The Lakers have won 16 NBA Championships and have forever been a power in the sport, but which one of those teams is the greatest Laker team ever?
The Los Angeles Lakers have a total of 16 NBA Finals, five of them in Minneapolis and 11 in Southern California.
But of all those great clubs that took home the title, which one is the greatest of them all?
What are the best Lakers championship teams of all-time? Is it one of the “Showtime” teams, or the Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal dynasty of the millennium?
We will begin at number 16 and proceed to do two teams until we get to the final two and we’ll pit them against each other to see who is the greatest Lakers team of all-time.
16. 1952-53 Minneapolis Lakers
(NBA.com)
The 1952-53 Lakers were the one seed in the Western division, with a 48-22 record. They were unbeatable on their home floor as they went 24-2 at home.
In the first round of the playoffs they beat the Indianapolis Olympians 2-0. In the West Division Finals they beat the Fort Wayne (now Detroit) Pistons 3-2. Strangely the NBA Finals was the easiest series of them all as they handled the New York Knicks easily in five games.
The Lakers were led by NBA legend George Mikan (left) and fellow Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Vern Mikkelsen. Mikan averaged 20.6 points and 14.4 rebounds, while Mikkelsen averaged 15 points and 9.3 rebounds.
Mikan won the All-Star Game MVP award that season and was a member of the All-NBA First team. Mikkelsen was a member of the All-NBA Second team.
The title marked their fourth in franchise history and proceeded to follow this triumph with a repeat the next year.
15. 1953-54 Minneapolis Lakers
Funny enough, they happen to be the next team on this list. Minny had little trouble
(LA Times)
getting to the NBA Finals. There was only three teams they had to beat out that season to get to the NBA Finals. In the regular
season they finished with a record of 46-26, two games better than the second place Rochester Royals (now Sacramento Kings).
The two teams met in the West Division finals and the Lakers won the series 2-1. After beating the Royals they went on to face the 42-30 Syracuse Nationals (now Philadelphia 76ers) in the NBA Finals.
The Lakers won 4-3 in a hard fought series, securing their fifth and final title before moving to Los Angeles.
George Mikan was the Lakers best player, as he averaged 18.1 points and 14.3 rebounds. Jim Pollard (right) was also a key contributor to the Lakers as he averaged 11.7 points and 7 rebounds.
A key factor in their title win was the Lakers success at home, as they went 20-4. Mikan was selected as a member of the All-NBA First Team and Pollard was selected as a member of the All-NBA Second Team.
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