Lakers are in good company -- but still behind the Celtics

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You know it. I know it. Even Vic the Brick knows it.

The Celtics are better than the Lakers. Not just a couple of games better in the standings.

Better.

Oh, it could change with one turn of Kevin Garnett’s ankle. Or maybe the next time Paul Pierce requires a wheelchair, he’ll actually need it.

But despite their glossy record, the Lakers’ Swiss-cheese defense and the complaint box outside of Phil Jackson’s office, which has been filled by guys grumbling about their minutes, mean that the Lakers are only the second-best basketball team in the world at this moment.

But listen up, Lake Show, those of us who find you endlessly entertaining and follow you daily don’t want you to lose confidence or hope.

There is certainly nothing wrong with being No. 2.

In fact, as you’re about to see, it is something you can actually be proud of.

Al Gore won the popular vote AND the presidency and he was No. 2. Look at him now. Nobel Peace Prize.

The great Teddy Roosevelt finished second in a presidential election. So did Herbert Hoover, after he’d already been top White House dog.

Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Poppy Bush. They all finished second, and those guys were all commanders in chief.

Ask Thomas Dewey about ending up second. Oh wait, you can’t, he’s dead. That poor guy was so close to the presidency, a famous newspaper headline proclaimed him the winner. But like you, Lakers, he was just a No. 2.

Car rental giant Avis built a memorable marketing campaign about not being No. 1 Hertz. Avis bragged about being No. 2.

In entertainment, big-voiced Clay Aiken was an American Idol runner-up to some chubby dude and look at Clay now.

Susan Lucci, an Emmy runner-up 18 times for ‘All My Children’ before they finally felt sorry for her and let her win.

The original ‘Star Wars,’ now that was a great motion picture. Finished second at the ’77 Oscars to ‘Annie Hall.’

When Dick Van Dyke won the role of Rob Petrie that made his career in show biz, do you know who the runner-up for the part was? It was Johnny Carson.

In sports, look at the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills. They were some unbelievably good No. 2s, their jillion Super Bowl losses notwithstanding.

The incomparable Jack Nicklaus ... a runner-up in major championships 19 times. The Golden Bear actually finished second in majors one more time than he finished first.

Heck, consider the curious fates of Laker legends Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, consigned to permanent second fiddledom until Zeke finally broke through in ’72. Elg, he never did.

So you see, for Kobe and the crew there is no shame in being No. 2. No shame at all.

In fact, you’re in excellent company.

Ted Green used to cover the Lakers for the L.A. Times. He is now senior sports producer for KTLA Prime News.

Editor’s note: Susan Lucci appears in ‘All My Children,’ not ‘Days of Our Lives.’ Corrected at 12:26 p.m.