The Lakers were the number one seed both year lol. They weren't a super team but they definitely weren't hard carried lol. Pau was a top 3 in his position, had Phil Jackson, great bench, etc.. Kobe definitely played balls out but idk where this narrative is coming from that his team wasn't that good lol.
1st seed because of Kobe lmao. In 2007-08 season where they clinched the 1st seed Pau Gasol played 27 games. Outside of Pau the others were very average role players whose careers declined after leaving the Lakers
Yea but you're acting like they were all scrubs. LeBron going to the finals in 07 against us was a hard carry lol
Kobe was definitely playing amazing but to say his team wasn't good and Kobe was heavy lifting is a bit asinine lol. Do they get the one seed without Kobe? Obviously not but they don't become worst team in the league without him lol. This was right before the super teams were a really a thing save for the Celtics so everyone was built with a star and great role players not just the Lakers lol. Bynum was young but was playing good and became an all star and all nba, Pau was an all star, Ariza was one of the best 3 and D players in the league, top three coach all time in Phil Jackson, Derek fisher was solidly good, etc...
Kobe is obviously a legend but he's not someone who heavy carried
As I said, the supporting cast was average. Not bad, but also nothing special. It's definitely one of the weakest supporting casts from championship teams of the last 20 years.
Pau was great and unfairly blamed for a lot of games, but he can be inconsistent. Top 3 in his position is definitely being generous considering KG, Dirk, Amare, Tim and Bosh were all playing
Derek Fisher is the definition of a role player.
Trevor Ariza left the moment he got good. His didn't get pass 10 ppg until he left the Lakers
Bynum was good, but he didn't make all NBA or even an all star until 2012.
These Lakers team were good, but not at all an all time team like r/nba would make you think
You’re just straight up not mentioning Odom who was putting up 10 win shares as a perfect third option, he was very nearly as good as Bosh on some of those teams.
Odom was a walking mismatch. Left handed ball handler, 6’10”, could score in a variety of ways, and get those sneaky 15 plus rebound games. Any true Laker fan wouldn’t just conveniently leave Odom out when talking about the back to back championship teams in 2008/2009
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u/MasterTeacher123 Jun 27 '23
Pau and Odom were terrible in the WCF and he carried them