If the Lakers were not able to sign Shaq...

[salmahayek]

...and obviously not trade Vlade Divac for Kobe, would the '90s Lake Show have ever gone on to win an NBA Title?

While the dynasty the Lakers enjoyed would not have happened, I actually think the Lakers could have won at least one title with that team down the road, maybe even two total, but not back to back titles.

The Lakers had a lot of talent. They were athletic and could defend pretty well and rebound. Offensively, they scored in the open court with fast breaks and their half court ball movement was also very good. That team was a lot of fun to watch.

Divac and Elden Campbell were a big, effective inside duo. Cedric Ceballos is still probably our best small forward since Worthy. He could hit jumpers, score on the block, and ran the floor well. Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones were an excellent back court. Van Exel was a clutch shooter. The bench was solid with Anthony Peeler and George Lynch.

The Lakers had stars, but the biggest weakness on the team was not having that one superstar who could get calls from the referees in the 4th qtr. of playoff games, which was critical, especially back then.

What's everybody else think?

[hermes]

oh for sure, probably several titles

david robinson would have pissed off tim duncan and he would have signed with us and we would have traded for steve nash or something

and made some trade with the rockets to get a future #1 (which would turn into yao ming- and he wouldn't have had any injury issues and we probably would never have lost a game for like 5 years)

oh what could have been

[LAKESHOW]

that team was loaded. but loaded with very good players. athletic. fast. which is why we need to get a big star talent on this roster. because that fun to watch team, wasnt goin anywhere near the championship

[Sofa King]

Elden Campbell was a scrub. Then he had a stretch where he started and played without Shaq and was like Boris Diaw to the Suns at that time. Then when Shaq came back, Elden Campbell was less effective.

As for Divac, if he had developed the mid-range shot at that time, could have played great with Shaq. I think he developed that shot more when he was with the Kings.

Not sure winning the same amount of rings, but could at least have won one.

[milesfides]

Doubt it.

Great players, MVP candidates, win championships. It's been mostly Tim Duncan, Shaq, and Kobe who've won. And it's clear that those guys have been the three most dominant players since Jordan.

What's very unique is the Kobe-Shaq duo. Both Kobe and Shaq have shown they can win with just one other dominant post or wing player. I think it's pretty unique; most teams have had 3 all-star caliber players or perfect role players. The Lakers have pretty much been ridden Kobe-Shaq or Kobe-Pau, with average or below average role players. Pretty remarkable.

[NOODLESTYLE]

With Del Harris as the Head Coach? Probably not. They would have ran into the Bulls/Jazz first, twin towers, and eventually the Kings and the stacked Blazers.

Another if scenario that I'd like to think of was, if the Eddie Jones/Campbell/Van Exel trade never happened and they resigned with the Lakers. Rodman also stayed with Phil Jackson becoming head coach. If the Eddie Jones/Campbell trade had to go down, instead it was the Lakers getting Scottie Pippen from Chicago or C-Webb from the Kings. There was also some rumor that Jason Kidd was offered for Van Exel.

[NBAontwitter]

LOL no, they traded Kobe for Divac just for cap room . They were going to sign Dale Davis and Antonio Davis as the back up plan.

Shaq was a pipe dream that turned real. Orlando still could have given more money .

[RamonSessions7]

Nope

[JustAwesome]

Tell me more about this plan to sign Antonio Davis and Dale Davis.

[Dee83]

nope we would of been a slightly better "WE BELIEVE 07" warriors team. exciting to watch but never getting to the ship.

[Beethoven]

I can tell by a lot of responses here except for one or two actually saw the lake show in 90s. They were talented yes, but the key guys like Nick, Elden, and Cedric were not winning minded mentalities. Elden did step up big time whenever shaq was out in his last years of Lakers but was still very unmotivated.

[LAKERS_1981]

Hell no

You dont win a ring with startin linup of
Nic Van Exel
Eddie Jones
Cebalos
Campbel
Divas

Who many rings have those players ? They were avg at best D team, soft and when your PG just wants to shoot and be the man you cant win.

[Anklebreaker702]

I watched this team & went to many games, they would not have won a title. Proof is in the pudding. We still didn't win a title with all those guys minus Divac & adding Kobe & Shaq until Phil came.

Elden Campbell was far from a scrub. He was easily a top 5-6 Center in the league. People didn't like him because his game was slow & steady & it always looked as if he could have given more of an effort. Hell he hit Ewing up on national TV for 41 once.

Van Exel was always my biggest disappointment. All thee talent in the world but his head was hard as a brick! That's why he wasn't around to see a title.

What would have been fun to see was Magic re-sign & play with Shaq. The only reason it didn't happen was because the front office told Magic Nick was the future & he was the past & Magic told them if he's your future you won't win a title until he's gone. Then retired for good. Magic was right.

[Gek]

I can tell by a lot of responses here except for one or two actually saw the lake show in 90s. They were talented yes, but the key guys like Nick, Elden, and Cedric were not winning minded mentalities. Elden did step up big time whenever shaq was out in his last years of Lakers but was still very unmotivated.

I don't remember much from when I saw Cedric play, I was a little younger, but he seems like he'd get along with Bynum.

[ennui]

There are certain roles that must be fulfilled in order to be a champion. Without getting into too much detail, the most integral or requisite role for a true contender is an elite offensive spark. There would be none on those teams.

[salmahayek]

Some good posts in this thread with the Lake Show's shortcomings well presented.

However, I still think they could have snuck in there for a title. I think their chemistry and defense would have improved over the next couple of years had they stayed together and they would have flourished.

Again, the Shaq and Kobe era was a stroke of genius, as well as, good fortune and is hands down a lot better. However, I was just trying to point out that the team before them was very talented and still had some upside that may have led to an eventual title.

As far as Magic, would have loved to see him play with Shaq for a year or two, but he was no longer a point guard at that point. He was a "point power forward." He could not have led a team playing in the back court at that point of his career.

Also, the main reason he did not come back was his criticizing the rest of the team, particularly Van Exel, for bumping an official, then he himself doing the exact same thing in the playoffs. I love Magic, as he is my favorite Laker ever, but I think he was completely embarrassed by the incident and thought that he was no longer a fit with the "modern" players and decided to finally step away from the game for good.

[Kilroy]

Superstars win championships... That team had nothing of the sort.

It was a solid playoff team but the WCF was the absolute top they could hope for. They had no real identity, no system, and no one with the ability to put the team on their backs with the game on the line.

They had no shot at a chip.

[jaypo]

Without Shaq, the focus on that team was the scoring of Ced Ceballos and NVE's streak shooting. Eddie Jones vanished in the playoffs, and Cambell and Divac, while talented, weren't gonna power the team to the finals thru teams like Malone's Jazz year after year. Ceballos reminds me of a less talented Melo. He could score the ball, but if he's not scoring, he's not giving you much else. Not a player I'd build my team around. NVE had his moments, but he's a shoot 1st point guard that had a tendency to go ice cold for long periods of time. Without another certified superstar, they weren't getting past the Jazz and/or Spurs.

[miggs]

It STILL amazes me how Jerry West traded away Vlade on Draft Day without having Shaq signed yet, the logo is truly amazing, may he FOREVER be the logo

[jojo4341]

I remember that team and honestly, it was more fun to watch than the Kobe/Shaq era because they were NOT expected to win it all, yet no one wanted to play them in the playoffs. Cebellos and Van Exel were so unpredictable. They can go for 40+ or disappear in some games. They also had alot of bigs and correct me if I'm wrong, led the league in blocked shots the year they had Sam Bowie coming off the bench. People forget just how athletic Campbell used to be. He was like a poor man's David Robinson on defense and Barkley said at the time (I think 1997) that Campbell was the only player in the league that could guard him. Then off the bench, they had George Lynch, Anthony Peeler, Sedale Threat or Tony Smith, who were all solid defensively.

But I have to agree that they would not have won the championship outside of Shaq or Kobe coming in. They were very athletic but very streaky. A WCF would be their peak. I was impressed however, when they beat the 95 Sonics in the first round. If you recall, the top 4 teams in the west were capable of making the finals and ended the season with at least 59 wins.