Their opponent would be the Los Angeles Lakers, who had run up an 11 – 0 record in the first three rounds of the playoffs, and were expected by many to make quick work of the 76ers.

Duncan going up for a shot over the Los Angeles Lakers | Lakers ' Andrew Bynum

With Duncan being healthy for 78 games and posting typical 20 / 10 numbers, San Antonio concluded the 2007 – 08 regular season with a 56 – 26 record, finishing behind the Lakers and New Orleans Hornets in the Western Conference and setting up themselves for a first-round contest against the Suns.

The 7 foot 1 inch Chamberlain weighed 250 pounds as a rookie before bulking up to 275 and eventually to over 300 pounds with the Lakers.

As a consequence, every team had a 9. 09 % chance of landing the basketball prodigy Mikan, who ended up on the Minneapolis Lakers playing for coach John Kundla.

After Sixers point guard Maurice Cheeks deflected a pass by Lakers forward James Worthy, Erving picked up the ball and charged down the court's left side, with one defender to beat — the Lakers ' top defensive player Michael Cooper.

Odom playing for the Los Angeles Lakers | LakersAt the beginning of the 2008 – 09 NBA season, Odom was moved to the bench and served as a sixth man, backing up the Lakers ' frontcourt of Gasol and Bynum.

After a month of tedious negotiations, on July 31, 2009 the Lakers announced that they had agreed to a four-year deal worth up to $ 33 million with Odom.

The styles with which small forwards amass their points vary widely, as some players at the position like the Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant are very accurate straight up shooters, while others like the Los Angeles Lakers ' Metta World Peace ( formerly Ron Artest ) prefer to " bang inside ", initiate and / or not shy away from physical contact with opposing players, while others are primarily slashers such as Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James.

The Celtics and Lakers made up 19 of 26 possible NBA appearances during thirteen seasons ( 1956 – 67 – 1968 – 69 ).

This period includes one season ( 1958 – 59 ) when the Lakers were still in Minneapolis, and it marks the largest stretch of seasons ( 14 ) that two teams made up over 65 % of NBA appearances, second being the 10 seasons ( 1979 – 80 to 1988 – 89 ) the Celtics and Lakers appeared 13 times.

Game 7 was held on May 5 ; Laker owner Jack Kent Cooke had balloons hung up in the arena in anticipation of a Lakers victory.

He grew up a Los Angeles Lakers fan and dreamed of playing with the Lakers.

However, the 76ers could not quite back up Malone's boast, losing one playoff game ( Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals to the Bucks ) en route to making Malone a world champion for the first time, sweeping the Knicks and Lakers along the way.

He grew up in the Los Angeles area, and was a Los Angeles Lakers fan as a child.

In Game 7 of the 1969 NBA Finals, against his former team, the Lakers, Nelson converted one of the most famous shots in playoff history — a foul-line jumper which dropped through the basket after hitting the back rim and bouncing several feet straight up.

Turcotte's experience as a coach and former NHLer has helped the Lakers in their in inaugural season in the OUA, to be a contending team ranked as high in the Canadian Interuniversity Sports ( CIS ) rankings as 8th, especially spectacular considering the team is made up of largely first year players.

Scott grew up in Inglewood, California and played at Morningside High School, in the shadow of what was then the Lakers ' home arena, The Forum.

During his playing career, Scott suited up for the Lakers, Indiana Pacers and Vancouver Grizzlies.

During his career with the NBA ’ s Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers from 1969 to 1989, Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships and a record six regular season MVP Awards.

In 1950, the NBA consolidated to eleven franchises, a process that continued until 1953 – 54, when the league reached its smallest size of eight franchises, all of which are still in the league ( the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Royals / Kings, Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks, and Nationals / 76ers ).

During this period, the Minneapolis Lakers, led by center George Mikan, won five NBA Championships and established themselves as the league's first dynasty.

Through this period, the NBA continued to strengthen with the shift of the Minneapolis Lakers to Los Angeles, the Philadelphia Warriors to San Francisco, the Syracuse Nationals to Philadelphia to become the Philadelphia 76ers, and the St. Louis Hawks moving to Atlanta, as well as the addition of its first expansion franchises.

Los Angeles Lakers Magic Johnson and Boston Celtics Larry Bird in Game Two of the 1985 NBA Finals at Boston Garden.

That same year, rookies Larry Bird and Magic Johnson joined the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers respectively, initiating a period of significant growth in fan interest in the NBA throughout the country and the world.

Kobe Bryant won his first Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award award in his 13th season after leading the Lakers to their first NBA championship since the departure of Shaquille O ' Neal.

At the end of that season, the Celtics and the Lakers renewed their rivalry from 2008 when they met again in the NBA Finals for a record 12th time.

According to an independent study by Ronald Beech of Game 6 of the NBA 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Lakers and Kings, although the refs increased the Lakers ' chances of winning through foul calls during the game, there was no collusion to fix the game.

During her freshman year, she was selected from a pool of 700 candidates for the cheerleading squad of the Los Angeles Lakers NBA basketball team — the famed Laker Girls.

** Los Angeles Lakers point guard Magic Johnson announces he has HIV, effectively ending his NBA career.

** The New York Knicks win their first NBA championship, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 113-99 in Game 7 of the world championship series at Madison Square Garden.

His final game was Game 4 of the 2002 NBA Finals where the Lakers defeated the New Jersey Nets to win their third consecutive NBA championship.

The team started out the season by losing its first 17 games, including a blowout 138 – 91, to Magic Johnson's Los Angeles Lakers, at the time an NBA record.

They traded Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat and Mickaël Piétrus to Phoenix for Hedo Türkoğlu ( who led them into the 2009 NBA Finals when they lost 4 – 1 against the Los Angeles Lakers ), Jason Richardson and Earl Clark.

"— the Celtics went on to beat the Los Angeles Lakers and win another NBA Championship.

In the 1980 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, they lost, four games to two.

The 76ers went on to win their third NBA championship ( and second in Philadelphia ) with a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers, who had defeated them the season before.

Nonetheless, their 12 – 1 playoff record is the second-best in league history after the 2000 – 2001 Lakers, who went 15 – 1 en route to the NBA Title, coincidentally beating the 76ers in the Finals ( after suffering their only defeat that postseason in Game 1 ).

In fact, Wright would only play four seasons in the NBA while Temple product Eddie Jones — drafted 4 slots below Wright in 1994 by the L. A. Lakers — had 16 productive seasons as an NBA player.

For instance, the 1948 ABL finalist Baltimore Bullets moved to the BAA and won that league's 1948 title, and the 1948 NBL champion Minneapolis Lakers won the 1949 BAA title.

Since the breakup of the Chicago Bulls championship roster in the summer of 1998, the Western Conference has dominated, with the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs combining to win the title in nine of fourteen years.

The Lakers won the title in Game 7, 83 – 79.

In 1968, the Lakers acquired four time MVP Wilt Chamberlain to play center, and after losing in the Finals in 1969 and 1970, they won their sixth NBA title — and first in Los Angeles — in 1972, led by new head coach Bill Sharman.

In the 1950 – 51 season, Mikan won his third straight scoring title at 28. 4 ppg and the Lakers went 44 – 24 to win their second straight division title.

The Lakers won 60 games in the 1972 – 73 NBA season, and took another Pacific Division title.

Nicknamed " Showtime " due to the team's new Johnson-led fast break-offense, the Lakers won the Pacific Division title and swept both the Suns and Spurs.

During the 1987 – 88 season, the Lakers took their seventh consecutive Pacific Division title, and met the Detroit Pistons in the 1988 NBA Finals.

Although the Sixers took game one in overtime, the Lakers won the next four games to win their second straight title.

** Los Angeles Lakers sweep the New Jersey Nets to win their third straight NBA title.

** Los Angeles Lakers win their first NBA title in twelve years, defeating the Indiana Pacers 4 games to 2.

In the only true home game, Game 7 in the Auditorium, the Lakers won 82 – 65 and edged the Knicks 4 – 3, winning the NBA title and earning themselves $ 7, 500 to split among the team.

Under his leadership, the Lakers won another NBA title in the 1954 NBA Finals, making it their third championship en bloc and the fifth in six years ; the only time they lost had been when Mikan fractured his leg.

Jones led the Celtics to two further titles in the 1980s, and Bill Sharman coached the Los Angeles Lakers to their first title in 1972.

The Lakers earned Riley his second NBA title in 1985 in a rematch of the previous year, as the Lakers beat the Celtics in six games.

While the 1988 Lakers did not produce as many wins in the regular season as the 1987 Lakers, they still managed to win the NBA title, becoming the first team in 19 years to repeat as champions.

In fact, the Sixers went four-five-four, losing one game to the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference finals, then sweeping the Lakers to win the NBA title.

* Kurt Rambis, Professional basketball player, 4 time NBA title winner with the Los Angeles Lakers, Head Coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves

Currently, there are only 13 players with D-League experience who won an NBA title: Tremaine Fowlkes with the Detroit Pistons in 2003 – 04 ; Devin Brown and Mike Wilks with the San Antonio Spurs in 2004 – 05 ; Earl Barron and Dorell Wright with the Miami Heat in 2005 – 06 ; James White with the San Antonio Spurs in 2006 – 07 ; Gabe Pruitt with the Boston Celtics in 2007 – 08 ; and, Sun Yue and Shannon Brown with the Los Angeles Lakers, Jordan Farmar, Josh Powell in 2008 – 09, and 2009-10, and most recently Jose Juan Barea, Rodrigue Beaubois, Ian Mahinmi, Dominique Jones with the Dallas Mavericks in 2010-2011, and Dexter Pittman with the Miami Heat in 2011-2012.

Wallace helped the Pistons win an unexpected NBA title, beating the heavily favored Lakers four games to one.