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LAKERS’ LONG ROAD BACK TO THE TOP; FROM CHUMPS TO CHAMPS

5 months ago | World Sports News | 0 comments

By Xai Reyes

Four years after hitting rock bottom, the Los Angeles Lakers are back on top of the basketball world.

With a 106-93 victory over the Miami Heat in game six of the NBA Finals on Sunday, the Lakers took a 4-2 series victory and clinched a record-equalling 17th NBA championship.

The triumph marked the final stop on what has been a long and winding road to recovery following a decade of precipitous decline for one of the most iconic franchises in the NBA.

The Lakers had failed to reach the playoffs in six consecutive seasons before this year, and had not reached the NBA Finals since 2010, when a side led by the late Kobe Bryant claimed a 16th championship.

Those six years in the playoff wilderness also included three of the worst seasons in Lakers history, with the nadir coming in 2015-2016, when the team managed just 17 wins against 65 defeats.

The Lakers were also on the wrong end of some humiliating losses during that period, suffering the three heaviest defeats in franchise history between 2014 and 2017.