Okay, now that football season is officially over—props to the Pittsburgh Steelers for winning the Super Bowl, to Plaxico Burress for capping himself in the leg through his sweatpants at a nightclub, and to the Detroit Lions for not winning at all in 2008—we can being to focus more seriously on NBA basketball.
We’re practically at the All-Star break, and so far this season has been a second act of last year’s play. The usual suspects occupy the top spots in the standings and the playoff picture at this point is a carbon copy of post-playoff ranking of a year ago.
The Lakers currently stand atop the Western Conference, 5 games above second-place, and their frontrunner status gives this journal a completely different feel from last year—one peppered with higher expectations, more determined opponents, and an intense sense of volatility, similar to watching Kanye West live and wondering what crazy things he’s gonna say or what type of heartbroken robot he going to morph into.
So, to re-introduce us all to Werewolf Bar Mitzvah, I’ve invited guest-writer and life long Lakers fan, J.K. Rowling, to write the welcome and preface for this year’s season. If you like or love the Lakers or Harry Potter, or any noun-verb combination of those words, then you’ll enjoy our first entry…..
There are whispers of a Kingdom in a land far far West, where the Sun spends her final moments of each day, before retiring to a cold, dark slumber. It is said that each night, when the Sun retreats below the horizon, warriors of Purple and Gold descend on the coastal Kingdom, riding in on waves that charge like royal stallions, to protect it from foreign
We’re practically at the All-Star break, and so far this season has been a second act of last year’s play. The usual suspects occupy the top spots in the standings and the playoff picture at this point is a carbon copy of post-playoff ranking of a year ago.
The Lakers currently stand atop the Western Conference, 5 games above second-place, and their frontrunner status gives this journal a completely different feel from last year—one peppered with higher expectations, more determined opponents, and an intense sense of volatility, similar to watching Kanye West live and wondering what crazy things he’s gonna say or what type of heartbroken robot he going to morph into.
So, to re-introduce us all to Werewolf Bar Mitzvah, I’ve invited guest-writer and life long Lakers fan, J.K. Rowling, to write the welcome and preface for this year’s season. If you like or love the Lakers or Harry Potter, or any noun-verb combination of those words, then you’ll enjoy our first entry…..
There are whispers of a Kingdom in a land far far West, where the Sun spends her final moments of each day, before retiring to a cold, dark slumber. It is said that each night, when the Sun retreats below the horizon, warriors of Purple and Gold descend on the coastal Kingdom, riding in on waves that charge like royal stallions, to protect it from foreign
invaders. Its land is fertile and lush; its tropical weather and scenic landscape are the envy of Eden; the women, with their unrivaled beauty, grace, and finesse, are more than deserving of the myriad of monuments erected in their honor. But the purest, most complete measure of the wealth of this western Kingdom lies in the strength and valor of its warriors. Nightly they vanquish foes as fans cheer on in amazement, like Gladiators of old—these warriors of whom we speak are the Los Angeles Lakers…
With a history so rich in excellence that the very logo of professional basketball depicts a silhouette of one of its former captains, the legacy of the Los Angeles Lakers runs deeper and stronger than any order of men who’ve ever touched a basketball. Along with acres of Championship banners spanning six different decades, waving proudly in the rafters of the hallowed Staples Center are the jerseys of legendary Laker heroes from dynasties past—now forever immortalized in the Hall of Fame. This pantheon of heroes includes the all-time leading scorer, the highest-scoring single game performer ever, a man called Magic, and men appropriately named West and Worthy. Speaking volumes on the greatness of this organization is the fact that Chick Hearn, long-time broadcast commentator of the Lakers, was inducted to the Hall of Fame, merely for being the bard who sang the valiant tales of these beloved heroes.
With a history so rich in excellence that the very logo of professional basketball depicts a silhouette of one of its former captains, the legacy of the Los Angeles Lakers runs deeper and stronger than any order of men who’ve ever touched a basketball. Along with acres of Championship banners spanning six different decades, waving proudly in the rafters of the hallowed Staples Center are the jerseys of legendary Laker heroes from dynasties past—now forever immortalized in the Hall of Fame. This pantheon of heroes includes the all-time leading scorer, the highest-scoring single game performer ever, a man called Magic, and men appropriately named West and Worthy. Speaking volumes on the greatness of this organization is the fact that Chick Hearn, long-time broadcast commentator of the Lakers, was inducted to the Hall of Fame, merely for being the bard who sang the valiant tales of these beloved heroes.
But history is history, and we shall leave it for veterans to reminisce upon and for scholars to quarrel over. The purpose of our abridged jaunt down memory lane was to construct an idea of the lineage and pedigree embedded in the souls of the main characters in this four months’ traffic of our stage. Beginning now, and culminating with another NBA Championship in mid-June, we will follow the daily progress of the 2008-2009 Los Angeles Lakers as they, once again, attempt to fill the NBA history books with tales written in ink of Purple and Gold. Welcome aboard, friend. Our journey is about to begin…
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