National Basketball Association

Lakers unveil spectacular throwback jerseys in honor of 1986-87 championship

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:48 p.m. ET

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Andrew Lynch

The Los Angeles Lakers just guaranteed that they'll look awesome in at least three games this season.

In fact, Luke Walton's squad has put together a pretty solid 2-3 start to the 2016-17 campaign. D'Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson and the rest of the young Lakers have played an entertaining brand of basketball, veterans like Luol Deng have filled the gaps, and there's real reason for optimism for the first time in a number of years. Soon enough, L.A. could be back to the glory days of "Showtime." And on Thursday against the Golden State Warriors, the Lakers will pay homage to the 1986-87 championship team with these gorgeous "Hardwood Classics" throwback jerseys:

Via Lakers.com:

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.

As the team's site notes, the Lakers faced all three of those opponents in the 1987 playoffs. The fourth team from L.A.'s march to the title? The Seattle SuperSonics. Welp.

Apparently, the Thunder don't count as a replacement. There doesn't seem to be a limit on how often a team can wear "Hardwood Classics" designs, since the Sixers are wearing their throwback jerseys six times this season — or if there is a limit, it's certainly more than three. Perhaps the NBA is just being polite by not bringing up the Sonics more often than necessary.

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