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It appears that almost every Showtime Laker of consequence flew to Maui, the site of many of the club’s training camps back in the day, earlier this month for a bona fide reunion and walk-through practice, as was initially rumored to transpire from Ramona Shelburne.
A variety of the players from the team’s classic Magic Johnson-era pre-retirement run, during which the team appeared in nine NBA Finals over 12 years, winning five, were present. Hall of Famers Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy were of course present, as were crucial role players like A.C. Green (who won titles both with this vintage of the Lakers and the Shaquille O’Neal/Kobe Bryant incarnation), Byron Scott, Michael Cooper, Mychal Thompson, Spencer Haywood, Bob McAdoo, Kurt Rambis, Wes Matthews Sr., Billy Thompson, Eddie Jordan, Milt Wagner Jr., Mike Smrek, and even 7’5″ reserve big man Chuck Nevitt!
While in Hawaii, the players ran through an old-school practice (albeit with very little defense) and hit the links for some golf, and generally reminisced about their time dominating the NBA world.
And it wasn’t just the players.
Current Miami Heat team president Pat Riley, who served as an assistant coach for the 1979-80 title-winning team and the head coach from 1981-1990 (when L.A. won four championships), led the charge. Gary Vitti, who served as the team’s physical trainer for 32 years, also attended.
Abdul-Jabbar hailed the moment as “a reunion that I’ll always cherish,” posting some sweet pictures:
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Byron Scott posted oodles of content. Here’s the gang all assembled for a big group picture in the gym where they practiced:
Gary Vitti got in on the fun, recreating a classic old image with Byron Scott:
Scott also posted some video footage of some Magic Johnson walk-through plays:
Michael Cooper showed a video clip of the Showtime Lakers, all in their 50s-70s, stretching out those weary hamstrings:
Mychal Thompson, longtime Lakers broadcaster and Klay’s dad, got a bit cheeky with his captioning:
In these group photos courtesy of Magic Johnson, it appears that the players all traveled with their significant others:
Per For The Win, Lakers local network home Spectrum SportsNet will air a special documenting the “Showtime Reunion” on November 4, following the Lakers-Jazz postgame show (which should be a Lakers win, given the current state of the Jazz).
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