# 1972–73 Los Angeles Lakers season

The 1972–73 NBA season was the Lakers' 25th season in the NBA and 13th season in Los Angeles.
During the previous season (1971–1972), the Lakers had posted the longest winning streak in NBA history with 33 straight victories. In the 1972 NBA Finals, the Lakers had defeated New York Knicks in five games to win their sixth NBA Championship. However, even though the Lakers managed to make to the NBA Finals for a second consecutive time, they proved unable to repeat as champions. The Knicks defeated them in five games.
Following the season, Wilt Chamberlain retired.

## Offseason
### Draft picks

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club Team |
| 2 | 16 | Jim Price | Guard | United States | Louisville |

## Regular season

The defending champion Lakers returned intact, albeit another year older. They staged another season long battle for best record in the Western Conference with the Milwaukee Bucks. Both teams ended up with 60–22 records and they split their regular season matchups, winning three games apiece. At the time, the NBA had no tiebreaking formula beyond head-to-head record. In a special league meeting, they attempted to schedule a tiebreaking game between the two teams. However, the players' union intervened and demanded the players be paid an extra 1/82 share of the salaries; the owners objected so ultimately the tie was broken by a coin flip, which was won by Milwaukee.

### Season standings

| Pacific Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| y-Los Angeles Lakers | 60 | 22 | .732 | – | 30–11 | 28–11 | 2–0 | 22–4 |
| x-Golden State Warriors | 47 | 35 | .573 | 13 | 27–14 | 18–20 | 2–1 | 14–12 |
| Phoenix Suns | 38 | 44 | .463 | 22 | 22–19 | 15–25 | 1–0 | 14–12 |
| Seattle SuperSonics | 26 | 56 | .317 | 34 | 16–25 | 10–29 | 0–2 | 9–17 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 21 | 61 | .256 | 39 | 13–28 | 8–32 | 0–1 | 6–20 |
| # | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte |
| # | Team | W | L | PCT |
| 1 | z-Milwaukee Bucks | 60 | 22 | .732 |
| 2 | y-Los Angeles Lakers | 60 | 22 | .732 |
| 3 | x-Chicago Bulls | 51 | 31 | .622 |
| 4 | x-Golden State Warriors | 47 | 35 | .573 |
| 5 | Detroit Pistons | 40 | 42 | .488 |
| 6 | Phoenix Suns | 38 | 44 | .463 |
| 7 | Kansas City–Omaha Kings | 36 | 46 | .439 |
| 8 | Seattle SuperSonics | 26 | 56 | .317 |
| 9 | Portland Trail Blazers | 21 | 61 | .256 |
    z – clinched division title
    y – clinched division title
    x – clinched playoff spot

### Record vs. opponents

1972–73 NBA Records :
| Team | ATL | BAL | BOS | BUF | CHI | CLE | DET | GSW | HOU | KCO | LAL | MIL | NYK | PHI | PHO | POR | SEA |
| Atlanta | — | 3–4 | 1–5 | 5–1 | 2–2 | 3–4 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 4–4 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 |
| Baltimore | 4–3 | — | 1–5 | 5–1 | 0–4 | 8–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 5–2 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 4–0 |
| Boston | 5–1 | 5–1 | — | 7–0 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 4–4 | 7–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 |
| Buffalo | 1–5 | 1–5 | 0–7 | — | 2–2 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 1–6 | 7–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 2–2 |
| Chicago | 2–2 | 4–0 | 1–3 | 2–2 | — | 3–1 | 3–4 | 3–3 | 4–0 | 5–2 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 5–1 | 5–1 |
| Cleveland | 4–3 | 0–8 | 1–5 | 5–1 | 1–3 | — | 1–3 | 1–3 | 4–3 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 0–6 | 6–0 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 3–1 |
| Detroit | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 4–3 | 3–1 | — | 2–4 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 1–5 | 2–5 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 6–0 | 2–4 |
| Golden State | 3–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 4–0 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 4–2 | — | 3–1 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 1–5 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 2–4 | 5–1 | 4–3 |
| Houston | 4–4 | 2–5 | 1–5 | 5–1 | 0–4 | 3–4 | 3–1 | 1–3 | — | 0–4 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–5 | 5–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 |
| Kansas City-Omaha | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 2–5 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 4–0 | — | 1–5 | 1–6 | 0–4 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 4–2 |
| Los Angeles | 1–3 | 3–1 | 0–4 | 4–0 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 4–3 | 3–1 | 5–1 | — | 3–3 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 6–1 | 6–0 | 6–0 |
| Milwaukee | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 5–2 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 6–1 | 3–3 | — | 2–2 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 5–1 | 5–1 |
| New York | 3–3 | 3–3 | 4–4 | 6–1 | 1–3 | 6–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | — | 6–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 |
| Philadelphia | 0–6 | 1–5 | 0–7 | 1–7 | 0–4 | 0–6 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 1–6 | — | 0–4 | 1–3 | 1–3 |
| Phoenix | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 1–6 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 4–0 | — | 5–2 | 4–2 |
| Portland | 0–4 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 1–5 | 3–1 | 0–6 | 1–5 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 0–6 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 2–5 | — | 3–4 |
| Seattle | 1–3 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 0–6 | 1–5 | 0–4 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 4–3 | — |

### Game log
## Playoffs

1973 playoff game log :
Conference semifinals: 4–3 (home: 4–0; road: 0–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 30
Chicago
W 107–104 (OT)
Gail Goodrich (28)
Wilt Chamberlain (20)
Jerry West (9)
The Forum 16,341
1–0
2
April 1
Chicago
W 108–93
Gail Goodrich (33)
Wilt Chamberlain (21)
Jerry West (19)
The Forum 17,368
2–0
3
April 6
@ Chicago
L 86–96
Jim McMillian (24)
Wilt Chamberlain (18)
Jerry West (13)
Chicago Stadium 14,606
2–1
4
April 8
@ Chicago
L 94–98
Jim McMillian (25)
Wilt Chamberlain (30)
Goodrich, West (5)
Chicago Stadium 14,181
2–2
5
April 10
Chicago
W 123–102
Jerry West (36)
Wilt Chamberlain (29)
Jerry West (11)
The Forum 17,505
3–2
6
April 13
@ Chicago
L 93–101
Jerry West (19)
Wilt Chamberlain (26)
Jerry West (5)
Chicago Stadium 18,096
3–3
7
April 15
Chicago
W 95–92
Jerry West (27)
Wilt Chamberlain (28)
Jerry West (7)
The Forum 17,505
4–3 :
Conference finals: 4–1 (home: 3–0; road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
April 17
Golden State
W 101–99
Jim McMillian (37)
Wilt Chamberlain (25)
Jerry West (8)
The Forum 17,505
1–0
2
April 19
Golden State
W 104–93
Jerry West (36)
Wilt Chamberlain (20)
Jerry West (6)
The Forum 17,505
2–0
3
April 21
@ Golden State
W 126–70
Jim McMillian (28)
Wilt Chamberlain (25)
Jerry West (11)
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 13,183
3–0
4
April 23
@ Golden State
L 109–117
Jerry West (32)
Wilt Chamberlain (16)
Gail Goodrich (7)
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 8,000
3–1
5
April 25
Golden State
W 128–118
Gail Goodrich (44)
Wilt Chamberlain (22)
Jerry West (9)
The Forum 17,505
4–1 :
NBA Finals: 1–4 (home: 1–2; road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
May 1
New York
W 115–112
Gail Goodrich (30)
Wilt Chamberlain (20)
Wilt Chamberlain (6)
The Forum 17,505
1–0
2
May 3
New York
L 95–99
Jerry West (32)
Wilt Chamberlain (20)
Goodrich, West (5)
The Forum 17,505
1–1
3
May 6
@ New York
L 83–87
Jim McMillian (22)
Wilt Chamberlain (13)
Wilt Chamberlain (5)
Madison Square Garden 19,694
1–2
4
May 8
@ New York
L 98–103
Goodrich, West (23)
Wilt Chamberlain (19)
Bill Bridges (7)
Madison Square Garden 19,694
1–3
5
May 10
New York
L 93–102
Gail Goodrich (28)
Wilt Chamberlain (21)
Jerry West (4)
The Forum 17,505
1–4 :
1973 schedule :

## Awards and records

* Jerry West, All-NBA First Team
* Jerry West, NBA All-Defensive First Team
* Wilt Chamberlain, NBA All-Defensive First Team
* Jerry West, NBA All-Star Game
* Wilt Chamberlain, NBA All-Star Game
* Gail Goodrich, NBA All-Star Game
* Jim Price, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team