How Good Were The "Showtime'" Lakers Actually?

Before 1979, the Lakers were the biggest losers in the NBA. After moving from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in 1960, the Lakers appeared in nine NBA finals, but lost eight of them, mostly to Bill Russell and the Celtics. But in 1975, the Lakers added the best player in the world, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. However, despite Kareem winning two MVPs during

his first four seasons in LA, the Lakers only won two playoff series. To make things even worse, the team was losing money, filling only 60% of their stadium's capacity. [music] But to turn things around, all they needed was a bit of magic. With the first overall pick in the '79 draft, the Lakers selected

Earvin Magic Johnson. And together with their new owner, Jerry Buss, the Lakers immediately transformed into a winning franchise. Between 1980 and 1991, the Lakers made the NBA finals nine times, winning five championships and leading the [music] league in offensive rating seven times. The Lakers were called Showtime, and Showtime was the most attractive basketball spectacle on the

planet. And the one thing Dr. Buss always said is you guys want to we want you to entertain the entertainers. And that was our role. >> With a fast-paced offense, no-look passes, and celebrity sitting courtside, Showtime [music] transformed how the NBA games were consumed, how the game was played, and most importantly, it saved

the NBA. We won championships, we lost [music] championships, you know, we have a history uh together that's you can't replace. This is the story of the Showtime Lakers, the most successful [music] era in franchise history. The most expensive divorce of all time is that of Bill Gates, who gave up 76 billion dollars to divorce Melinda Gates. But