For SoCal Sports Fans , The Holidays Arrived Early
LAKERS AND DODGERS BRING HOME THE TITLES
BY RYAN G . COOK
Christmas came early this year for LA sports fans . After a 32-year drought and in the midst of this never ending pandemic , both The Los Angeles Lakers and The Los Angeles Dodgers won championships in the same year once again . 1988 was the first time in the history of the NBA and MLB that the same city won championships .
Angels fans can argue that the year of 2002 made history , with manager Mike Scioscia ’ s team winning the World Series and Kobe ’ s Lakers winning the NBA Championship . The Angels , however didn ’ t really qualify as an L . A . title to most sports fans in those days . They were the team down the freeway owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company and called the Anaheim Angels playing ball at Edison International Field of Anaheim . The other Angels-Dodgers similarity regarding the ‘ 88 World Series was that Mike Scioscia was the Dodgers ’ power-hitting catcher with hall of fame pitcher , Orel “ Bulldog ” Hershiser . That was the year that every Dodgers fan will never forget with manager Tommy Lasorda making the historic pinch hit call and Kirk Gibson hitting the hall of fame walk off Grand Slam .
The ‘ 88 Lakers was Magic and Kareem ’ s Show Time . It was the team coached by none other than Pat Riley with his slicked back hair and mafioso Hollywood persona . It was the team that won the championship the year prior and Riley guaranteed a back to back Championship . It was the season Kareem made his 18th NBA all-star appearance , Magic was all-NBA first team , and Michael Cooper was all- NBA defensive first team . It was also the team that took out Detroit ’ s “ Bad Boys ” coached by Chuck Daly and made up of Isiah Thomas ,
Joe Dumars , Dennis Rodman , Rick Mahorn , Bill Laimbeer , and John Salley . Finally , it was the last time the title was decided at The Great Western Forum .
This 2020 NBA Championship was the 17th for the Lakers , tying the Boston Celtics in the record books . LeBron was named NBA Finals MVP for the fourth time , placing him second only to Michael Jordan and the first Finals MVP with three different teams . James now has 4 rings which brings him closer to Bryant ’ s five and Jordan ’ s six . Coincidentally , out of 38 NBA Champions with 4 rings , LeBron joins only Robert Horry and John Salley to win with three different teams and all three of them won one with the Lakers .
The Dodgers won seven straight divisional titles without winning the World Series until this year , marking 2020 as the eighth consecutive trip to the post season show chasing the Atlanta Braves ’ historic record of 14 . Losing to the Houston Cheaters in the 2017 World Series was bad enough but then again back to back in 2018 to the Boston Red Sox was devastating . So the Dodgers acquired Mookie Betts from Boston and eventually made Betts the second-highest paid MLB player behind the 12 year / $ 426.5 million Mike Trout Angels deal . Mookie ended up with a 12 year extension , $ 65 million signing bonus , and a $ 300 million contract through the 2032 season . “ Third time is the charm ” and the Dodgers believed it this 2020 with back to back to back World Series appearances ; but this time going home as World Champions and beating The Tampa Bay Rays in Game Six .
2020 has been a terrible year for sports ( and everything else ) but thank God we had sports to watch . Perhaps not in person for most of us , but at least from our TVs , computers , and mobile devices safe at home . Los Angeles gave us two of the largest gifts in sports , an NBA Championship and a MLB World Series . Happy Holidays SoCal sports fans and a very Happy and Healthy New Year .
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