Kareem's Insider Take on the First Two Episodes of "Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers"
It gave me fresh insights into that time that I'd never thought about before.
Watching the first two episodes of Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers brought back a lot of wonderful and emotional memories. The effortless camaraderie, the elite athleticism, and the dominating play was exciting to watch.
But I was surprised that it also gave me some fresh insights into that time that even I hadn’t thought about before. While enjoying watching one of the best teams in the history of the NBA find their mojo as a team together, I also realized that Dr. Jerry Buss and I were on parallel journeys at the same time.
In 1979, when Dr. Buss bought the Lakers, I’d been playing for the team for four years. I’d come from the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles had a lot of expectations for me. As a Buck, I set NBA records and helped them win their first NBA championship by sweeping the Baltimore Bullets 4-0. The Lakers expected me to bring them championships, too. Believe me, I felt that weight every single day.
I tried hard those first years to live up to what LA expected: My 1,111 defensive rebounds my first season as a Laker remains an NBA single-season record. I received my fourth MVP award that same season, the first in Lakers franchise history. Despite me playing some of the best basketball in my career, the team didn’t win the championships all of LA was hoping for. I felt like I’d let the LA fans down.
