LeBron and L.A. need to make room for Jared Goff and the very real Rams

[FrantikRam]

“Out west”includes the greater So Cal area. How much are you willing to wager?

What all are we including as "out West"?

There are about 5 NFL fans to every NBA fan so....quite a bit.

 

[FrantikRam]

The Lakers have been to the posteseason more times as a percentage of their being than the Yankees.

And the NBA has had a cap for a lot of years.

Go look and you will see that they only missed the postseason a few times before this slump in the last 5 years.

The Lakers in the playoffs was a given more than anything in pro sports.



The Celtics have spent at least three times as many year being irrelevant though. As in not in the playoffs and lottery pickers.

If you are going to include titles from the 50's, which you are, then titles from the 40's count too.

Hall of Fame players? Hmmmmmm..........kinda the same right?

The Lakers have appeared in 10 more finals than the Celtics, many more post seasons, and don't disappear for years at a time like the Celtics. They are always in the mix.

If you compare the postseason appearances of the Yankees, and finals appearances you will see what I mean.

The Lakers are, and will always be, in the conversation for pro sports royalty.

You're right, they'll always be in the conversation.

We could go back and forth with qualifiers all day long. That the Celtics have the advantage head to head in the Finals is more meaningful than anything else IMO. And as far as relevancy goes in the NBA, if you're a big fan like I suspect you are, then you know that there are only 3-5 truly relevant teams each season. Even now the Lakers aren't a contender despite having LeBron. The NBA may have a salary cap but it's still easier to win in the NBA than any other sport. The Warriors have had what, a 50/60% chance to win the title the last three years heading into the season? In the NFL the highest was around 10%.

The Lakers got Shaq primarily because they are based in LA. The Lakers got LeBron because they are in LA. The Warriors got KD because they're near Silicon Valley. If I were a Lakers fan I would probably feel the same as you - but becoming royalty primarily because of where they are located isn't some great achievement IMO. The Steelers, Cowboys, Patriots and 49ers are all more sports royalty than the Lakers or Celtics or even Yankees IMO - winning super bowls is MUCH harder than winning championships in other sports.