Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)

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The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, that competes in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They are members of the Pacific Division of the league’s Western Conference. The Lakers play their home games at Staples Center, 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, and have won 16 NBA championships, their last being in 2010. As of 2015, the Lakers are the most valuable franchise in the NBA according to Forbes, having an estimated value of $2.6 billion.

The franchise began with the 1947 purchase of a disbanded team, the Detroit Gems of the National Basketball League (NBL). The new team began playing in Minneapolis, Minnesota, calling themselves the Minneapolis Lakers in honor of the state’s nickname, “Land of 10,000 Lakes”. Initially a member of the NBL, the Lakers won the 1948 NBL championship before joining the rival Basketball Association of America and winning five of the next six BAA and NBA championships in Minneapolis after the NBA formed in 1949. The team was propelled by center George Mikan, who is described by the NBA’s official website as the league’s “first superstar”.After struggling financially in the late 1950s following Mikan’s retirement, they relocated to Los Angeles before the 1960–61 season.

Led by Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, Los Angeles made the NBA Finals six times in the 1960s, but lost each series to the Boston Celtics, beginning their long and storied rivalry. In 1968, the Lakers acquired four-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Wilt Chamberlain to play center, and after losing in the Finals in 1969 and 1970, they won their sixth NBA title—and first in Los Angeles—in 1972, led by new head coach Bill Sharman. After the retirement of West and Chamberlain, the team acquired another center, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had won multiple MVP awards, but was unable to make the Finals in the late 1970s. The 1980s Lakers were nicknamed “Showtime” due to their Magic Johnson-led fast break-offense, and won five championships in a 9-year span, including their first ever Finals championship against the Celtics in 1985. This team featured Hall of Famers in Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy, and a Hall of Fame coach, Pat Riley. After Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson’s retirement, the team struggled in the early 1990s before acquiring Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant in 1996. Led by O’Neal, Bryant, and another Hall of Fame coach, Phil Jackson, Los Angeles won three consecutive titles between 2000 to 2002, securing the franchise its second “three-peat”. After losing both the 2004 and 2008 NBA Finals, the Lakers won two more championships by defeating the Orlando Magic in 2009 and Boston in 2010.

The Lakers hold the record for NBA’s longest winning streak, 33 straight games, set during the 1971–72 season. 21 Hall of Famers have played for Los Angeles, while four have coached the team. Four Lakers—Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, O’Neal, and Bryant—have won the NBA MVP Award for a total of eight awards.

Season-by-season records

Since the Lakers were established in 1948, the team has missed the playoffs just five times.[19] The team has 16 NBA titles and has appeared in the NBA Finals 15 other times. These appearances include eight NBA Finals appearances in the 80s. The best record posted by the team was 69–13, in 1972; the worst record was 21–61, in 2014–15.

Current roster

Hall of Famers, retired and honored numbers

Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Famers
Players
No.	Name	Positions	Tenure	Inducted	No.	Name	Positions	Tenure	Inducted
4	Adrian Dantley	F	1977–1979	2008	31	Spencer Haywood	F	1979–1980	2015
11	Karl Malone	F	2003–2004	2010	32	Magic Johnson	G	1979–1991; 1996	2002
11	Bob McAdoo	F/C	1981–1985	2000	33	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	C	1975–1989	1995
13	Wilt Chamberlain	C	1968–1973	1979	34	Clyde Lovellette	F/C	1953–1957	1988
17	Jim Pollard	F	1948–1955	1978	42	Connie Hawkins	F/C	1973–1975	1992
19	Vern Mikkelsen	F	1949–1959	1995	42	James Worthy	F	1982–1994	2003
20	Gary Payton	G	2003–2004	2013	44	Jerry West	G	1960–1974	1980
22	Elgin Baylor	F	1958–1971	1977	52	Jamaal Wilkes	F	1977–1985	2012
22	Slater Martin	G	1949–1956	1982	73	Dennis Rodman	F	1999	2011
23	Mitch Richmond	G	2001–2002	2014	99	George Mikan	C	1948–1954; 1955–1956	1959
25	Gail Goodrich	G	1965–1968; 1970–1976	1996
Coaches
No.	Name	Positions	Tenure	Inducted	No.	Name	Positions	Tenure	Inducted
–	John Kundla	Head Coach	1948–1957; 1958–1959	1995	–	Phil Jackson	Head Coach	1999–2004; 2005–2011	2007
–	Bill Sharman	Head Coach	1971–1976	2004	–	Tex Winter	Assistant Coach	1999–2008	2011
–	Pat Riley	Head Coach/Assistant Coach	1979–1981 (assistant); 1981–1990 (head)	2008
Contributors
No.	Name	Positions	Tenure	Inducted	No.	Name	Positions	Tenure	Inducted
–	Jerry Buss	Owner	1979–2013	2010		Chick Hearn	Broadcaster	1961–2002	2003