The Los Angeles Lakers are a National Basketball Association (NBA) team based in Los Angeles, California. The Lakers play their home games at Staples Center. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Lakers popularity soared, with superstar players Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and coach Pat Riley winning five titles in the that span, with 3 championship series against their arch-rivals, the Boston Celtics. In the 2000s, the trio of coach Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal brought three straight championships before falling apart. (courtesy: Wikipedia.org)