It’s an old saying in Los Angeles that Lakers fan’s do not tolerate losing. The reason for that may be simple: they don’t do a whole lot of it. Since moving to Los Angeles in 1960, the Lakers have won a total of 11 champions. That means in roughly 50 seasons the Lakers have won an NBA title nearly a fifth of the time. In addition to that, they’ve reached the NBA Finals an additional another 14 times which means that one out of every two seasons in Los Angeles the Lakers have either won the title or gotten into the Finals. Even more amazing, the Lakers have only missed the Playoffs four times in that period. This is why people in Los Angeles demand so much from their Lakers.

The Lakers went to the Finals five times in the 1960′s, yet were not able to claim a title. It wasn’t until the 1971 where the Lakers were finally able to get monkey off their back by beating the New York Knicks 4-1, led by Wilt Chamberlin, who claimed the Finals MVP. This was the first and only title for Jerry West as a player, though his best Lakers days may in fact have been in front of him.

Following his playing career, West would become the mastermind of one of the most dominating NBA teams ever, the “Showtime Lakers”. From 1980- 1988, the “Lake Show” dominated the NBA, winning five titles: 1980 (defeating the 76ers 4-2), 1982 (again defeating the 76ers 4-2), 1985 (defeated the Celtics 4-2), 1987 (the Celtics again 4-2), and 1988 (the Pistons 4-3). This period saw the likes of Kareem Adbul- Jabbar, James Worthy, Byron Scott, Michael Cooper, AC Green, Kurt Rambis and, of course, Ervin “Magic” Johnson. More importantly, in a way, the Lakers were also able to final defeat the Boston Celtics in the 1985 series, breaking a eight series losing streak to them in the Finals.

In Lakers terms, the next ten years involved some of the lowest moments in franchise history. It wasn’t until the 1999-2000 season where everything seemed to click again, thanks to the 1-2 tandem of Shaquielle O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, and the signing of Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson, who had previously lead the Bulls to six titles. The team won three consecutive titles in 2000 (Pacers 4-2), 2001 (76ers 4-1) and 2002 (the Nets 4-0).

Following the departure of Shaq and Jackson in 2004, the Lakers were not able to reach the Finals again until 2008, where they lost to the Boston Celtics in four games. The following season, though, the Lakers, now led by Bryant and Pau Gasol, were able to defeat the Orlando Magic in six games to win the title, one that they successfully defended in 2010 when they defeated the Celtics in a hard fought seven game series.