Berger and Chalfen purchased the NBL's disbanded Detroit Gems for $15,000 in 1947, changed their name to the Lakers, and relocated them to Minnesota. Max Winter bought a third of the club in their early years and sold his share to Mikan in 1954. Berger bought Mikan's share in 1956 giving him a controlling (⅔) interest. After Mikan retired, attendance plummeted and the team lost money for several seasons, leading the ownership group to put the team up for sale in 1957. Marty Marion, a retired baseball player and manager, and his business partner Milton Fischman attempted to purchase the team with the intention of moving the club to Kansas City, Missouri. Mikan offered to mortgage his home in an attempt to buy the team and keep the club in Minnesota. The Lakers were sold to a group of investors led by Bob Short, however. The team was sold to Short's group with the agreement that it would not be relocated to Kansas City but kept in Minnesota. Short's ownership group consisted of 117 Minnesota businesses and private citizens, who amassed a total of $200,000 for the purchase; $150,000 to buy the team and $50,000 to run it. By 1958 Short had become 80% owner of the team by buying out his partners, but the team was floundering. Attendance remained poor, and the NBA had put the Lakers on "financial probation", notifying them that if they did not meet certain ticket sales numbers they could be bought out by the league and relocated. Short was forced to move the team to Los Angeles in 1960; the club had lost $60,000 in the first half of the 1959–60 season alone. The NBA's owners originally voted 7–1 against the move. When Short indicated that he might take the team to a new rival league that was developing, however, the owners held another vote that same day and allowed the relocation (8–0). Aided by Baylor's drawing power, and the new locale, the team's finances improved when they arrived in LA. Short sold the team to Washington Redskins owner and publisher Jack Kent Cooke in 1965 for a then league record amount of $5.175 million. Short insisted the deal be conducted in cash as he was wary of Cooke, so guards transported the money in a cart from one New York bank to another.
The Lakers' franchise began in 1947 when Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen of Minnesota purchased the recently disbanded Detroit Gems of the National Basketball League (NBL) for $15,000 from Gems owner Maury Winston. Minneapolis sportswriter Sid Hartman played a key behind-the-scenes role in helping put together the deal and later the team. Inspired by Minnesota's nickname, "Land of 10,000 Lakes", the team christened themselves the Lakers. Hartman helped them hire John Kundla from College of St. Thomas, to be their first head coach, by meeting with him and selling him on the team.
In 1948, the Lakers moved from the NBL to the Basketball Association of America (BAA), and Mikan's 28.3 point per game (ppg) scoring average set a BAA record. In the 1949 BAA Finals they won the championship, beating the Washington Capitols four games to two. The following season, the team improved to 51–17, repeating as champions. In the 1950–51 season, Mikan won his third straight scoring title at 28.4 ppg and the Lakers went 44–24 to win their second straight division title. One of those games, a 19–18 loss against the Fort Wayne Pistons, became infamous as the lowest scoring game in NBA history. In the playoffs, they defeated the Indianapolis Olympians in three games but lost to the Rochester Royals in the next round.
During the 1951–52 season, the Lakers won 40 games, finishing second in their division. They faced the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, which they won in seven games. In the 1952–53 season, Mikan led the NBA in rebounding, averaging 14.4 rebounds per game (rpg), and was named MVP of the 1953 NBA All-Star Game. After a 48–22 regular season, the Lakers defeated the Fort Wayne Pistons in the Western playoffs to advance to the NBA Finals. They then defeated the New York Knicks to win their second straight championship. Though Lakers star George Mikan suffered from knee problems throughout the 1953–54 season, he was still able to average 18 ppg. Clyde Lovellette, who was drafted in 1952, helped the team win the Western Division. The team won its third straight championship in the 1950s and fifth in six seasons when it defeated the Syracuse Nationals in seven games.
Following Mikan's retirement in the 1954 off-season, the Lakers struggled but still managed to win 40 games. Although they defeated the Rochester Royals in the first round of the playoffs, they were defeated by the Fort Wayne Pistons in the semifinals. Although they had losing records the next two seasons, they made the playoffs each year. Mikan came back for the last half of the 1955–56 season, but struggled and retired for good after the season. Led by Lovellette's 20.6 points and 13.5 rebounds, they advanced to the Conference Finals in 1956–57. The Lakers had one of the worst seasons in team history in 1957–58 when they won a league-low 19 games. They had hired Mikan, who had been the team's general manager for the previous two seasons, as head coach to replace Kundla. Mikan was fired in January when the team was 9–30, and Kundla was rehired.
The Lakers have had three first overall picks in their history: Elgin Baylor (selected in 1958), Magic Johnson (selected in 1979) and James Worthy (selected in 1982). The Lakers have also had six lottery picks in their history: Eddie Jones (selected tenth overall in 1994), Andrew Bynum (selected tenth overall in 2005), Julius Randle (selected seventh overall in 2014), D'Angelo Russell (selected second overall in 2015), Brandon Ingram (selected second overall in 2016) and Lonzo Ball (selected second overall in 2017). Other draft picks include Jerry West and Gail Goodrich in the 1960s, Michael Cooper and Norm Nixon in the 1970s, A.C. Green and Vlade Divac in the 1980s, Elden Campbell, Nick Van Exel, Derek Fisher and Devean George in the 1990s, and Luke Walton, Sasha Vujačić, and Ronny Turiaf in the 2000s.
The rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Lakers involves the two most storied basketball franchises in National Basketball Association (NBA) history. It has been called the best rivalry in the NBA. The two teams have met a record 12 times in the NBA Finals, starting with their first Finals meeting in 1959. They would go on to dominate the league in the 1960s and the 1980s, facing each other six times in the 1960s and three times in the 1980s.
In their last year in Minneapolis, the Lakers went 25–50. On January 18, 1960, the team was coming off a loss and traveling to St. Louis when their plane crash-landed. Snow storms had driven the pilot 150 miles off course when he was forced to land in a cornfield. No one was hurt. Their record earned them the number two pick in the 1960 NBA draft. The team selected Jerry West from West Virginia University. During the 1960 off-season, the Lakers became the NBA's first West Coast team when owner Bob Short decided to move the team to Los Angeles. Led by Baylor's 34.8 ppg and 19.8 rpg, Los Angeles won 11 more than the year before in West's first season. On November 15 that season, Baylor set a new NBA scoring record when he scored 71 points in a victory against the New York Knicks while grabbing 25 rebounds. In doing so, Baylor broke his own NBA record of 64 points. Despite a losing record, the Lakers made the playoffs. They came within two points of the NBA Finals when they lost in game seven of their second round series against St. Louis.
Led by Baylor and West at 38.3 and 30.8 ppg respectively, the Lakers improved to 54–26 in 1961–62, and made the finals. In a game five victory, Baylor grabbed 22 rebounds and set the still-standing NBA record for points in a finals game with 61, despite fouling out of the game. The Lakers, however, lost to the Celtics by three points in overtime of game seven. Frank Selvy, after making two jumpers in the final 40 seconds to tie the game, missed a potential game-winning 18 foot jump shot in regulation, a miss which he said in June 2010 still haunted him more than 40 years later.
Los Angeles won 53 games in 1962–63, behind Baylor's 34.0 ppg and West's 27.1 ppg but lost in the NBA Finals in six games to the Celtics. After falling to 42–38 and losing in the first round of the 1964 NBA playoffs to the Hawks, the team won 49 games in 1964–65. The Lakers surged past the Baltimore Bullets in the division finals, behind West's record-setting 46.3 ppg in the series. They lost again to the Celtics in the Finals however, this time in five games.
For 41 years, Chick Hearn was the team's broadcaster until his death in 2002. He broadcast 3,338 consecutive games between November 21, 1965, and December 16, 2001. Hearn came up with West's "Mr. Clutch" nickname. He was a part of the team's "inner sanctum" when Cooke was owner, and was consulted on basketball decisions. Paul Sunderland, who had filled in for a couple of games while Hearn recuperated in the 2001–02 season, was named the permanent play-by-play announcer. Stu Lantz was retained as the color commentator. When Sunderland's contract expired in the summer of 2005, the team chose not to renew it. Then, Joel Meyers moved in alongside Lantz as the television announcer, with Spero Dedes and former Laker player Mychal Thompson on the radio.
Los Angeles lost in the finals to Boston in seven games again in 1966, this time by two points. Down by 16 entering the fourth quarter, and 10 with a minute and a half to go, the Lakers mounted a furious rally in the closing moments, which fell just short. After dropping to 36 wins and losing in the first round of the 1967 NBA playoffs, they lost in the finals to the Celtics again in 1968. Los Angeles moved to a brand-new arena, The Forum, in 1967, after playing seven seasons at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
Cooke was a more hands-on owner than Short, and overhauled the team's operations. He personally financed construction of the Forum in 1967 at a cost of $16.5 million. He owned the team until 1979 when he sold it, the NHL's Los Angeles Kings, the Forum, and some real estate to Jerry Buss for $67 million. Cooke was forced to sell the team as he was undergoing a costly divorce. Buss was a local chemical engineer and former University of Southern California professor who had become wealthy in real estate. Philip Anschutz bought a stake in the team in 1998, and until October 2010 Magic Johnson was a minority owner as well. Buss started the trend of allowing sponsors to add their name to team's stadiums when he renamed the Forum the Great Western Forum in 1988. In 2009 major sponsors included Verizon Wireless, Toyota, Anheuser-Busch, American Express, and Carl's Jr., and the team's $113 average ticket price was the highest in the league. In 2013, Buss died at the age of 80 after being hospitalized for 18 months with cancer. His controlling ownership of the team passed to his six children via a trust, with each child receiving an equal vote. Buss' succession plan had daughter Jeanie Buss assume his title as the Lakers' governor as well as its team representative at NBA Board of Governors meetings.
The Lakers made the NBA Finals six times in the 1960s, but lost every series to the Celtics, beginning their long and storied rivalry. In 1968, the Lakers acquired four-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Wilt Chamberlain, and won their sixth NBA title in 1972, led by coach Bill Sharman. After the retirement of Chamberlain, the team traded for superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Two big changes came in 1979, first, Jerry Buss purchased the Lakers, and pioneered a vision of basketball as entertainment as well as sport. Second, the Lakers drafted Magic Johnson first overall in the 1979 NBA draft. The combination of Johnson, a prodigy point guard, and dominant center in Abdul-Jabbar provided the Lakers with superstars to anchor their roster. The promotion of head coach Pat Riley in 1981 and addition of forward James Worthy through the 1982 draft established the Lakers as an NBA powerhouse throughout the 1980s. The franchise won five championships in a nine-year span, including two out of three marquee Finals matchups against the Celtics. The Lakers were defeated by their Boston archrivals in the 1984 Finals, but triumphed over them in 1985 and 1987.
On July 9, 1968, the team acquired Wilt Chamberlain from the Philadelphia 76ers for Darrell Imhoff, Archie Clark, and Jerry Chambers. In his first season as a Laker, Chamberlain set a team record by averaging a league-leading 21.1 rpg. West, Baylor, and Chamberlain each averaged over 20 points, and Los Angeles won their division. The Lakers and Celtics again met in the finals, and Los Angeles had home court advantage against Boston for the first time in their rivalry. They won the first game behind Jerry West's 53 points, and had a 3–2 lead after five. Boston won the series in seven games however, and earned their 11th NBA Championship in 13 seasons. West was named the first-ever Finals MVP; this remains the only time that a member of the losing team has won the award. In 1970, West won his first scoring title at 31.2 ppg, the team returned to the finals, and for the first time in 16 years, they did not have to face the Celtics; instead playing the New York Knicks, who defeated them 4–3. The next season the Lakers were defeated by the Milwaukee Bucks, led by future Laker Lew Alcindor (now known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) in the Western Conference Finals.
During the 1996 off-season, the Lakers acquired 17-year-old Kobe Bryant from the Charlotte Hornets for Vlade Divac; Bryant was drafted 13th overall out of Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pennsylvania in that year's draft, by Charlotte. Los Angeles also signed free-agent Shaquille O'Neal. Trading for Bryant was West's idea, and he was influential in the team's signing of the all-star center. "Jerry West is the reason I came to the Lakers", O'Neal later said. They used their 24th pick in the draft to select Derek Fisher. During the season, the team traded Cedric Ceballos to Phoenix for Robert Horry. O'Neal led the team to a 56–26 record, their best effort since 1990–91, despite missing 31 games due to a knee injury. O'Neal averaged 26.2 ppg and 12.5 rpg and finished third in the league in blocked shots (2.88 bpg) in 51 games. The Lakers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the playoffs as O'Neal scored 46 points in Game 1 against the Trail Blazers, marking the highest single-game playoff scoring output by a Laker since Jerry West scored 53 against the Celtics in 1969. In the next round, the Lakers lost in five games to the Utah Jazz.
The Lakers hold several NBA records as a team including most consecutive games won overall (33) and most consecutive road games won (16), both of which came during the 1971–72 season, highest field-goal percentage for a season at 54.5% (1984–85), and highest road winning percentage at 0.816 (1971–72). They also hold records for having (into the 2009–10 season) the most wins (3,027), the highest winning percentage (61.9%), and the most NBA Finals appearances (31). The 2000–01 team set the NBA record for best playoff record at 15–1, which was later broken by the Golden State Warriors in 2017. The 1971–72 team holds franchise records in wins (69), most points scored, and largest margin of victory; both of the latter came in the team's 63 point win versus Golden State (162–99). They also held the record for most wins at home in the regular season (going 36–5 in 1971–72, then 37–4 in both 1976–77 and 1979–80) unil the Boston Celtics set the current record of 40–1 in the 1985–86 season.
The Lakers hold the record for NBA's longest winning streak, 33 straight games, set in 1971–72. 26 Hall of Famers have played for Los Angeles, while four have coached the team. Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, O'Neal, and Bryant won a combined eight NBA MVP awards with the Lakers.
The Lakers have won 17 NBA titles and have appeared in the NBA Finals 15 other times. These appearances include eight NBA Finals appearances in the 1980s. The best record posted by the team was 69–13, in 1972; the worst record was 17–65, in 2016.
After missing the playoffs in the 1974–75 season, the Lakers acquired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had won three league MVPs by that time. Abdul-Jabbar wanted out of Milwaukee, demanding a trade to either New York or Los Angeles. He was traded for Elmore Smith, Brian Winters, Junior Bridgeman, and Dave Meyers. Abdul-Jabbar had his fourth MVP season in 1975–76, leading the league in rebounding, blocked shots, and minutes played. The Lakers struggled in January, going 3–10, and finished out of the playoffs at 40–42.
Early in the 1981–82 season, Johnson complained to the media about head coach Paul Westhead and demanded a trade. Westhead was fired shortly after Johnson's criticisms, and although Lakers' owner Jerry Buss stated that Johnson's comments did not factor into the decision, Johnson was vilified by the national media and booed both on the road and at home. Buss promoted assistant coach Pat Riley to "co-head coach" with Jerry West (although West considered himself Riley's assistant) on November 19 and the team won 17 of its next 20 games. Nicknamed "Showtime" due to the team's new Johnson-led fast break-offense, the Lakers won the Pacific Division title and swept both the Suns and Spurs in the 1982 playoffs. Los Angeles stretched its postseason winning streak to nine games by taking the first contest of the NBA Finals from the 76ers. The team won the Finals 4–2 to finish a 12–2 playoff run. On draft night in 1982, the Lakers had the first overall pick (the result of a trade with Cleveland midway through the 1979–80 season, when the Lakers had sent Don Ford and a 1980 first-round pick to the Cavaliers for Butch Lee and their 1982 selection) and selected James Worthy from North Carolina. The Lakers won the Pacific Division at 58–24, but Worthy suffered a leg injury in the last week of the season and missed the rest of the season. Nevertheless, they advanced to play Philadelphia in the 1983 NBA Finals after defeating Portland and San Antonio. The Sixers, however, won the series and the championship in four games. After the season West replaced Sharman as the team's GM.
The Kings and the Lakers have faced each other in the playoffs nine times between 1949 and 2002, and since the Kings moved to Sacramento in 1985, both have been based in California. The 2002 Western Conference Finals was one of the most bitterly contested in NBA history, with many controversial calls in game 6. The Lakers would win the series in game 7.
Following the 1989 Finals, on June 28, 1989, after 20 professional seasons, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar announced his retirement. The Lakers still cruised through the Pacific Division, winning their ninth consecutive division crown with a 63–19 record. However, after beating the Rockets in the first round, they lost four games to one in the second round of the playoffs to the Suns. Riley announced he was stepping down after the season citing burnout, and was replaced by Mike Dunleavy. Riley's departure received a mixed reaction from the players. They respected his contributions, but some, such as Worthy and Scott, had grown tired of his intense practices and felt he tried to take too much credit for the team's successes. Following the season, 1987 Defensive Player of the Year winner Michael Cooper decided to play in Europe and was waived at his request.
On November 7, 1991, Magic Johnson announced he had tested positive for HIV and would retire immediately.
The Lakers would lose 43 games in 1992–93 under Randy Pfund, their first losing season since 1976. The Lakers would still make the playoffs, and would become the first eighth seed to win the opening two games on the road against a number one seed when they took a 2–0 lead against Phoenix. They lost the next two games at home however, then game five in Phoenix in overtime. During the 1993–94 season, Pfund was fired during the season that would result in the Lakers failing to make the playoffs for the first time since 1976. Magic Johnson, would coach the final 16 games of the season with former teammate Michael Cooper as his lead assistant. Johnson decided not to take the job permanently due to what he felt was a lack of commitment from certain players, and Los Angeles ended the season with a 10-game losing streak to finish 33–49.
The 1971–72 season brought several changes. Owner Jack Kent Cooke brought in Bill Sharman as head coach, and Elgin Baylor announced his retirement early in the season after realizing that his legs were not healthy enough. Sharman increased the team's discipline. He introduced the concept of the shootaround, where players would arrive at the arena early in the morning before a game to practice shots. They won 14 straight games in November and all 16 games played in December. They won three straight to open the year of 1972 but on January 9, the Milwaukee Bucks ended their winning streak by defeating the Lakers, 120–104. By winning 33 straight games, Los Angeles set a record for longest winning streak of any team in major American professional team sports. The Lakers won 69 games that season, which stood as the NBA record for 24 years until the Chicago Bulls won 72 games in 1995–96. Chamberlain averaged a low 14.8 points but led the league in rebounding at 19.2 a game. West's 9.7 assists per game (apg) led the league, he also averaged more than 25 points, and was named MVP of the 1972 NBA All-Star Game. The team failed to score 100 points just once all year, and at the end of the season, Bill Sharman was named Coach of the Year. The Lakers went on to reach the finals against the New York Knicks where they would avenge their 1970 finals loss by defeating them 4 games to 1. Chamberlain tallied 24 points and 29 rebounds in game five and won the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award.
The San Antonio Spurs and the Lakers, developed what some would classify as a rivalry in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Since 1999, the teams have met in the NBA Playoffs five times, with the clubs combining to appear in seven consecutive NBA Finals (from 1999 to 2005). Additionally, the teams combined to win five NBA championships from 1999 to 2003; the Spurs won the NBA championship in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014 while the Lakers won the championship in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2010. From 1999 to 2004 the clubs' rivalry was often considered the premier rivalry in the NBA, and each time the clubs faced each other in the playoffs the winner advanced to the NBA Finals. In 2008, the teams met again in the Western Conference Finals where the Spurs were handily defeated only to beat the Lakers when they met again in 2013.
After re-acquiring Derek Fisher, the Lakers started the 2007–08 season with a 25–11 record, before Andrew Bynum, their center who was leading the league in field-goal percentage, went out for the year due to a knee injury in mid-January. In what would become a crucial transfer for the franchise's return to championship form, they acquired the six-time all-star power forward Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies in a trade in early February and went 22–5 to finish the season. The Lakers' 57–25 record earned them the first seed in the Western Conference. Bryant was awarded the league's MVP award, becoming the first Laker to win the award since O'Neal in 2000. In the playoffs, they defeated the Nuggets in four games, the Jazz in six, and the defending champion Spurs in five, but lost to the Celtics in six games in the NBA Finals.
The Lakers won 58 games in 2001–02. In the playoffs, they swept Portland and defeated San Antonio four games to one to advance to the Western Conference Finals to face Sacramento. The series would go on to be known as one of the greatest playoff matchups in NBA history. The series extended to all seven games and ended in a Lakers victory. In game one, Bryant scored 30 points as the Lakers won, 106–99. The series would then shift in Sacramento's favor, with the Kings winning the next two games. Facing a deficit in game 4, the Lakers had the ball with under 20 seconds to play. After misses by both Bryant and O'Neal, Kings center Vlade Divac tapped the ball away from the rim in an attempt to wind down the clock. It went straight into Robert Horry's hands, who drained a game-winning three with under three seconds to play. After the Kings won game five on a buzzer-beater by Mike Bibby, the Lakers were faced with a must-win game six. In one of the most controversial playoff games in league history (Tim Donaghy's betting scandal), the Lakers would win by four points. The Lakers went on to win game seven in overtime, with the Kings missing numerous potentially game-saving shots and free throws. The Lakers then achieved a three-peat by sweeping Jason Kidd and the New Jersey Nets in the NBA Finals. O'Neal won each of the Finals series' MVP awards, making him the only player besides Michael Jordan to win three consecutive Finals MVPs.
The Lakers also traded Rick Fox and Gary Payton to Boston, for Chris Mihm, Marcus Banks, and Chucky Atkins before the 2004–05 season. Derek Fisher, frustrated with losing playing time, opted out of his contract and signed with the Warriors. The team hired Rudy Tomjanovich to replace Jackson. After sitting out the first half of the 2004–05 season, Malone announced his retirement on February 13, 2005. Tomjanovich coached the team to a 22–19 record before resigning due to health problems. Assistant Frank Hamblen was named interim head coach to replace Tomjanovich for the remainder of the season. Bryant (ankle) and Odom (shoulder) suffered injuries, and the Lakers finished 34–48, missing the playoffs for only the fifth time in franchise history and the first time since 1994.
With the tenth overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft, the Lakers selected Andrew Bynum, a center from St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, New Jersey. The team also traded Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins to Washington for Kwame Brown and Laron Profit. Jackson returned to coach the team after Rudy Tomjanovich resigned midway through the previous season. On January 22, 2006, Bryant scored 81 points against Toronto, the second-highest total in NBA history. Ending the season 45–37, the team made the playoffs after a one-season absence. After taking a three games to one lead in the first round, Phoenix came back to take the series in seven games.
After Riley departed and Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, and Worthy retired, the Lakers struggled in the early 1990s. It was not until 1996 when the team traded with the Charlotte Hornets for the draft rights to Kobe Bryant and signed center Shaquille O'Neal that the Lakers returned to dominance during the early 2000s. The superstar duo, along with Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson, led the Lakers to three consecutive championships between 2000 and 2002, securing the franchise's second "three-peat". The dynamic "Shaq-and-Kobe" era ended when the Lakers traded away O'Neal after the team lost to the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 Finals. It was not until the Lakers traded for Pau Gasol that Bryant and Jackson returned to the NBA Finals, losing to the Celtics in 2008 but winning championships in 2009 and 2010. The 2010 Finals marked the latest matchup of the Lakers and Celtics, with Los Angeles winning its 16th title.
Given the team's proximity to Hollywood, the Lakers fanbase includes numerous celebrities, many of whom can be seen at the Staples Center during home games. Jack Nicholson, for example, has held season tickets since the 1970s, and directors reportedly need to work their shooting schedules around Lakers home games. From 2002 and 2007 the team averaged just over 18,900 fans, which placed them in the top ten in the NBA in attendance. Red Hot Chili Peppers' song "Magic Johnson", from their 1989 album Mother's Milk, is a tribute to the former point guard, and frontman Anthony Kiedis and bassist Michael "Flea" Balzary are frequently seen attending home games. In 2008, the team sold out every home game, and in 2010, the Lakers had the most popular team merchandise among all NBA teams, and Bryant the most popular jersey.
The rivalry had been less intense since the retirements of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in the early 1990s, but in 2008 it was renewed as the Celtics and Lakers met in the Finals for the first time since 1987, with the Celtics winning the series 4–2. They faced off once again in the 2010 NBA Finals, which the Lakers won in 7 games.
There have been 22 head coaches for the Lakers franchise. John Kundla coached the team in Minneapolis when they won their first five BAA/NBA championships from 1949 to 1954. Pat Riley is second in franchise history in both regular season and playoff games coached and wins. Phil Jackson broke Riley's regular-season wins record in 2009, and he passed Riley's playoff wins and games coached records in 2010. Jackson, Riley, Kundla, and Bill Sharman have all been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame for their coaching careers. George Mikan, Jim Pollard, Jerry West, Pat Riley, Magic Johnson, Kurt Rambis, Byron Scott and Luke Walton have all played and head-coached for the Lakers. Jackson, who had two stints as head coach, was coach from 2005 to 2011. In May 2011, Mike Brown was named his replacement for the 2011–12 season. Brown was fired on November 9, 2012, after a 1–4 start. Assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff served as interim head coach for five games before the Lakers selected Mike D'Antoni as their new head coach. D'Antoni resigned at the end of the 2013–14 season. In July 2014, Byron Scott was hired as head coach. After the 2015–16 season ended, Scott was fired. On April 29, 2016, former Lakers player Luke Walton was named as Scott's replacement, and served as head coach until the end of the 2018–19 season. Frank Vogel was named his successor on a multiyear deal announced on May 13, 2019. Vogel was fired following the conclusion of the 2021–22 season. On June 6, 2022, Darvin Ham was named as Vogel's successor as head coach.
The Lakers play their home games at Crypto.com Arena, located at L.A. Live in Downtown Los Angeles. The arena opened in fall 1999 and seats up to 18,997 for Lakers games. Owned and operated by AEG and L.A. Arena Company, the arena is also home to the Los Angeles Clippers, the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks, and the NHL's Los Angeles Kings. Before moving to Staples Center, for 32 seasons (1967–1999), the Lakers played their home games at The Forum in Inglewood, California, located approximately 10 miles southwest of the team's current home. During the 1999 preseason, the Lakers played their home games at the Forum before officially moving into Crypto.com Arena, and once again hosted a preseason game versus the Golden State Warriors on October 9, 2009, this time to commemorate the team's 50th-anniversary season in Los Angeles.
The Lakers, who had added Ron Artest (now Metta World Peace) in place of Trevor Ariza in their starting lineup, finished the 2009–10 season with the best record in the Western Conference for the third straight time. On January 13, 2010, the Lakers became the first team in NBA history to win 3,000 regular-season games by defeating the Dallas Mavericks 100–95. They defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Utah Jazz, and the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference playoffs. In the finals, the Lakers played the Boston Celtics for the 12th time. They rallied back from a 3–2 disadvantage in the series and erased a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter of the seventh game to defeat the Celtics. This series win gave them their 16th NBA title overall and 11th since they moved to Los Angeles. Bryant was named Finals MVP for the second year in a row, despite a 6–24 shooting performance in game seven.
Jackson retired in 2011, and the Lakers endured their longest playoff drought in franchise history. Gasol departed in 2014, and Bryant retired in 2016. After rebuilding seasons with young, highly rated prospects, the Lakers signed superstar LeBron James in 2018. In 2019, the team traded several of those prospects for star big man Anthony Davis. The Lakers—led by James, Davis, and coach Frank Vogel—won the team's 17th championship in 2020, tying the Celtics for the most titles.
On February 14, 2011, Time Warner Cable and the Lakers announced the formation of two new regional sports networks (one in English, one in Spanish) that would exclusively televise the team's games and related programming for 20 years starting with the 2012–13 season. The said networks were originally known as Time Warner Cable SportsNet, before it was renamed Spectrum SportsNet in 2016 upon Charter Communications' purchase of Time Warner Cable.
After Jackson's retirement, former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown was hired as head coach on May 25, 2011. Before the start of the shortened 2011–12 season, the Lakers traded Lamar Odom to the Dallas Mavericks after Odom requested to be traded. On the trade deadline long time Laker Derek Fisher along with a first round draft pick were traded to the Houston Rockets for Jordan Hill. With a 41–25 regular season record the Lakers entered the playoffs as the third seed, the team defeated the Denver Nuggets in the first round in seven games but were eliminated by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round in five games.
On July 4, 2012, Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns agreed to a sign-and-trade deal that would send him to the Lakers in exchange for the Lakers' 2013 and 2015 first round draft picks, 2013 and 2014 second round draft picks, and $3 million. The trade was made official on July 11, 2012, the first day the trade moratorium was lifted. On August 10, 2012, in a four-team trade the Lakers traded Andrew Bynum and acquired Dwight Howard. On November 9, 2012, Mike Brown was relieved of coaching duties after a 1–4 start to the 2012–13 season. Assistant Coach Bernie Bickerstaff took over as interim head coach, leading the Lakers to a 5–5 record. On November 12, 2012, the Lakers hired Mike D'Antoni as head coach. On February 18, 2013, Lakers owner Jerry Buss died from cancer at age 80. On the court, D'Antoni coached the Lakers to a 40–32 record the rest of the way to finish 45–37, their worst record since 2007. The Lakers clinched a playoff berth on the final game of the season and finished seventh in the Western Conference after beating the Houston Rockets on April 16, 2013. The Lakers battled injuries all season, the most prominent of which is the Achilles tendon rupture to Kobe Bryant that ended his season after 78 games. The absence of Bryant was sorely felt as the Lakers were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the 2013 NBA playoffs. Nevertheless, Bryant passed Lakers legend Wilt Chamberlain to become the fourth all-time leading scorer in NBA history on March 30, 2013, against the Sacramento Kings.
On December 8, 2013, Bryant played in his first game since tearing his Achilles tendon on April 12, 2013. However, on December 17, 2013, he suffered a broken bone in his knee, and did not return for the remainder of the season. On March 25, 2014, the Lakers scored 51 points in the third quarter against the New York Knicks, the most points scored in a quarter in the history of the franchise. The Lakers went on to miss the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2005, for just the second time in the last two decades and for just the sixth time in franchise history. On April 30, 2014, Mike D'Antoni resigned from his position as head coach after a 27–55 season.
After spending the majority of the off-season without a head coach, the Lakers named former player Byron Scott as the new head coach. After the season, he was the frontrunner to become the new Lakers head coach. Scott interviewed three times for the position, which had become vacant after Mike D'Antoni's resignation. On July 28, 2014, he signed a multi-year contract to coach the Lakers.
The next season, the Lakers had the second overall pick of the 2015 NBA draft, which they used to select Ohio State freshman point guard D'Angelo Russell. The team also selected Larry Nance Jr. with the 27th overall pick. On November 30, 2015, Bryant announced he would retire at the end of the season after 20 seasons with the team. In Bryant's last season the team missed the playoffs for the third straight year with a 17–65 record, the worst in franchise history.
On April 24, 2016, the Lakers announced that they would not exercise their option on Byron Scott's contract for the following season. On April 29, the team announced another former Laker, Luke Walton, as their new head coach. At the time of his hiring, Walton was an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors, who were in the playoffs, so he could not officially begin his duties as head coach until the Warriors' playoff run was over. The Lakers earned the second overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, and selected Brandon Ingram from Duke University. The team also selected Ivica Zubac with the 32nd overall pick.
Following the suspension of the 2019–20 NBA season, the Lakers were one of the 22 teams invited to the NBA Bubble to participate in the final eight games of the regular season. The Lakers finished the regular season with a 52–19 record, entering the playoffs for the first time since 2013, and as the top seed for the first time since 2010. They advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010. They defeated the Miami Heat 4–2 to win the 2020 NBA Finals, and James was named the Finals MVP for the fourth time in his career. The win gave Los Angeles their 17th championship in franchise history, tying the Boston Celtics for the most all-time. Primary Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, who took over the team in 2017, would also become the first female controlling owner of an NBA team to win the NBA Finals.
On February 21, 2017, the Lakers fired general manager Mitch Kupchak, while Magic Johnson was named as the president of basketball operations. The team's governor Jeanie Buss, also announced the removal of her brother, Jim Buss, from his position as executive vice president of basketball operations. On March 7, 2017, the Lakers hired Rob Pelinka as the general manager, signing him to a five-year deal. The Lakers again earned the second overall pick, this time, in the 2017 NBA draft, and selected Lonzo Ball from UCLA. The Lakers also acquired Kyle Kuzma from the University of Utah with the 27th overall pick from a draft-day trade, along with Brook Lopez in exchange for D'Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov. The Lakers also traded their 28th overall pick, Tony Bradley, in exchange for the 30th overall pick, Josh Hart, from Villanova University and the 42nd overall pick, Thomas Bryant, from Indiana University. In February 2018, Nance Jr. and Clarkson were traded away to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye, and a 2018 first-round draft pick. On July 2, 2018, Randle was renounced by the Lakers.
On July 9, 2018, the Lakers signed LeBron James to a four-year, $154 million contract. By the Christmas Day game, the Lakers were six games over .500 before James sustained a groin injury leading to several weeks of missed games. Ball and Ingram also ended their seasons early due to injuries. On February 7, 2019, Zubac was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers along with Michael Beasley in exchange for Mike Muscala.
On April 9, 2019, Johnson stepped down as the team's president of basketball operations, and two days later, the Lakers parted ways with head coach Walton after the team failed to reach the playoffs for the sixth straight year.
Using the past year's Finals defeat as motivation, the team won the Pacific Division for the fourth straight year and lost just two games in the Western Conference playoffs. In the NBA Finals, the Celtics were again the Lakers' final hurdle. Los Angeles lost game one of the NBA Finals by a score of 148–114, in what is remembered as the "Memorial Day Massacre". The Lakers, behind 38-year-old Finals MVP Abdul-Jabbar, recovered to defeat the Celtics in six games. The team won the title in the Boston Garden and became the first visiting team to ever win an NBA championship in Boston, as the Golden State Warriors later achieved this feat in 2022.
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Lakers play their home games at Crypto.com Arena, an arena shared with the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association, and the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League. The Lakers are one of the most successful teams in the history of the NBA, with 17 NBA championships, tied with the Boston Celtics for the most in NBA history. The Lakers were the champions of the NBA's inaugural In-Season Tournament in 2023.
On December 10, 2023, the Lakers won the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament after defeating the Indiana Pacers in the championship game. James was named the inaugural tournament MVP. They finished the 2023–24 season 47–35 and beat the New Orleans Pelicans in the Play-In to make the playoffs as the seventh seed.
Roster Last transaction: March 24, 2024