History of the Lakers: From Minneapolis to Los Angeles
Based in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Lakers are a professional basketball team from the United States. In all of American sports, the Lakers are among the most prosperous and well-liked professional teams. In both the National Basketball Association and the Basketball Association of America, the franchise has won 17 titles overall.
The Lakers relocated to Los Angeles before to the 1960–61 season as a result of a drop in attendance following George Mikan’s retirement in 1956. The Lakers made it to the NBA Finals six times in the 1960s, but each time they fell to the Boston Celtics, even though they had all-time greats Jerry West and Elgin Baylor.
Under the leadership of West, Gail Goodrich, and Wilt Chamberlain, the Lakers won the title for the first time since relocating to Los Angeles in 1971–72. They also set NBA records for the longest winning streak (33 games) and the greatest regular-season record (69–13), which were eventually surpassed by the Chicago Bulls in 1995–96. They returned to the Finals in 1972–73 but lost to the New York Knicks. For the first time in the team’s history, the squad suffered after Chamberlain’s retirement and missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons (1974–75 and 1975–76).
When the Lakers selected Magic Johnson with the first overall pick in the 1979 NBA Draft, they began the most powerful era in their history. Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy (starting in 1982) guided the club to the Finals eight times over the following ten years, winning five titles (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988).
In addition to Johnson’s and head coach Pat Riley’s thrilling style of play, this era became known as “Showtime” due to the appearance of celebrities, particularly Jack Nicholson, on the courts.
The NBA reached a new height of popularity in the 1980s thanks in part to the revived Lakers-Celtics rivalry, especially Johnson’s conflicts with Larry Bird.
The Lakers’ fortunes deteriorated after Johnson departed in 1991 and Abdul-Jabbar retired in 1989. Even though they only missed the postseason five times in their first 60 seasons, the team still routinely made it to the playoffs, but they went through their longest run without making it to the Finals.
Following roster changes, the 1999–2000 season saw a change in circumstances. With Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant on the club, head coach Phil Jackson guided them to the first of three straight titles.
Despite O’Neal’s 2004 trade, a team led by Bryant advanced to the 2008 NBA Finals before falling to Boston in six games. The next year, the Lakers made a comeback and won their 15th championship after defeating the Orlando Magic in five games. They returned to the Finals in 2009–10, defeating the Celtics in a thrilling seven-game series.
The team then went through a challenging time, reaching its lowest point in 2012–13. The club became the favorites after adding All-Stars Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, but they lost in the first round of the playoffs due to injuries and inconsistency.
A losing record in 2013–14 was a result of injuries that hampered Bryant and Nash the next season and Howard’s departure in free agency. The Lakers struggled to a 21–61 record the next season, and Bryant missed the majority of it as well. Even worse, the 2015–16 season was Bryant’s last year before retiring, finishing 17–65, the poorest in the franchise’s history.
Johnson became president of basketball operations after the team missed the playoffs for a franchise-record fourth consecutive year, despite a minor improvement in the 2016–17 season. In 2018, he assisted in bringing superstar LeBron James to the Lakers, but the club didn’t make much progress, and Johnson abruptly quit at the end of the season. Anthony Davis was acquired by the squad from the New Orleans Pelicans shortly after.
The following season was tumultuous. The NBA paused play due to COVID-19 less than two months after franchise icon Bryant died in a helicopter crash in January 2020. In July, the season returned in a condensed “bubble” format. The Lakers defeated the Miami Heat to win the championship, led by Davis and James, who was awarded Finals MVP.
In 2020–21, the Lakers made a comeback to the postseason, although they were eliminated in the opening round. Expectations were high following the addition of Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook, but the team underperformed the next season, finishing 33–49 and missing the postseason.
Los Angeles had a stronger season in 2022–2023; they finished the regular season with a winning record and advanced to the Western Conference Finals, where the Denver Nuggets upset them. In 2023–24, they made much more progress, finishing 47–35 but losing early in the playoffs.
The Lakers acquired star player Luka Dončić, who had guided the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals the year before, in exchange for Davis in February 2025.