# @kustoo on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Ddpcs-fhan_
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/70939438-kustoo-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/0b13d75f62.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-09-23T23:10:57.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Jacques Slade (@kustoo) — https://gondola.cc/kustoo

## Caption

First Look: This is Lakers: An Official History of the Purple & Gold. Edited by @vikkitobak . 

And as somebody who has been a Lakers fan basically my entire life… I’m going to try to be objective here.

But come on. Look at this.

This is 528 pages, almost nine pounds, and seven decades of Lakers history, put together with TASCHEN. You might be familiar with the brand because they put together books like this for Ferrari and America’s Cup. So of course the Lakers were next. 

And what I like is that this isn’t just: here are the championships, here are the players, here are the stats.

This is really a book about how the Lakers became the Lakers.

It starts in Minneapolis with George Mikan, takes you through West, Baylor and Wilt, and then you get to the moment where Jerry Buss essentially decides basketball in Los Angeles should also be entertainment.

And everything changes.

Showtime. Magic. Kareem. Pat Riley. Then Shaq and Kobe. Kobe and Pau. LeBron. And now Luka. And listen, I know every franchise has history. But every franchise does not have this history.

And the book does a great job of showing how that history extends beyond basketball. There are rare and previously unpublished photos, old promotional materials, play diagrams and postgame notes. There’s a four-page foldout of the championship rings, another showing the evolution of the uniforms, and photography from legends like Neil Leifer, Andrew D. Bernstein and Walter Iooss Jr.

But then you have essays from Magic, Shaq, Pau, LeBron and Luka alongside Jack Nicholson, Paula Abdul and Flea. Which might be the most Lakers sentence ever.

That’s really the story here. The Lakers aren’t just intertwined with basketball history. They’re intertwined with Los Angeles...Hollywood, fashion, celebrity, music and the idea that the game can also be a show.

And yes, I’m biased. But after going through this book…

I have 528 pages of evidence, of story, of…exceptionalism

Lakers: An Official History of the Purple & Gold is available now through the Lakers and TASCHEN, with a wider retail release October 1.

#Lakers #lalakers #lakersnation #lakersnews

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## Tags

lalakers, lakersnews, lakers, lakersnation

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