists per game. James is in his 17th season, posting 27.1 points with 7.4 assists over his career. Some will argue Kobe was the GOAT; others will profess James is superior.
In the Lakers' first title run with Gasol, he averaged 18.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per game in the regular season. Those figures were 18.3 and 11.3 the following year.
Davis, in 55 games this season, is at 26.7 points and 9.4 rebounds, which illustrates the big difference between the teams.
Bryant and Gasol had reliable scorers such as Bynum (14.3 points per game in 2008-9 and 15.0 in 2009-10), Lamar Odom (11.3 and 10.8) and Derek Fisher (9.9 and 7.5) with Trevor Ariza that first year (8.9) and Metta World Peace (11.0) the second.
The Lakers of today are more reliant on James and Davis with Kyle Kuzma the only other double-figure scorer at 12.5 per night. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is close at 9.5, followed by Avery Bradley's 8.6 and Danny Green's 8.2.
Coach Frank Vogel has greater depth with additional reserves such as Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo, JaVale McGee, Alex Caruso and Markieff Morris. Dion Waiters, who signed just before the shutdown, has yet to play. Thirteen Lakers average at least 10.8 minutes per game (including waived guard Troy Daniels).
That's not to say coach Phil Jackson didn't have talent on his bench; 11 players averaged double-figure minutes in 2008-09, including Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton, Vladimir Radmanovic, Sasha Vujacic and Josh Powell. But the 2009-10 squad ran eight deep with a bench of Odom, Farmar and Shannon Brown.
That's why the current Lakers most closely resemble the 2008-09 squad that beat the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals. Two elite stars with a solid complement of role players. The latter had the better third- and fourth-best players, but Bynum, Odom and Fisher benefit from hindsight.
Green may be a proven champion, as is Rondo, but the playoffs would give the unheralded chances to make names for themselves in Lakers lore.
Shaq-Kobe Too Much
When the Lakers won with O'Neal in 1999-2000, he was the best player in the league. He was dominant—bigger and stronger than anyone.
Can the same be said of James or Davis?
They're among the best players, but it was clear-cut with O'Neal, who fell one vote short of becoming the first unanimous NBA MVP (former CNN reporter Fred Hickman was the famous outlier, voting instead for Allen Iverson).
Has Kawhi Leonard or Giannis Antetokounmpo eclipsed James? Maybe so, but maybe not. O'Neal had no equal.
Still, the Lakers barely got by the Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals. They nearly ran the table in 2000-01 and were easily the best Lakers team of the modern era, losing just one game in the NBA Finals to Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers.
The three-peat took a few miracles, namely Robert Horry's three-pointer in Game 4 of the conference finals against the Sacramento Kings. Even with O'Neal and Bryant, the Lakers had to clear difficult opposition.
If this season resumes, James and Davis will need to overcome Leonard, Paul George and the Los Angeles Clippers, and potentially Antetokounmpo and the Bucks.
But even if the Lakers win the title, they won't be near the same level as the three-peat squad. They would approach the Gasol-era team, but they'd need a couple of chips before entering the O'Neal-Bryant conversation.
The Numbers
O'Neal-Bryant (1999-00 to 2001-02):
- Three titles
- 60.3 wins per season (73.6 winning percentage)
- 108.4 offensive rating, 101.6 defensive rating, 6.8 net rating (via Basketball Reference)
- Shooting: 46.1 percent from the field, 34.4 percent from three-point range (15.3 attempts per game)
- 45.3 rebounds per game, 23.1 assists, 6.1 blocks, 69.3 percent from free-throw line
Bryant-Gasol (2008-09 to 2009-10):
- Two titles
- 61.0 wins per season (74.4 winning percentage)
- 110.8 offensive rating, 104.2 defensive rating, 6.6 net rating
- Shooting: 46.6 percent from the field, 35.1 percent from three-point range (18.8 attempts per game)
- 44.1 rebounds per game, 22.2 assists, 5.0 blocks, 76.8 percent from free-throw line
James-Davis (2019-20):
- Title to be determined
- 63.8-win pace (77.8 winning percentage)
- 113.0 offensive rating, 105.6 defensive rating, 7.4 net rating
- Shooting: 48.5 percent, 35.5 percent from three-point range (31.4 attempts per game)
- 46.1 rebounds per game, 25.9 assists, 6.8 blocks, 73.0 percent from free-throw line
The NBA's style of play has shifted considerably over the past 10-20 years, notably in the number of three-point attempts per game, but the current Lakers are putting up comparable numbers to those of the previous title teams.
For context, the 2000-01 Lakers' offensive rating (108.4) was second in the league, behind the Bucks' 108.8, but Los Angeles' defensive rating of 104.8 wasn't elite at 21st in the league. The 2008-09 Lakers also put up points with the third-best offensive rating (112.8) while maintaining the sixth-best defensive rating (104.7).
The current team has the fourth-best offensive rating (113.0), slightly behind the historic squads, but it is positioned higher defensively (105.6, third in the league).
Of course, the games are more than statistics, especially in the postseason. The 2019-20 Lakers may have a chance to put themselves in the discussion with the franchise's all-time greats—but only if the NBA can resume the season.
Statistics from NBA.com unless otherwise noted. Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter, @EricPincus.
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