Lakers icon James Worthy played in three NBA Finals against the Celtics during his Hall of Famer career and was on the winning side twice. As much as he cherishes those wins, the loss in 1984 haunts him to this day. However, it made him introspective and he pondered about the great LA teams of the past, who lost seven Finals to their bitter rivals from Boston. It made him want to avenge the city, the franchise he loved, and cast out his demons.
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On former teammate Bryon Scott’s Fast Break podcast, Worthy shed light on his mindset heading into the 1985 NBA Finals against the Celtics. He said,
“We’d lost that year before. [In 1985] We represented not only ourselves but all those teams that lost, all the fans. I mean that’s hard to lose 7 times. We lost to them once and I thought life was over. So that to me, bringing that back to the franchise, and doing that finally, cos it was a heavy burden for a lot of years. that to me was the special one.”
He added that the 1985 championship win was the most memorable moment of his career. That’s unsurprising, considering it was his first title win. The champagne also tasted better because it came at the expense of the Celtics.
But despite that roster being the closest to his heart, he doesn’t believe it was the best team he played for. That distinction belongs to the unit that beat piped Boston to the title in 1987.
Worthy believes ’87 Lakers are better than ’01 Lakers
Worthy believes the 1986-87 Lakers wasn’t only the best team he ever played on, but also the best roster the franchise has ever fielded. When asked if it was better than the 2000-01 roster that went 16-1 in the playoffs and helped the franchise win a championship for the second straight year, he said,
“Unless I’ve been on the court with you, how are we going to gauge that? Do I think I could bust some a*s? Yeah, I know what our team was about.”
The 2000–01 Lakers, led by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant are regarded as one of the most dominant teams in NBA history. Had it not been for Allen Iverson’s historic 50-game explosion in the NBA Finals, they would have finished the playoffs undefeated. Regardless, their 16-1 record is tied for best ever, alongside the 2016-17 Warriors.
The 1986-87 Lakers weren’t as dominant but went 15-3 in the postseason after finishing the season at 65-17, which is pretty impressive. Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s superb play ensured they won every game they played in LA.
Debating which of the two greatest Lakers rosters ever assembled would win in a hypothetical series is a brain teaser. However, as Worthy claimed, it’s impossible to gauge and agree on the outcome.
