The year is 2002 and you are sitting in front of your television, watching one of the greatest moments in basketball history. You are a kid, born and raised in Los Angeles, CA and are loving everything about the moments that you are watching unfold right before your eyes.
What you are watching is the Lakers' postseason run to a third championship - an accomplishment that has become the norm as a fan of the basketball team that is running the National Basketball Association. The Lakers are currently competing for their third championship in three years and are lead by the best dynamic duo in the league: Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'neal.
Growing up in Los Angeles as a Lakers fan, pain is never something that was felt. Winning was expected and in the seasons that we didn't reach the ultimate goal, we didn't just say there's always next year, we believed it.
From the years 2000-2010, the Los Angeles Lakers won five championships and lost in two other NBA Finals. Let me do the math for you: the Los Angeles Lakers were in the NBA finals seven out of eleven times during this time period. Los Angeles was the place to be a basketball fan during these years, and it's not because of the other team that shared the hallway with the Lakers -- the Clippers. Kids everywhere wore Kobe and Shaq jerseys, and on the playground everyone wanted to copy their latest basketball moves.
These days, in Los Angeles, it is nothing like this. The Lakers are currently 1-7 and the immediate future does not look any brighter.
Young ballers in Los Angeles look up to Stephen Curry, who doesn't even play in Los Angeles, but plays eight hours away in Northern California. The Los Angeles Clippers, who were once neglected by almost everyone in their own city, is now garnering more support than the Lakers.
On Sunday, I sat in the same living room that I watched the Lakers win their five championships and watched a completely different story. I saw seemingly unprofessional basketball players put on jerseys that were -- at one time -- only worn by the greatest athletes. I saw a Kobe Bryant, who once easily scored thirty points, barely accumulate eighteen. I saw a team that was in the lead at one moment lose to a team that is not even one of the top teams in the NBA. Yet, in the midst of all of this pain, I saw some things that gave me hope for the future.
I saw a young point guard that will one day shoot the lights out of a gym. I saw a power forward that was strong, quick, and athletic -- a future leader of one of the greatest organizations in basketball. I saw a Sophomore shooting guard that could drive the basketball to the rim and make plays for the team.
Even if there aren't brighter days coming this season, I know that if the Lakers hold tight to these young stars, brighter days are on the horizon in just a few seasons.
This must have been how Lakers fans felt when Jerry West and Elgin Baylor left, but then came Magic and Kareem. This must have been how Lakers fans felt when Magic announced that he would be retiring, but then came Kobe and Shaq. This is how we felt when Shaq got traded to Miami, but soon came Pau Gasol and a big man named Andrew Bynum, who added two more championships to the Lakers' resumee. Now, it is our turn to feel pain. It is our turn to endure the moments of waiting for the next stars to bring championships and glory to Los Angeles, and we must be patient because in our patience, we will be rewarded.
It is my firm belief that we will win another NBA Championship before the Clippers win their first.
It is for this reason that I am fine with enduring this pain to receive the joy that the Lakers will bring in just a few seasons. As for you Clippers fans, well I have no idea what to tell you. It seems like you guys will always be fans of a team that will never win the NBA Championship.
