The Los Angeles Lakers are arguably the NBA’s most storied franchise by virtue of their 17 world championships. They’ve been so successful over the decades that even when they haven’t won it all, they have had some impressive squads that were memorable, not to mention talented, star-studded and very competitive.
Heading into the 1982-83 season, the Lakers were the defending champs and had won it all against the Philadelphia 76ers in two of the previous three seasons. The task for them was now to prove they were a team for the ages and not merely a great team that had a short, happy run before dissolving into irrelevance.