The Showtime Lakers used to conduct training camp in Hawaii some years. Why? Because it’s Hawaii and they were on top of the basketball world, why wouldn’t they?
Some of those Lakers are getting up there in years — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 75 this season — so they decided to have a reunion in Maui. Kareem, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Pat Riley down the through the role players even die-hard Lakers fans have trouble remembering. One last practice, one-last chance to hang out and talk about the good old days.
It looks like a blast.
First time we were all together for a practice since I retired in 1989….
— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (@kaj33) September 16, 2022
This is how you make a memory !! pic.twitter.com/eONXTDNHWI
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) September 16, 2022
As Zach Lowe joked on his podcast, Riley probably ran a three-hour practice and had them running lines.
The fellas and ladies of the 2022 Showtime Reunion! pic.twitter.com/1UvYeGNbsr
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) September 15, 2022
Good on the Lakers players for putting this together. At the time these Lakers had as much internal drama as anyone (well, maybe not this year’s Brooklyn Nets, but close) and it’s great to see people put it aside to remember the good times. And the five titles.
And if you’re going to have a reunion, Hawaii is the place to do it.
