5 NBA teams from the ’90s that deserve their own sports documentary

Kobe and Shaq’s Los Angeles Lakers

Following Kobe Bryant‘s tragic death earlier this year, the NBA world is chomping at the bit for any bit of Black Mamba coverage, especially after the success of The Last Dance. Word is there’s tons of behind-the-scenes footage from his final season that is already being made into a documentary as well.

However, we’re trying to stick with ’90s teams here, and no offense to Mamba, but Kobe’s final season — apart from the nonstop farewell tour and his 60-point finale — wasn’t really all that great. It’d be far more fascinating to go back and examine his rise to prominence alongside Shaquille O’Neal.

Okay, so maybe we’re cheating a bit here, since Shaq and Kobe’s Los Angeles Lakers won their first title in 2000, but that was part of the 1999-00 season, so technically we’re still in the clear on the ’90s part. The Spurs and Lakers of that time period helped usher the NBA into a new, post-MJ era, so leaving either one off this list would just feel inherently wrong.

There are also plenty of storylines to explore with a Lakers squad that three-peated, especially since the way that potential dynasty unraveled is still perplexing to this day. A documentary like this could take us through all of it, from Kobe facing MJ in the 1998 NBA All-Star Game through their championship highs together right up until Shaq wanted out in 2004.

The secondary characters during that three-peat — like Derek Fisher, Glen Rice, Rick Fox, Robert Horry, A.C. Green, Ron Harper, Horace Grant, Tyronn Lue, Brian Shaw and Mitch Richmond — rival any NBA dynasty in history in terms of on-court talent and on-camera personality as well, so let’s do everyone a favor and get this doc on Kobe and Shaq’s Lakers started ASAP.