30 luckiest sports franchises

9. Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most successful NBA franchises in basketball history, and had an incredible early part of the 21st century with Kobe Bryant at the helm at the Staples Center. However, it wasn’t all coaching and great play on the court that got them all of the NBA titles they won in the 2000’s.

For starters, landing Kobe Bryant from the Charlotte Hornets was truly a moment where a star came out of the sky and fell right into your lap. Bryant stayed with the franchise from that moment on, but they were lucky he didn’t leave for greener pastures at any point in the next 20 years and stayed loyal to the team.

As if Bryant wasn’t enough, the team reaped the benefits of the Orlando Magic blowing their opportunity with Shaquille O’Neal in the late 1990’s and having the 7-footer take his talents to Los Angeles for the Hollywood lifestyle, giving the Lakers a stretch of dominance that they had been without for over a decade.

The team won three titles in a row with Bryant and O’Neal on their roster, and, as if that wasn’t good enough, they got themselves a few more about a decade later. They took advantage of injuries to Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins when they were a part of the dominant Boston Celtics team formed in 2008, and the Lakers took home titles in 2009 and 2010 after losing to the fully healthy Celtics team in the 2008 NBA Finals.

There was always plenty of talent on the Lakers roster, and there was never any luck attributed to their wins on the court as far as bounces or mistakes. However, injuries and some loaded lineups falling into their hands definitely played a factor, rather than solid drafting, and luck obviously plays a role in that case.