Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are an American basketball team competing in the Western Conference Pacific Division of the NBA. The franchise was founded in 1947 and plays its home games at Staples Center. The Lakers have won 17 NBA Championships and are the tied-most successful franchise in NBA history.

Lakers history

They are also the second-most valuable NBA franchise, having an estimated value of $4.4 billion. The 1980s Lakers, nicknamed 'Showtime' played exquisite basketball and were fast and ruthless, and won five championships in a nine-year span, including their first ever Finals championship against the Celtics in 1985. This team featured Hall of Famers in Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy, and a Hall of Fame coach, Pat Riley. In the early 2000s, the Lakers won three championships in a row with the help of two future Hall of Famers - Shaquille O'Neal, and Kobe Bryant. The Lakers won Conference Titles in 2004 and 2008, but lost in the Finals to the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics respectively. After a period of rebuilding, the Lakers won the championship twice in a row - in 2009 and 2010. Sixteen Hall of Famers have played for Los Angeles.

Lakers in recent years

The Los Angeles Lakers struggle in recent years is no secret. The franchise struggled in recruitment and the team's performance on court reflected on poor management. The drafting of Julius Randle, D'Angelo Russell and Larry Nance Jr. didn't exactly go according to plan. These years were also the final years of Kobe Bryant's career which were plagued by injuries. They decided to move on from coach Byron Scott after Bryant's retirement and announced Luke Walton as his replacement. The hierarchy also decided to sack general manager Mitch Kupchak and hire Magic Johnson as the head of basketball operations.Soon after they acquired Rob Pelinka as the general manager.

On July 9th, 2018 Lakers signed LeBron James to a four-year, $154 million contract. It was a signing of intent by the franchise as they looked to bring back the glory days. LeBron's first season as a purple and gold was hit by a lot of injuries due to which they failed to qualify for the playoffs. At the end of the season, Magic Johnson decided to step down, while the Lakers also parted ways with Luke Walton and decided to hire Frank Vogel. The signing of Anthony Davis was announced soon after in a deal with the New Orleans Pelicans that included the Lakers shipping out their young core of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart along with a couple of first-round picks. They ended up winning the 2020 NBA Championship which was their 17th.

Due to the shortened offseason, the Lakers’ 2020-2021 season was plagued by injuries and they lost in the first round to the Phoenix Suns

Los Angeles Lakers Record - Last 10 Seasons

Championships

The Lakers are the most successful organization in the NBA with 17 championships. They won the title in 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, and most recently in 2020. Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James were key players in their title wins. John Kundla, Bill Sharman, Pat Riley, Phil Jackson, and Frank Vogel were the coaches in their title wins.

Current Roster

Head Coach: Frank Vogel