Wednesday night’s victory over the San Antonio Spurs finally brought this tumultuous season to an end for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The team lost an extraordinary amount of games due to injury, and limped towards the most losses in the history of the franchise. It was truly a season that everyone involved would like to forget.
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When a team goes 27-55, it is hard to pinpoint many positive moments in the season, but the Lakers definitely had a few. Steve Blake’s game winner against the Houston Rockets, the fourth quarter bench explosion on opening night against the Clippers, and any and everything involving Swaggy P.
It is useless to dwell on the negatives associated with this season, so we are going to focus on the positive. We asked our panel of experts: What is your favorite moment of the season? This is what they had to say:
Ryan Ward (@Lakers_Examiner): It is difficult to find a favorite moment in a season filled with disappointment. The Lakers have been awful this season with 55 losses and less than 30 wins to their credit. Definitely not a season to remember with the team setting franchise records for all the wrong reasons.
Despite struggling through a forgettable season, my favorite moment had to be the team coming into their own against the Minnesota Timberwolves back in late December. The Lakers had lost Kobe Bryant for another six weeks and ultimately the rest of the season, but Nick Young and Pau Gasol put on a show regardless.
Young started to get hot from beyond the arc and Gasol even added a three, basically putting the game in the refrigerator in the final moments of the fourth quarter. The Lakers went on to beat the T’Wolves, 104-94.
Although the most exciting moment of the season was Steve Blake hitting a game-winning three over Dwight Howard in their first meeting, Young and Gasol losing their minds at half court after the Spaniard nailed the dagger was priceless in my opinion.
Young finished with 25 points while Gasol added 21 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in one of my favorite moments of the season.
Suki Thin (@TheRealSuki): My favorite memory from this season is just Kobe Bryant’s return.
Even though he got injured again six games after, he proved to everyone that he could come back from a devastating Achilles injury. He didn’t quite look the same, but he showed signs of his old self and improved throughout those six games.
Above all, he proved what he’s always proved: that working hard and being mentally strong can almost always get you where you want to be and allow you to overcome any obstacles that may come your way.
Hopefully next season, he and the Lakers will provide many more triumphant moments.
Kevin Chan (@Kevin_Cruiser): The first memory that comes to mind from this season is a negative one. The historic 48-point loss against the Clippers will forever be seared into my mind.
It was like watching a trainwreck – even though it was terrible – I couldn’t look away. The loss might have well have been a 51 point margin, but Kendall Marshall made an uncontested meaningless three-pointer with the game clock expiring.
Lakers fans who witnessed this game can tell their grandchildren that they saw the team at their lowest point (fingers crossed). This season has been painful enough for Lakers fans, so I’m going to look on the bright side and talk about Jodie Meeks’ 42-point eruption against the Thunder.
The emergence of Meeks this season has been great to see, and he was probably the most consistent Laker throughout the year. Meeks took full advantage of his opportunities which could result in him donning a different uniform next season with an increased salary.
On that fateful night when Meeks set a career high with 42 points against the Thunder, he was an absolute treat to watch. Meeks especially came alive in the second half and carried the team to victory. It was amazing to see him school Russell Westbrook who was guarding him the majority of the game.
He also did a great job defensively against Westbrook, limiting him to 7 of 23 from the field. Meeks sank six threes that game and made all 14 of his free throws. And the great thing about his scoring is that none of it was forced – he got his within the flow of the game.
Meeks’ 42 point game was one of the few bright spots of this difficult season.
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