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The 2020 Lakers: Short-Term Pain for Long-Term Gain
The Los Angeles Lakers have been crowned NBA Champions for the 17th time, led by the indomitable pair of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
And based on their performance in the playoffs, you could say that they made it look easy.
But their road to the title was far from easy, and it’s a road that contains valuable lessons about asking the big questions, and taking the hard road in life.
Staring into the Abyss
Through the five seasons to 2017/18, the Lakers were the laughing stock of the league. The best record they mustered up during this stretch was 35 wins and 47 losses in 2017/18, finishing a full 12 games behind the 8th place Timberwolves. But this record made the lackluster Lakers look like the Magic Show of the 80s compared to their 17–65 season of 2015/16.
In the 1987 movie, Wall Street, Lou Mannheim tells a young Bud Fox (played by Charlie Sheen) that “Man looks in the abyss, there’s nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what…
