Team Curse

There is an alleged curse on the Los Angeles Lakers, who have not won an NBA championship since the death of longtime popular broadcaster Chick Hearn, following the 2001-2002 NBA season.

Prior to Hearn's death in 2002, the Lakers had won three straight NBA championships, and were one of the league's elite teams. But since his death, the Los Angeles Lakers have lost in some of the league's most recent big games, and have been involved in some of the league's biggest off-court scandals:

• 2003 NBA Playoffs: In the conference semifinals, the Lakers battled the San Antonio Spurs, with the home team winning the first four games. On May 13 in San Antonio, Texas, the Lakers rallied from a 25-point deficit to cut the Spurs lead to 96-94 with 10 seconds left. But usual clutch-shooter Robert Horry's 3-pointer rattled in and out to secure the Spurs win. San Antonio won the series, 4 games to 2, eliminating the Lakers from the playoffs. In that off-season, the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case would surface, as a 19-year-old Eagle, Colorado hotel worker claimed that Bryant sexually assaulted and raped her. Claiming innocence, Kobe Bryant flew to Colorado to testify in his case during the 2003-2004 NBA season. All charges were dropped on September 1, 2004, after the hotel worker refused to testify in court, and a civil settlement was reached.
• 2004 NBA Finals: The Lakers came into the NBA Finals as the favorites against the Detroit Pistons. But when both teams split the first two games in Los Angeles, the series shifted to Detroit's Palace of Auburn Hills for games 3, 4 and 5, where the Pistons would dominate those three games. In Game 3, Los Angeles scored only 68 points, the fewest total amount by any Laker team in post-season history. After the clinching game for Detroit in Game 5, the Kobe-Shaq feud would begin, as both players parted ways from each other. Eventually, center Shaquille O'Neal would be traded to the Miami Heat, while shooting guard Kobe Bryant would remain with the team.
• 2006 NBA Playoffs: In the first round, the Lakers would take on their Pacific Division rivals, the Phoenix Suns. The Lakers would eventually jump to a 3 games to 1 lead, thanks in part to the heroics of Kobe Bryant in Game 4. In Game 5, the series intensified, with a clothesline to Bryant by Phoenix's Raja Bell. Although losing Game 5, there was still a sense of comfort for the Lakers, as, with a 3 games to 2 lead, they could still close the series at home. In Game 6, with the Lakers leading 105-102 with 28 seconds left, Phoenix grabbed several offensive rebounds, then, the Suns' Tim Thomas tied the game with a 3-pointer with 6.2 seconds left.
• 2007 NBA Playoffs: Once again, the first round would be the Lakers and the Phoenix Suns, but this time, the Suns would get the upper hand, as they won the series, 4 games to 1. Following the playoffs, on May 30, Bryant asked for a trade on Stephen A. Smith's radio program on ESPN, citing that he would only play if Memphis Grizzlies' General Manager Jerry West would return to the Lakers, that he was angered over the fact that a "Lakers insider" blamed Bryant over the split with O'Neal, and that the team did not want to move on with him. By the start of the following season, Bryant, with the sound of boos on opening night, would return to the Lakers.
• 2008 NBA Finals: For the fist time since 2004, the Lakers returned to the NBA Finals, and would play their historical rival, the Boston Celtics. Boston won the first two games at TD Banknorth Garden; in Game 1, Boston won when Paul Pierce, who injured his knee in that game, scored two dramatic 3-pointers and finished with 22 points, while in Game 2, the Celtics won by 6 points, after a furious L.A. comeback down by 24 points in the 4th quarter. The Lakers won Game 3, but in Game 4 at Staples Center, Los Angeles would register the worst collapse by any team in NBA Finals history. The Lakers would blow a 24-point first-half lead, and lost Game 4, 97-91, adding to the suffering of Los Angeles sports fans. The Lakers won Game 5, shifting the series back to Boston, but the Celtics closed the Finals in Game 6 with the largest margin-of-victory in an NBA Finals closeout game, 131-92 (39 points). The Celtics led by as much as 42 points in that game. Paul Pierce, who ironically grew up hating the Celtics as an Angelino who went to Inglewood High School in Inglewood, CA, won Finals MVP honors, as the Celtics won their first title since 1986, and their 17th championship overall.

Sports-related curses. (2009, January 17). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:35, January 17, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sports-related_curses&oldid=264598455