Showtime. It’s a name synonymous with not just the Lakers franchise, but the NBA itself, and one of the league’s greatest eras ever. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson have long been credited with saving the NBA during the 1980s with their rivalry that started in the NCAA Tournament and carried into the NBA between, respectively, Bird’s Celtics and Johnson’s “Showtime” Lakers.
For the franchise, it’s a time period that created many fans of purple and gold, and turned the Lakers into not just contenders once again, but champions and among the league’s greatest teams and franchises ever.