On the Lakers Exceptionalism, a short life digression regarding Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James.

Amidst this world wide pandemic situation, I thought that one of the best ways to move my thoughts away for a couple of minutes from this tragedy, it would be to write about the Lakers exceptionalism. In the last 20 years, afraid that soon a team in L.A. California would surpass the not be named here team in New England (and executive’s NBA favorite) in the number of championships, the NBA has done everything possible to create the hardest possible path for the Los Angeles Lakers to achieve that. With this objective in mind; cap and salary restrictions were created, previously approved deals were voided, and it awards a franchise to a person with a previous history of using unscrupulous methods to win. However, for all of that, the NBA forgot something, that it (NBA) can’t do anything against the basic decency of the Lakers’ ownership. During all the Buss’s family tenure as owners of the Lakers, they have always made every possible effort to make sure that any iconic player of their franchise retires as Laker. That was the case for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and the last one: Kobe Bryant. It was always unconceivable for them that one these would end their careers in any other franchise. I thought about that, again, after reading that Tom Brady is signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and remembering that Jerry Reinsdorf allowed Michael Jordan to end his career with the Washington Wizards. Did the New England Patriots franchise win multiple times the Super Bowl before Brady? Did the Chicago Bulls franchise win multiple times the NBA championship before Jordan? The answer is emphatic no! The Chicago Bulls have been since their last championship in a continuous cycle of bad-mediocre-not good enough teams, and there is high probability that the same will happen to the Patriots.

When Kobe Bryant signed his last contract with the Lakers, there was widespread criticism from the media. Of course, back then, the now almost forgotten Henry Abbott wrote an editorial about it for ESPN. However, Jeannie Buss immediately stated that Kobe had deserved it for all that he had done for the franchise, and all wise fans agreed with her. The Lakers went through hard years, but we knew that as soon the first real superstar came in to play for it, that the organization’s way of treating their superstar player would serve as the best advertisement in the business. Therefore, NBA and media members, this is the Lakers exceptionalism that as long as the Buss family is in charge, it will always be taken into consideration by all free agents. An iconic and intelligent player as LeBron James knows that. I even speculate that had LeBron noticed that the Cleveland Cavaliers ownership had this type of decency regarding an icon player, he probably would have stayed in Cleveland. Since that was not the case, chances are that LeBron James will end his career as a Laker playing for the best organization and the best owners in sport. Top that, or better, cap that Adam Silver!