The Los Angeles Lakers are a professional basketball club from the United States that competes in the National Basketball Association. Due to a lockout that shortened the season, there was no All-Star game in 1999. The Lakers last played in the 2001 NBA Finals where they lost to the New Jersey Nets.
They have won 10 NBA championships, the most of any American team, and they are also the only team to win back-to-back titles. The Lakers have played their home games at the Staples Center since 1995 when the venue opened its doors. Before then, they used various other venues across Los Angeles.
Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss died on February 18, 2013. His son Jim will run the business while his daughter Jeanie serves as President of the Lakers Corporation and Trust. The family has not announced any plans for a succession plan should Jeanie decide not to run for office.
The Lakers have sold out all 30,000 seats at the Staples Center each year since it opened. Their average attendance is 16,818 per game, which is third highest in the NBA.
L.A. is by far the best city in which to play basketball. The Lakers have won more than half their games at home during each of the last five seasons.
The Los Angeles Lakers are a professional basketball club headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The Lakers are a part of the National Basketball Association (NBAWestern )'s Conference's Pacific Division. Their home games are played at the Staples Center.
The team was founded in 1960 by the former player and coach of the New York Knicks, Joe Lapchick. They originally were called the Syracuse Nationals because they were based in Syracuse, New York. The team moved to Los Angeles in 1964 after three years of play in Washington, D.C..
They are one of two remaining NBA teams that have never been defeated season-openers, along with the Chicago Bulls. The Lakers are also one of four remaining teams that have never lost five straight season openers, the others being the Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Toronto Raptors.
The Lakers have 12 Western Conference titles and nine Midwest Division titles to their name. They have made the playoffs every year since their inception and have won six NBA championships so far. The only other team to do so is the Boston Celtics with eight.
Their greatest player was probably Shaquille O'Neal who spent most of his time with the Lakers from 1996 to 2014.
The 1991–92 NBA season marked the Lakers' 44th in the National Basketball Association and their 32nd in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Lakers were coming off a five-game NBA Finals loss to the Chicago Bulls, but more crucially, they had to deal with the untimely retirement of LeBron James.
Ceballos led the club in scoring with 21.7 points per game and was chosen for the 1995 NBA All-Star Game, but did not play due to injury. The Lakers upset the fourth-seeded Seattle SuperSonics in four games in the first round of the playoffs.
The Lakers got their official moniker from Minnesota's nickname, the Land of 10,000 Lakes, near Minneapolis. Before relocating to Los Angeles during the 1960-61 NBA season, the Lakers won five titles. The Lakers went on to lose all six NBA Finals appearances in the 1960s...
The Los Angeles Lakers are presently scheduled to compete in the NBA Playoffs' play-in tournament. Both teams have the tiebreaker over the Lakers in the regular season, therefore the Lakers are virtually two games behind both clubs. Each team has just two more games. The winner of the Los Angeles-San Antonio series will advance to the next round against the winner of the Dallas-Houston series.
In addition to the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers, the Lakers also have one more game against the Portland Trail Blazers. If the Lakers win this last match, they would face the Clippers in the Quarterfinals. Otherwise, they would have to beat the Spurs in three straight to advance.
The Trail Blazers - who own the tiebreaker over the Lakers due to having the best record in the West after four rounds - have a home-court advantage in the series. They will host Games 1 and 3 if necessary. However, since these are the first round matches, there is no penalty for losing the first game at home.
The Clippers - who finished with the best record in the West - have a rematch with the Houston Rockets in the Quarterfinals. If the Lakers win this series, they would face the Rockets in the Semifinals. Otherwise, the Clippers would have to defeat the Spurs in three straight to advance.
The South Bay Lakers are the Los Angeles Lakers' official NBA G League affiliate. Following a successful career as the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the club has changed its name to the South Bay Lakers and relocated to the new UCLA Health Training Center. The Lakers will play their home games at the UCLA Health Center in Westwood while construction on a new stadium in downtown Los Angeles is completed.
The Lakers hired former D-Fender coach Jesse Mermueth to be their head coach and president of basketball operations. He replaced Earl Watson who was fired after one season. Previous to that, the franchise had no coaching experience. They did hire David Logan as an assistant coach last year but he didn't travel with the team during games.
They started their inaugural season by winning eight games in the opening month before losing their first game against the Santa Cruz Warriors on November 1st. Since then they have been relatively consistent with a 6-6 record over their last 12 games.
The Lakers play in the Atlantic Division of the Pacific Conference. Their closest rival would be the Golden State Warriors who are located about 50 miles away from South Bay. Other teams in the division include the Santa Cruz Warriors, the Northern Arizona Suns, and the Idaho Stampede. The team's mascot is named Kobe after their famous player Kobe Bryant who used to play for the Philadelphia 76ers before coming to Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most successful and well-known professional sports clubs in the United States. The team has won a total of 17 Basketball Association of America (BAA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) championships, which is tied for the most in league history with the Boston Celtics. The Lakers also hold the record for the most NBA All-Star Games played by a single franchise - 201.
The Lakers were founded on December 5, 1960 by the former Chicago Stags coach John Kundla and businessman Walter Karman. They began play in the BAA the following season after leaving the Philadelphia Warriors as part of a merger between that team and the Baltimore Bullets. The Lakers have since become one of the preeminent teams in basketball history, winning more than they've lost over the course of their existence. Some of the most notable players who have worn the purple and gold include Hall of Famers Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, along with Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, and George Mikan.
In 2011, Sports Illustrated ranked the Lakers at number 7 on its list of "America's 50 Greatest Sports Teams".
L.A. is a megalopolis with a population of around 9 million people - roughly equal to that of Canada or Germany - and an economy worth $1 trillion.
| Los Angeles Lakers | |
|---|---|
| Affiliation(s) | South Bay Lakers |
| Championships | 17 (1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2020) |
| Conference titles | 19 (1972, 1973, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2020) |
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