Thirty years after one of the greatest teams of all-time took the floor in Los Angeles, the Lakers will honor their 1986-87 championship squad by wearing special Hardwood Classics uniforms for three games this season.
Modeled after the jerseys worn by the Lakers during the Showtime era, the current Lakers will suit up in tribute to the team that went 65-17 — the second-best regular season record in franchise history.
The Lakers will wear these uniforms against three of the teams that stood in the way of the organization’s playoff run to a 10th championship.
The Lakers will debut the threads on Nov. 4 against the Golden State Warriors, whom Coach of the Year Pat Riley led L.A. past in the Western Conference Semifinals.
Two months later, the jerseys will be worn again on Jan. 17 against Denver, which the Lakers swept in the opening round thanks in part to All-Stars Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy, as well as Defensive Player of the Year Michael Cooper.
Finally on March 3, the Lakers will suit up in their Hardwood Classics for their bitter rivals — the Boston Celtics — 30 years after regular-season and NBA Finals MVP Magic Johnson hit his legendary junior skyhook and fueled Los Angeles’ triumph.
The Lakers will wear these uniforms at home against each team from that postseason run, with the exception of the Seattle SuperSonics. L.A. will try to have similar success against these clubs in 2016, as the 1986-87 team finished with a 15-3 playoff record — one of the best in league history.