Anyone who has listened to a Lakers' radio broadcast is well aware of the bravado that the members of the team from the 80s possess. Color commentator Mychael Thompson is famous for comparing the current team to the ones he played on, often citing how Magic would do this or that to ensure that the team never suffered a letdown against a subpar opponent. Thompson also offers up such continually brilliant analysis as, "they just need to play harder," which goes back to the same point: in his mind, the teams of the 80s had an attitude that the current players simply don't possess.
Apparently (and unfortunately) the revisionist history lessons aren't limited to being given by below average radio analysts, however. Byron Scott -- another former Laker from that era and a one-time teammate of Thompson's -- shared some similar views when his New Orleans Hornets were in town the other day, and they went a little something like this.
“They’re not close,” Scott told repoters before Tuesday’s game. “They’ve got a swagger, but their swagger is nowhere close to ours.
“We just followed right behind Earvin (Magic Johnson), so everybody had to swagger …
“I just remember from the day I got here in Los Angeles, playing with Magic and (Michael) Cooper, they had that swagger. They expected to win championships, that was the bottom line.
“My wife used to tell me that she would stand right by the tunnel and watch us come out. I never saw her. … It’s just like the Raiders back in the day. They used to get off the bus with the all-black on, they just tried to intimidate people.
“We just wanted to let you know that we were coming and we meant business all night long.”
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Absolutely shocking that a former athlete would view their time in the game as superior to any era that followed, isn't it? Look, there's no doubt that the Showtime Lakers of the 80s were a special group, and they have five titles to show for it. But any comparisons to this team are simply apples and oranges. The league has changed, players have changed, and even some rules have changed.
So save the reminiscing for summertime barbecues with your former teammates, Byron. Because no one outside of that very small fraternity is interested in hearing your delusional, one-sided opinions from the glory years.
