Dear Editor,
As a 16-year Los Angeles Lakers fan, I must begin by admitting that I have never witnessed the Lakers compete with such a lack of intensity, emotion or desire to achieve. They were complacent, uninspired and altogether took for granted their ability to dominate. Pitiful effort in what was supposed to culminate in another 3-peat.
With that said, the Lakers beat the Lakers, the Dallas Mavericks did not beat the Lakers. I am one to always disregard the Regular Season Series, but the Lakers swept the Mavericks during the 2010-2011 Regular Season, winning all four matchups. In the 2011 Playoffs, in Game 1, the Lakers blew a 16 point lead and in Game 3, they were up by 8 in the fourth quarter against the Mavs. The Lakers controlled the tempo of both these games and lost only because of poor execution and team chemistry issues down the stretch. This all leads to one glaring conclusion: the Lakers are their only competition!
In the end, yes the Mavs will move on and the Lakers’ bid for another three consecutive championships has come to an end, but do not forget what prompted the Lakers’ championship in 2009—it was not more help via trades, it was not the signing of a huge free agent, it was a humbling and emotional NBA finals loss to the then worthy Boston Celtics. This defeat motivated the Lakers by igniting an insatiable appetite of Lakers dominance, which would be feared by all 29 other NBA teams during the Lakers’ championships in 2009 and 2010, especially their immediate victims the Orlando Magic and the Celtics.
I have seen this complacency before by the Lakers, never as self-defeating as this, but I recall the same thing happening during the Lakers’ defeat in 2004, when the Lakers underestimated the Detroit Pistons. More importantly however, I have seen that a Lakers team, when humbled and not underestimating its competition, is undefeatable. It was this humbling defeat that was needed to reignite that aura of invincibility in Lakerland. The greatest franchise in sports history will be back next year, reinvigorated, humbled and hungry to win their next championship. NBA Beware!
Yours faithfully,
Cheddi B. Jagan II, Esq.
