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 league's Western Conference in the Pacific Division. 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.[9] The Lakers are one of the most successful teams in the history of the NBA, and have won 16 NBA championships, the second-most behind the Boston Celtics.
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, calling themselves the Minneapolis Lakers.[10] Initially a member of the NBL, the Lakers won the 1948 NBL championship before joining the rival Basketball Association of America, where they would win five of the next six championships, led by star George Mikan.[11] 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 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—and first in Los Angeles—in 1972, led by new head coach Bill Sharman. After the retirement of West and Chamberlain, the team acquired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who also won multiple MVP awards, but was unable to make the Finals in the late 1970s.
The 1980s Lakers were nicknamed "Showtime" due to their fast break-offense led by Magic Johnson. The team won five championships in a nine-year span, and contained Hall of Famers Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy, and was led by Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley. After Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson retired, the team struggled in the early 1990s, before acquiring Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in 1996. With the duo, who were led by another Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson, the team won three consecutive titles between 2000 to 2002, securing the franchise its second "three-peat". The Lakers won two more championships in 2009 and 2010, but failed to regain their former glory in the following decade.
The Lakers hold the record for NBA's longest winning streak, 33 straight games, set during the 1971–72 season.[12] Twenty-six 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.
The Lakers' franchise began in 1947 when Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen of Minnesota purchased the recently disbanded Detroit Gems[14] of the National Basketball League (NBL) for $15,000 from Gems owner Maury Winston.[15] Minneapolis sportswriter Sid Hartman played a key behind the scenes role in helping put together the deal and later the team.[16] Inspired by Minnesota's nickname, "Land of 10,000 Lakes", the team christened themselves the Lakers.[10][17] 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.[18][19]
The Lakers had a solid roster, which featured forward Jim Pollard, playmaker Herm Schaefer, and center George Mikan, who became the most dominant player in the NBL.[20] In their first season, they led the league with a 43–17 record, later winning the NBL Championship that season.
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.[22] The following season, the team improved to 51–17, repeating as champions.[23] 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.[24] One of those games, a 19–18 loss against the Fort Wayne Pistons, became infamous as the lowest scoring game in NBA history.[25] In the playoffs, they defeated the Indianapolis Olympians in three games but lost to the Rochester Royals in the next round.[20]
During the 1951–52 season, the Lakers won 40 games, finishing second in their division.[26] They faced the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, which they won in seven games.[27] 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.[24] After a 48–22 regular season, the Lakers defeated the Fort Wayne Pistons in the Western playoffs to advance to the NBA Finals.[27] They then defeated the New York Knicks to win their second straight championship.[28] Though Lakers star George Mikan suffered from knee problems throughout the 1953–54 season, he was still able to average 18 ppg.[29] Clyde Lovellette, who was drafted in 1952, helped the team win the Western Division.[29] The team won its third straight championship in the 1950s and fifth in six seasons when it defeated the Syracuse Nationals in seven games.[28]
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.[30] Although they had losing records the next two seasons, they made the playoffs each year.[26] Mikan came back for the last half of the 1955–56 season, but struggled and retired for good after the season.[31] 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.[32] 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.[26][33]
The Lakers earned the top pick in the 1958 NBA draft and used it to select Elgin Baylor. Baylor, who was named NBA Rookie of the Year and co-MVP of the 1959 NBA All-Star Game, averaged 24.9 ppg and 15.0 rpg helping the Lakers improve to second in their division despite a 33–39 record.[34] After upsetting the Hawks in six games in the division finals, they returned to the NBA Finals, but were swept by the Celtics, beginning their long rivalry.[35]
1958–1968: Move to Los Angeles and Celtics rivalry
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.[38] Snow storms had driven the pilot 150 miles off course when he was forced to land in a cornfield. No one was hurt.[39] Their record earned them the number two pick in the 1960 NBA draft. The team selected Jerry West from West Virginia University.[40] 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.[41] 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.[42] 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.[43] In doing so, Baylor broke his own NBA record of 64 points. Despite a losing record, the Lakers made the playoffs.[26] They came within two points of the NBA Finals when they lost in game seven of their second round series against St. Louis.[44]
Led by Baylor and West at 38.3 and 30.8 ppg respectively,[45] 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,[46] despite fouling out of the game.[47] The Lakers, however, lost to the Celtics by three points in overtime of game seven.[45] Frank Selvy, after making two jumpers in the final 40 seconds to tie the game,[48][49] 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.[49]
Los Angeles won 53 games in 1962–63, behind Baylor's 34.0 ppg and West's 27.1 ppg[50] but lost in the NBA Finals in six games to the Celtics.[50] 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.[51] They lost again to Celtics in the Finals however, this time in five games.[52]
Los Angeles lost in the finals to Boston in seven games again in 1966, this time by two points.[53] 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.[54] 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.[26] Los Angeles moved to a brand-new arena, The Forum, in 1967, after playing seven seasons at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
1968–1973: Wilt arrives
On July 9, 1968, the team acquired Wilt Chamberlain from the Philadelphia 76ers for Darrell Imhoff, Archie Clark, and Jerry Chambers.[56] In his first season as a Laker, Chamberlain set a team record by averaging a league-leading 21.1 rpg.[57] West, Baylor, and Chamberlain each averaged over 20 points, and Los Angeles won their division.[58] 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,[59] and had a 3–2 lead after five.[60] Boston won the series in seven games however,[61] and earned their 11th NBA Championship in 13 seasons.[62] West was named the first-ever Finals MVP; this remains the only time that a member of the losing team has won the award.[63] 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.[64][65] 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.[66]
The 1971–72 season brought several changes. Owner Jack Kent Cooke brought in Bill Sharman as head coach,[67] and Elgin Baylor announced his retirement early in the season after realizing that his legs were not healthy enough.[67] Sharman increased the team's discipline.[68] He introduced the concept of the shootaround, where players would arrive at the arena early in the morning before a game to practice shots.[69] They won 14 straight games in November and all 16 games played in December.[67] 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.[70] By winning 33 straight games, Los Angeles set a record for longest winning streak of any team in American professional sports.[71] 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.[72] Chamberlain averaged a low 14.8 points but led the league in rebounding at 19.2 a game.[73] 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.[73] The team failed to score 100 points just once all year,[74] and at the end of the season, Bill Sharman was named Coach of the Year.[75] 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.[76][77]
The Lakers won 60 games in the 1972–73 NBA season, and took another Pacific Division title.[78] Wilt Chamberlain, playing in his final season, again led the league in rebounding and set the still standing NBA record for field-goal percentage at 72.7%.[78] The team defeated the Chicago Bulls in seven games in the conference semifinals, then the Golden State Warriors in five in the Western Division Finals.[78] They played the New York Knicks in the 1973 NBA Finals. Los Angeles took the first game by three points, but New York won the series in five games.[79]
1973–1979: Building "Showtime"
During the 1973–74 season, the team was hampered by the loss of West, who played only 31 games before his legs gave out.[80] Goodrich, averaging 25.3 points, helped the team to a late-season surge.[80] Trailing the Golden State Warriors by three games with seven left to play, the Lakers rallied to finish 47–35 and win the Pacific Division.[80] They made the playoffs but managed just one win against Milwaukee in the conference semifinals. Following the season, West retired due to contract disagreements with Cooke, and filed a suit for unpaid back wages
After missing the playoffs in the 1974–75 season, the Lakers acquired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had won three league MVP's by that time.[82] Abdul-Jabbar wanted out of Milwaukee, demanding a trade to either New York or Los Angeles.[83] 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.[84] The Lakers struggled in January, going 3–10, and finished out of the playoffs at 40–42.[84]
West and Cooke settled their differences—and the former Laker's lawsuit—and Cooke hired him to replace Sharman as the team's coach.[85] West became upset, however, when Cooke refused to spend the money necessary to acquire forward Julius Erving, who the Nets were selling.[86] Behind another MVP season from Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles won the Pacific Division, finishing the 1976–77 season a league-best 53–29.[87] They defeated the Warriors in a seven-game series to open the postseason before being swept by Portland in the Western Conference Finals.[84] During the off-season, Los Angeles picked up Jamaal Wilkes from Golden State and signed first-round draft pick Norm Nixon.
In the first two minutes of the first game of the 1977–78 season, Abdul-Jabbar punched Bucks center Kent Benson for an overly aggressive elbow and broke his hand.[88] Two months later, a healthy Abdul-Jabbar got into an altercation with Houston Rockets center Kevin Kunnert after a rebound. The team's starting power forward, Kermit Washington, who was averaging 11.5 points and 11.2 rebounds,[89] entered the fight, and when Rudy Tomjanovich ran in from the bench to break up the action, Washington punched him in the face.[90] Tomjanovich nearly died from the punch, suffering a fractured skull and other facial injuries, which prematurely ended his playing career.[91] Washington, who stated that he assumed Tomjanovich was a combatant, was suspended for two months by the NBA, and released by the Lakers.[92] The team won 45 games despite being down a starter in Washington and not having Abdul-Jabbar for nearly two months, but lost in the first round of the playoffs to Seattle.[93] During the 1978–79 season, the team posted a 47–35 record but lost to the SuperSonics in the semifinal round of the playoffs.[84]
1979–1991: "Showtime"
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, calling themselves the Minneapolis Lakers.[10] Initially a member of the NBL, the Lakers won the 1948 NBL championship before joining the rival Basketball Association of America, where they would win five of the next six championships, led by star George Mikan.[11] 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 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—and first in Los Angeles—in 1972, led by new head coach Bill Sharman. After the retirement of West and Chamberlain, the team acquired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who also won multiple MVP awards, but was unable to make the Finals in the late 1970s.
The 1980s Lakers were nicknamed "Showtime" due to their fast break-offense led by Magic Johnson. The team won five championships in a nine-year span, and contained Hall of Famers Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy, and was led by Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley. After Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson retired, the team struggled in the early 1990s, before acquiring Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in 1996. With the duo, who were led by another Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson, the team won three consecutive titles between 2000 to 2002, securing the franchise its second "three-peat". The Lakers won two more championships in 2009 and 2010, but failed to regain their former glory in the following decade.
The Lakers hold the record for NBA's longest winning streak, 33 straight games, set during the 1971–72 season.[12] Twenty-six 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.
The Lakers' franchise began in 1947 when Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen of Minnesota purchased the recently disbanded Detroit Gems[14] of the National Basketball League (NBL) for $15,000 from Gems owner Maury Winston.[15] Minneapolis sportswriter Sid Hartman played a key behind the scenes role in helping put together the deal and later the team.[16] Inspired by Minnesota's nickname, "Land of 10,000 Lakes", the team christened themselves the Lakers.[10][17] 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.[18][19]
The Lakers had a solid roster, which featured forward Jim Pollard, playmaker Herm Schaefer, and center George Mikan, who became the most dominant player in the NBL.[20] In their first season, they led the league with a 43–17 record, later winning the NBL Championship that season.
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.[22] The following season, the team improved to 51–17, repeating as champions.[23] 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.[24] One of those games, a 19–18 loss against the Fort Wayne Pistons, became infamous as the lowest scoring game in NBA history.[25] In the playoffs, they defeated the Indianapolis Olympians in three games but lost to the Rochester Royals in the next round.[20]
During the 1951–52 season, the Lakers won 40 games, finishing second in their division.[26] They faced the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, which they won in seven games.[27] 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.[24] After a 48–22 regular season, the Lakers defeated the Fort Wayne Pistons in the Western playoffs to advance to the NBA Finals.[27] They then defeated the New York Knicks to win their second straight championship.[28] Though Lakers star George Mikan suffered from knee problems throughout the 1953–54 season, he was still able to average 18 ppg.[29] Clyde Lovellette, who was drafted in 1952, helped the team win the Western Division.[29] The team won its third straight championship in the 1950s and fifth in six seasons when it defeated the Syracuse Nationals in seven games.[28]
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.[30] Although they had losing records the next two seasons, they made the playoffs each year.[26] Mikan came back for the last half of the 1955–56 season, but struggled and retired for good after the season.[31] 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.[32] 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.[26][33]
The Lakers earned the top pick in the 1958 NBA draft and used it to select Elgin Baylor. Baylor, who was named NBA Rookie of the Year and co-MVP of the 1959 NBA All-Star Game, averaged 24.9 ppg and 15.0 rpg helping the Lakers improve to second in their division despite a 33–39 record.[34] After upsetting the Hawks in six games in the division finals, they returned to the NBA Finals, but were swept by the Celtics, beginning their long rivalry.[35]
1958–1968: Move to Los Angeles and Celtics rivalry
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.[38] Snow storms had driven the pilot 150 miles off course when he was forced to land in a cornfield. No one was hurt.[39] Their record earned them the number two pick in the 1960 NBA draft. The team selected Jerry West from West Virginia University.[40] 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.[41] 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.[42] 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.[43] In doing so, Baylor broke his own NBA record of 64 points. Despite a losing record, the Lakers made the playoffs.[26] They came within two points of the NBA Finals when they lost in game seven of their second round series against St. Louis.[44]
Led by Baylor and West at 38.3 and 30.8 ppg respectively,[45] 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,[46] despite fouling out of the game.[47] The Lakers, however, lost to the Celtics by three points in overtime of game seven.[45] Frank Selvy, after making two jumpers in the final 40 seconds to tie the game,[48][49] 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.[49]
Los Angeles won 53 games in 1962–63, behind Baylor's 34.0 ppg and West's 27.1 ppg[50] but lost in the NBA Finals in six games to the Celtics.[50] 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.[51] They lost again to Celtics in the Finals however, this time in five games.[52]
Los Angeles lost in the finals to Boston in seven games again in 1966, this time by two points.[53] 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.[54] 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.[26] Los Angeles moved to a brand-new arena, The Forum, in 1967, after playing seven seasons at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
1968–1973: Wilt arrives
On July 9, 1968, the team acquired Wilt Chamberlain from the Philadelphia 76ers for Darrell Imhoff, Archie Clark, and Jerry Chambers.[56] In his first season as a Laker, Chamberlain set a team record by averaging a league-leading 21.1 rpg.[57] West, Baylor, and Chamberlain each averaged over 20 points, and Los Angeles won their division.[58] 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,[59] and had a 3–2 lead after five.[60] Boston won the series in seven games however,[61] and earned their 11th NBA Championship in 13 seasons.[62] West was named the first-ever Finals MVP; this remains the only time that a member of the losing team has won the award.[63] 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.[64][65] 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.[66]
The 1971–72 season brought several changes. Owner Jack Kent Cooke brought in Bill Sharman as head coach,[67] and Elgin Baylor announced his retirement early in the season after realizing that his legs were not healthy enough.[67] Sharman increased the team's discipline.[68] He introduced the concept of the shootaround, where players would arrive at the arena early in the morning before a game to practice shots.[69] They won 14 straight games in November and all 16 games played in December.[67] 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.[70] By winning 33 straight games, Los Angeles set a record for longest winning streak of any team in American professional sports.[71] 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.[72] Chamberlain averaged a low 14.8 points but led the league in rebounding at 19.2 a game.[73] 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.[73] The team failed to score 100 points just once all year,[74] and at the end of the season, Bill Sharman was named Coach of the Year.[75] 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.[76][77]
The Lakers won 60 games in the 1972–73 NBA season, and took another Pacific Division title.[78] Wilt Chamberlain, playing in his final season, again led the league in rebounding and set the still standing NBA record for field-goal percentage at 72.7%.[78] The team defeated the Chicago Bulls in seven games in the conference semifinals, then the Golden State Warriors in five in the Western Division Finals.[78] They played the New York Knicks in the 1973 NBA Finals. Los Angeles took the first game by three points, but New York won the series in five games.[79]
1973–1979: Building "Showtime"
During the 1973–74 season, the team was hampered by the loss of West, who played only 31 games before his legs gave out.[80] Goodrich, averaging 25.3 points, helped the team to a late-season surge.[80] Trailing the Golden State Warriors by three games with seven left to play, the Lakers rallied to finish 47–35 and win the Pacific Division.[80] They made the playoffs but managed just one win against Milwaukee in the conference semifinals. Following the season, West retired due to contract disagreements with Cooke, and filed a suit for unpaid back wages
After missing the playoffs in the 1974–75 season, the Lakers acquired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had won three league MVP's by that time.[82] Abdul-Jabbar wanted out of Milwaukee, demanding a trade to either New York or Los Angeles.[83] 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.[84] The Lakers struggled in January, going 3–10, and finished out of the playoffs at 40–42.[84]
West and Cooke settled their differences—and the former Laker's lawsuit—and Cooke hired him to replace Sharman as the team's coach.[85] West became upset, however, when Cooke refused to spend the money necessary to acquire forward Julius Erving, who the Nets were selling.[86] Behind another MVP season from Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles won the Pacific Division, finishing the 1976–77 season a league-best 53–29.[87] They defeated the Warriors in a seven-game series to open the postseason before being swept by Portland in the Western Conference Finals.[84] During the off-season, Los Angeles picked up Jamaal Wilkes from Golden State and signed first-round draft pick Norm Nixon.
In the first two minutes of the first game of the 1977–78 season, Abdul-Jabbar punched Bucks center Kent Benson for an overly aggressive elbow and broke his hand.[88] Two months later, a healthy Abdul-Jabbar got into an altercation with Houston Rockets center Kevin Kunnert after a rebound. The team's starting power forward, Kermit Washington, who was averaging 11.5 points and 11.2 rebounds,[89] entered the fight, and when Rudy Tomjanovich ran in from the bench to break up the action, Washington punched him in the face.[90] Tomjanovich nearly died from the punch, suffering a fractured skull and other facial injuries, which prematurely ended his playing career.[91] Washington, who stated that he assumed Tomjanovich was a combatant, was suspended for two months by the NBA, and released by the Lakers.[92] The team won 45 games despite being down a starter in Washington and not having Abdul-Jabbar for nearly two months, but lost in the first round of the playoffs to Seattle.[93] During the 1978–79 season, the team posted a 47–35 record but lost to the SuperSonics in the semifinal round of the playoffs.[84]
1979–1991: "Showtime"
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