The Warriors take on the Los Angeles Lakers tonight with a chance to cement their place in the record books as they are primed to be the first team in NBA history to start a season with 16 consecutive wins.
While Golden State sits at the NBA mountain top as the reigning champions, buoyed by a well-managed salary cap and young stars on team-friendly contracts, the Lakers languish at the bottom with a roster built around a 37-year-old former superstar, two rookies*, and the player formerly known as “All-Star Roy Hibbert.” The opposing trajectories of the two franchises is especially remarkable when considering the recent past.