Has it really been 10 years since the Los Angeles Lakers returned to the mountaintop after a seven-year drought against the Orlando Magic in the 2009 NBA Finals?
In retrospect, their road back to what then-radio play-by-play man Spero Dedes called “basketball immortality” may seem like it wasn’t a big deal, or it may even seem preordained.
That couldn’t be further from the truth.
After Shaquille O’Neal was traded in the summer of 2004, the Lakers schlepped forward with Kobe Bryant and a decent, but underwhelming, supporting cast in tow.