Before I get into the meat of this, let me first state that I am not writing this to denigrate the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers. I’m not trying to call them frauds, phonies, or anything of the sort. I do not think they were lucky. I believe the Showtime Lakers were one of the greatest basketball teams in history. Those Lakers may have been the best team of the 1980s. However, I do not think they were the most impressive team of that decade. The Lakers were consistent, and they took advantage of the opportunities afforded them. And most of all, the Lakers did not have to play in the East.
A few years ago, some of my friends were complaining about the East-West imbalance in the NBA. I told them that I didn’t think it was any different from the 80s. Back then, the East ruled. The Lakers had no competition in their conference. In the ten years from 1980-1989, the Lakers lost two series to Western Conference foes, to the 1981 and 1986 Houston Rockets. On the other side of the country, the Boston Celtics had to deal with the 76ers, Bucks, and, later, Pistons.
I was thinking about this the other day and wondered about something. I did some quick research and found a telling truth. If we use the 1986 season as the cutoff point—I chose 1986 because that marks the 76ers killing the franchise by trading away Moses Malone and the first pick of the draft—every season from 1980-1986 in which there was a Sixers-Celtics playoff series whose winner went on to play the Lakers in the Finals, that team lost to the Lakers. Every season during that period in which either there was no Sixers-Celtics playoff series or the Lakers failed to make the Finals, the Sixers or Celtics won the championship. From 1987-1989, the same is true if you replace the 76ers with the Pistons. To further illustrate this, see the table below:
| Year | Eastern Conference Finals | Western Conference Winner | NBA Champion |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Celtics-76ers | Lakers | Lakers |
| 1981 | Celtics-76ers | Rockets | Celtics |
| 1982 | Celtics-76ers | Lakers | Lakers |
| 1983 | 76ers-Bucks | Lakers | 76ers |
| 1984 | Celtics-Bucks | Lakers | Celtics |
| 1985 | Celtics-76ers | Lakers | Lakers |
| 1986 | Celtics-Bucks | Rockets | Celtics |
| 1987 | Celtics-Pistons | Lakers | Lakers |
| 1988 | Celtics-Pistons | Lakers | Lakers |
| 1989 | Pistons-Bulls | Lakers | Pistons |
As I said before, I think the Lakers were a great team. I just find it more impressive what the Celtics, Sixers, and Pistons had to get through just to make it to the Finals.
Of course, all this is probably just coincidence. The 1983 team was the best Sixers team of the era. The 1986 Celtics are argued by some to be the best team in NBA history. Those teams played Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference Finals. Would they have won the championship had they faced their rival instead? We’ll never know, but I’ll always wonder.
You have to give the Lakers credit for their consistency, though. They made it through the West 8 times out of 10 years, and won 5 championships. Nothing but greatness.
