Now this is going to be fun, Lakers fans.

There is a framed magazine on the wall in my bathroom. A sports relic from a past life. When the world made more sense. Before pandemics or basketball bubbles. Before our heroes tragically left us. Before the Clippers could get out of the second round.

I guess some things stay the same.

The magazine is one that I would recognize. It’s one of the most infamous Sports Illustrated covers of the last 20 years and features two players: a man who would become the Brooklyn Nets head coach and a former Laker turned current.

It represents the latest flash of purple and gold optimism before a collective plant in an era of disappointment and a free agent wish list centered on Timofey Mozgov.

Not seriously. Timofey Mozgov. I was there. Memory. It was hard.

Two decades from now, when you look back on the different eras of Lakers basketball, the one that won’t fit is the one that includes the story of a game in Cleveland in which so many Lakers were injured or fouled that they were left without players. and he had to put in a Robert Sacre (Gonzaga legend!) who had already been fouled but was still ready to bring him back into the game with six fouls while Chris Kaman took an extended nap on 65% of the Lakers. ‘Bank.

(Image via Spectrum SportsNet)

That was something.

But do you know the best part of this story? The Lakers won that game. Yeah sure, it turned out to be against the Cavaliers, who had been dumped on the altar (the first time) by #FutureLaker LeBron James and they were fielding a team made up mostly of postal workers they hired 25 minutes before the notice, but it just feels so appropriate. Even when the Lakers were a miserable bunch of losers, and there’s no question that for most of the last decade that’s what they were, the anecdote still ends in a win.

Go Lakers.

So, let’s go back to that magazine. The reason I bring it up is because my particular copy is special. You see, the author who wrote the cover story, who happens to be one of the greatest NBA writers who ever lived, was kind enough to personalize it. At least in some way.

Photo via Daniel Buerge, obviously, because it would be weird if we had a stock photo of his bathroom.

Yes, that is actually my bathroom.

And not. It’s not fun. (Well maybe 29 other teams, but nobody cares about them.)

Of course, the incredible irony here is that one of the players appearing in what would evolve to become the defining meme of the coldest stretch in franchise history is back on the roster and helping the team do what they don’t. they were able to do during their last. Tenure: Convert Tinseltown back to Titletown. Go figure.

But this is what we do. This is how these things go. We look for stories or narratives. Perceived slights or missed connections. Something to draw a line between the past and the present. Something to give credence to the constant search for purpose in the minds of fans, to confirm the rising decibels of our internal monologue, which was a low whisper at first but has now reached a dull roar – this is our year.

Sort of like the 20th anniversary of the team’s first three-mob race championship (still the most recent team to do this, by the way), the 40th anniversary of the first Showtime-era championship (whose Finals MVP would ensure the arrival of LeBron to Lakerland 38 years later). Oh, and the fact that the guy who coined the term above – mob three – and coached the Showtime team is now sitting on the other side of enemy lines, firmly wrapped in Miami Heat lore.

Something like beating the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals before trying to secure a ring in Orlando.

Something like the new star of the Lakers against his old team.

Something like a forced passage of the guard through a horrible tragedy, and a new inspiration that was never asked for but that exists now. Something like one of the most devoted fan bases in sports still seeking closure they may never receive.

Something like hope.

In a year like this, we all need it.

So while the sarcastic Memes of “WE BELIEVE” They do the rounds, and the collective NBA universe starts to remember why Lakers fans didn’t like him so much, this is a new chapter for Lakers exceptionalism. Are we less privileged than previous generations, who for decades cheered Finals appearances every 12-24 months while trying to figure out why nine other Western Conference teams claimed they were the Lakers’ main rival because they won a tough game like visitor in February? In Los Angeles?

Of course we are not.

But we could have a little more perspective. At least for the next two weeks.

In that spirit, Lakers Nation, live it. Talk your trash and fly your flag.

Because, even if in years past it seemed like these titles happen all the time, we’ve learned too painfully that nothing lasts forever, and none of us are immune to the ebbs and flows of life.

But at the same time, let’s be honest with each other, and understand that for most NBA fans, particularly those foolish enough to support teams other than the Lakers, these past seven years had been highly anticipated. . We all like to see the king lose his crown, be humiliated at the feet of others, know his true place among the subjects who once reigned tyrannically, and start anew, albeit with benevolence. A more humble and thoughtful monarch.

Nah f – that. Start planning the (virtual) parade.

You can follow Daniel on Twitter at @danielbuergela.