# 2020–21 Los Angeles Lakers season

The 2020–21 Los Angeles Lakers season was the franchise's 74th season, its 73rd season in the National Basketball Association (NBA), its 61st season in Los Angeles, and their 22nd season playing home games at Staples Center. The Lakers were coached by Frank Vogel in his second year as head coach. The Lakers played their home games at Staples Center as members of the Western Conference's Pacific Division. The Lakers entered the season as the defending Pacific Division, Western Conference, and NBA champions.
On November 10, 2020, the NBA announced that the 2020–21 season would begin on December 22, 2020, following the delayed finish to the 2019–20 season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Each team was to play a shortened 72-game schedule. A week later, the NBA announced the format for the season which would include a play-in tournament to determine the seventh and eighth seeds in each conference. The second half of the schedule would not be announced until a later date to allow for the makeup of any games postponed due to COVID-19 issues.
The season began just 72 days after the completion of the 2020 finals, giving the Lakers and the Miami Heat the shortest off-season in league history. In February 2021, the Lakers had the second best record in the West at 21–7, two games behind the Utah Jazz, when Anthony Davis suffered a strained calf that sidelined him for 30 games. One game after Davis was injured, Dennis Schröder missed a span of four games, in which the Lakers were winless, due to the league's health and safety protocols. LeBron James missed 26 of the team's final 30 games with a sprained ankle. After Davis returned from his nine-week absence, the Lakers were 35–23, going 14–16 without him, including 6–10 with James out as well. Schröder also missed seven games in the final weeks of the season, again due to health and safety protocols.
In an injury-laden season, the Lakers finished with a 42–30 record (roughly the equivalent of 48–34), the same as the No. 5 Mavericks and No. 6 Trail Blazers; they fell to 7th place due to tiebreakers, resulting in the Lakers having to face the No. 8 Warriors in the play-in tournament, whom they defeated to secure the No. 7 seed in the playoffs. This was the first time in James's career that he did not have home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Against the second-seeded Phoenix Suns in the opening round, they were up 2–1 when Davis suffered a strained groin in Game 4. The Lakers were eliminated in six games, the first time in James's career that his team exited in the first round of the playoffs and the first defending NBA champion that was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs since the 2014–15 San Antonio Spurs.

## Previous season

The Lakers finished the 2019–20 season 52–19 to finish in 1st place in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference. In the playoffs, they defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets, and Denver Nuggets each in five games to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010. There they defeated the Miami Heat (LeBron's former team) in six games to earn the franchise's 17th NBA championship.

## Offseason
### Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | School / club team |
| 1 | 28 | Jaden McDaniels | SF | United States | Washington (Fr.) |
* This was a traded pick with the Oklahoma City Thunder that sent Danny Green and the draft rights to Jaden McDaniels to the Thunder in return for Dennis Schröder.
* Before the start of the 2020 NBA draft period, the Lakers' first-round selection was held stuck as the 29th pick of the draft with their record being the second-best of all NBA teams behind the Milwaukee Bucks the prior season at 49–14 before the NBA suspended their season on March 12, 2020. However, the Lakers did resume their season in the 2020 NBA Bubble, eventually winning their 17th championship there against the Miami Heat, leaving them a chance to move their first-round pick up or down for the 2020 draft. In the bubble, the Toronto Raptors ended up finishing with a better overall record than the Lakers, moving their first-round pick to the 28th selection instead, though still finishing as the best Western Conference team that season. The Lakers only held one first-round selection for this draft, as they traded their second-round pick to the Orlando Magic for the draft rights to Talen Horton-Tucker in last season's draft.

## Preseason
### Game log

2020 preseason game log Total: (home: 2–0; road: 2–0) :
Preseason: 4–0 (home: 2–0; road: 2–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
December 11
L.A. Clippers
W 87–81
Talen Horton-Tucker (19)
Montrezl Harrell (12)
Kyle Kuzma (5)
Staples Center 0
1–0
2
December 13
L.A. Clippers
W 131–106
Talen Horton-Tucker (33)
Montrezl Harrell (11)
Quinn Cook (7)
Staples Center 0
2–0
3
December 16
@ Phoenix
W 112–107
Kyle Kuzma (23)
Marc Gasol (8)
Quinn Cook (4)
PHX Arena 0
3–0
4
December 18
@ Phoenix
W 114–113
Anthony Davis (35)
LeBron James (8)
Gasol, James (4)
PHX Arena 0
4–0 :
2020–21 season schedule :

## Regular season
### Standings
#### Division

| Pacific Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | GP |
| y – Phoenix Suns | 51 | 21 | .708 | – | 27‍–‍9 | 24‍–‍12 | 7–5 | 72 |
| x – Los Angeles Clippers | 47 | 25 | .653 | 4.0 | 26‍–‍10 | 21‍–‍15 | 9–3 | 72 |
| x – Los Angeles Lakers | 42 | 30 | .583 | 9.0 | 21‍–‍15 | 21‍–‍15 | 4–8 | 72 |
| pi – Golden State Warriors | 39 | 33 | .542 | 12.0 | 25‍–‍11 | 14‍–‍22 | 5–7 | 72 |
| Sacramento Kings | 31 | 41 | .431 | 20.0 | 16‍–‍20 | 15‍–‍21 | 5–7 | 72 |

#### Conference

Western Conference :
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
| 1 | z – Utah Jazz * | 52 | 20 | .722 | – | 72 |
| 2 | y – Phoenix Suns * | 51 | 21 | .708 | 1.0 | 72 |
| 3 | x – Denver Nuggets | 47 | 25 | .653 | 5.0 | 72 |
| 4 | x – Los Angeles Clippers | 47 | 25 | .653 | 5.0 | 72 |
| 5 | y – Dallas Mavericks * | 42 | 30 | .583 | 10.0 | 72 |
| 6 | x – Portland Trail Blazers | 42 | 30 | .583 | 10.0 | 72 |
| 7 | x – Los Angeles Lakers | 42 | 30 | .583 | 10.0 | 72 |
| 8 | pi – Golden State Warriors | 39 | 33 | .542 | 13.0 | 72 |
| 9 | x – Memphis Grizzlies | 38 | 34 | .528 | 14.0 | 72 |
| 10 | pi – San Antonio Spurs | 33 | 39 | .458 | 19.0 | 72 |
| 11 | New Orleans Pelicans | 31 | 41 | .431 | 21.0 | 72 |
| 12 | Sacramento Kings | 31 | 41 | .431 | 21.0 | 72 |
| 13 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 23 | 49 | .319 | 29.0 | 72 |
| 14 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 22 | 50 | .306 | 30.0 | 72 |
| 15 | Houston Rockets | 17 | 55 | .236 | 35.0 | 72 |
Notes
* z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
* c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
* y – Clinched division title
* x – Clinched playoff spot
* pi – Clinched play-in spot
* o – Eliminated from playoff contention
* * – Division leader

### Game log

2020–21 game log Total: 42–30 (home: 21–15; road: 21–15) :
December: 3–2 (home: 2–2; road: 1–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
December 22
L. A. Clippers
L 109–116
LeBron James (22)
Dennis Schröder (12)
Dennis Schröder (8)
Staples Center 0
0–1
2
December 25
Dallas
W 138–115
Anthony Davis (28)
Marc Gasol (9)
LeBron James (10)
Staples Center 0
1–1
3
December 27
Minnesota
W 127–91
Kyle Kuzma (20)
LeBron James (9)
Marc Gasol (8)
Staples Center 0
2–1
4
December 28
Portland
L 107–115
LeBron James (29)
Anthony Davis (10)
LeBron James (6)
Staples Center 0
2–2
5
December 30
@ San Antonio
W 121–107
LeBron James (26)
Montrezl Harrell (9)
LeBron James (8)
AT&T Center 0
3–2 :
January
: 11–4 (home: 2–2; road: 9–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
6
January 1
@ San Antonio
W 109–103
Anthony Davis (34)
Davis, James, Harrell (11)
LeBron James (10)
AT&T Center 0
4–2
7
January 3
@ Memphis
W 108–94
LeBron James (22)
LeBron James (13)
LeBron James (8)
FedEx Forum 0
5–2
8
January 5
@ Memphis
W 94–92
Davis, James (26)
LeBron James (11)
LeBron James (7)
FedEx Forum 0
6–2
9
January 7
San Antonio
L 109–118
LeBron James (27)
Davis, Kuzma (10)
LeBron James (12)
Staples Center 0
6–3
10
January 8
Chicago
W 117–115
LeBron James (28)
Montrezl Harrell (14)
LeBron James (7)
Staples Center 0
7–3
11
January 10
@ Houston
W 120–102
Anthony Davis (27)
Montrezl Harrell (8)
James, Schröder (7)
Toyota Center 0
8–3
12
January 12
@ Houston
W 117–100
LeBron James (26)
Kyle Kuzma (11)
Gasol, James (5)
Toyota Center 0
9–3
13
January 13
@ Oklahoma City
W 128–99
LeBron James (26)
Davis, Morris (7)
LeBron James (7)
Chesapeake Energy Arena 0
10–3
14
January 15
New Orleans
W 112–95
LeBron James (21)
Kyle Kuzma (13)
LeBron James (11)
Staples Center 0
11–3
15
January 18
Golden State
L 113–115
Dennis Schröder (25)
Anthony Davis (17)
Anthony Davis (7)
Staples Center 0
11–4
16
January 21
@ Milwaukee
W 113–106
LeBron James (34)
Anthony Davis (9)
LeBron James (8)
Fiserv Forum 0
12–4
17
January 23
@ Chicago
W 101–90
Anthony Davis (37)
LeBron James (11)
LeBron James (6)
United Center 0
13–4
18
January 25
@ Cleveland
W 115–108
LeBron James (46)
Anthony Davis (10)
LeBron James (6)
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse 2,000
14–4
19
January 27
@ Philadelphia
L 106–107
LeBron James (36)
Anthony Davis (8)
LeBron James (7)
Wells Fargo Center 0
14–5
20
January 28
@ Detroit
L 92–107
James, Kuzma (22)
Kyle Kuzma (10)
LeBron James (10)
Little Caesars Arena 0
14–6
21
January 30
@ Boston
W 96–95
Anthony Davis (27)
Anthony Davis (14)
James, Schröder (7)
TD Garden 0
15–6 :
February: 9–5 (home: 7–3; road: 2–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
22
February 1
@ Atlanta
W 107–99
Anthony Davis (25)
LeBron James (7)
LeBron James (9)
State Farm Arena 1,341
16–6
23
February 4
Denver
W 114–93
LeBron James (27)
LeBron James (10)
LeBron James (10)
Staples Center 0
17–6
24
February 6
Detroit
W 135–129 (2OT)
LeBron James (33)
Montrezl Harrell (8)
LeBron James (11)
Staples Center 0
18–6
25
February 8
Oklahoma City
W 119–112 (OT)
LeBron James (28)
LeBron James (14)
LeBron James (12)
Staples Center 0
19–6
26
February 10
Oklahoma City
W 114–113 (OT)
LeBron James (25)
Kyle Kuzma (9)
LeBron James (7)
Staples Center 0
20–6
27
February 12
Memphis
W 115–105
Anthony Davis (35)
Kyle Kuzma (10)
LeBron James (8)
Staples Center 0
21–6
28
February 14
@ Denver
L 105–122
LeBron James (22)
LeBron James (10)
LeBron James (9)
Ball Arena 0
21–7
29
February 16
@ Minnesota
W 112–104
LeBron James (30)
LeBron James (13)
LeBron James (7)
Target Center 0
22–7
30
February 18
Brooklyn
L 98–109
LeBron James (32)
Kyle Kuzma (10)
LeBron James (7)
Staples Center 0
22–8
31
February 20
Miami
L 94–96
Kyle Kuzma (23)
Montrezl Harrell (10)
LeBron James (9)
Staples Center 0
22–9
32
February 22
Washington
L 124–127 (OT)
LeBron James (31)
Kyle Kuzma (11)
LeBron James (13)
Staples Center 0
22–10
33
February 24
@ Utah
L 89–114
LeBron James (19)
Markieff Morris (9)
Talen Horton-Tucker (5)
Vivint Arena 4,912
22–11
34
February 26
Portland
W 102–93
LeBron James (28)
James, Kuzma (11)
LeBron James (7)
Staples Center 0
23–11
35
February 28
Golden State
W 117–91
LeBron James (19)
Kyle Kuzma (11)
Dennis Schröder (6)
Staples Center 0
24–11 :
March: 6–7 (home: 5–4; road: 1–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
36
March 2
Phoenix
L 104–114
LeBron James (38)
Caruso, Morris (6)
James, Schröder (6)
Staples Center 0
24–12
37
March 3
@ Sacramento
L 120–123
Dennis Schröder (28)
Kyle Kuzma (13)
Dennis Schröder (9)
Golden 1 Center 0
24–13
38
March 12
Indiana
W 105–100
Kyle Kuzma (24)
Kyle Kuzma (13)
LeBron James (10)
Staples Center 0
25–13
39
March 15
@ Golden State
W 128–97
Montrezl Harrell (27)
LeBron James (10)
LeBron James (11)
Chase Center 0
26–13
40
March 16
Minnesota
W 137–121
Harrell, James (25)
LeBron James (12)
LeBron James (12)
Staples Center 0
27–13
41
March 18
Charlotte
W 116–105
LeBron James (37)
Montrezl Harrell (11)
Dennis Schröder (7)
Staples Center 0
28–13
42
March 20
Atlanta
L 94–99
Montrezl Harrell (23)
Montrezl Harrell (11)
Horton-Tucker, James, Schröder (4)
Staples Center 0
28–14
43
March 21
@ Phoenix
L 94–111
Montrezl Harrell (23)
Montrezl Harrell (10)
Kyle Kuzma (6)
Phoenix Suns Arena 3,190
28–15
44
March 23
@ New Orleans
L 111–128
Montrezl Harrell (18)
Kyle Kuzma (10)
Kuzma, Schröder (7)
Smoothie King Center 3,700
28–16
45
March 25
Philadelphia
L 101–109
Kyle Kuzma (25)
Kyle Kuzma (9)
Dennis Schröder (11)
Staples Center 0
28–17
46
March 26
Cleveland
W 100–86
Montrezl Harrell (24)
Montrezl Harrell (10)
Kuzma, Schröder (7)
Staples Center 0
29–17
47
March 28
Orlando
W 96–93
Dennis Schröder (24)
Harrell, Kuzma, Morris (11)
Dennis Schröder (6)
Staples Center 0
30–17
48
March 31
Milwaukee
L 97–112
Montrezl Harrell (19)
Kyle Kuzma (7)
Dennis Schröder (8)
Staples Center 0
30–18 :
April: 6–9 (home: 1–3; road: 5–6)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
49
April 2
@ Sacramento
W 115–94
Kyle Kuzma (30)
Caldwell-Pope, Harrell (10)
Dennis Schröder (8)
Golden 1 Center 0
31–18
50
April 4
@ L. A. Clippers
L 86–104
Montrezl Harrell (19)
Kyle Kuzma (7)
Dennis Schröder (7)
Staples Center 0
31–19
51
April 6
@ Toronto
W 110–101
Talen Horton-Tucker (17)
Gasol, Morris (9)
Dennis Schröder (9)
Amalie Arena N/A
32–19
52
April 8
@ Miami
L 104–110
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (28)
Andre Drummond (12)
Dennis Schröder (14)
American Airlines Arena N/A
32–20
53
April 10
@ Brooklyn
W 126–101
Andre Drummond (20)
Andre Drummond (11)
Talen Horton-Tucker (11)
Barclays Center 1,773
33–20
54
April 12
@ New York
L 96–111
Dennis Schröder (21)
Andre Drummond (10)
Dennis Schröder (6)
Madison Square Garden 1,981
33–21
55
April 13
@ Charlotte
W 101–93
Kyle Kuzma (24)
Andre Drummond (12)
Caruso, Schröder (6)
Spectrum Center 3,676
34–21
56
April 15
Boston
L 113–121
Talen Horton-Tucker (19)
Montrezl Harrell (8)
Dennis Schröder (8)
Staples Center 1,915
34–22
57
April 17
Utah
W 127–115 (OT)
Andre Drummond (27)
Markieff Morris (12)
Dennis Schröder (8)
Staples Center 1,710
35–22
58
April 19
Utah
L 97–111
Talen Horton-Tucker (24)
Andre Drummond (8)
Dennis Schröder (6)
Staples Center 1,709
35–23
59
April 22
@ Dallas
L 110–115
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (29)
Andre Drummond (19)
Dennis Schröder (13)
American Airlines Center 4,443
35–24
60
April 24
@ Dallas
L 93–108
Ben McLemore (20)
Andre Drummond (12)
Dennis Schröder (10)
American Airlines Center 4,561
35–25
61
April 26
@ Orlando
W 114–103
Dennis Schröder (21)
Andre Drummond (11)
Dennis Schröder (10)
Amway Center 4,099
36–25
62
April 28
@ Washington
L 107–116
Anthony Davis (26)
Andre Drummond (11)
Kuzma, Schröder (8)
Capital One Arena 2,133
36–26
63
April 30
Sacramento
L 106–110
Anthony Davis (22)
Anthony Davis (11)
James, Schröder (7)
Staples Center 2,691
36–27 :
May: 6–3 (home: 4–1; road: 2–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
64
May 2
Toronto
L 114–121
Kyle Kuzma (24)
Andre Drummond (11)
Davis, Horton-Tucker (7)
Staples Center 2,053
36–28
65
May 3
Denver
W 93–89
Anthony Davis (25)
Caldwell-Pope, Davis, Gasol (7)
Caruso, Horton-Tucker, Morris (3)
Staples Center 2,454
37–28
66
May 6
@ L. A. Clippers
L 94–118
Kyle Kuzma (25)
Drummond, Harrell (6)
Alex Caruso (7)
Staples Center 3,275
37–29
67
May 7
@ Portland
L 101–106
Anthony Davis (36)
Anthony Davis (12)
Caldwell-Pope, Davis (5)
Moda Center 1,939
37–30
68
May 9
Phoenix
W 123–110
Anthony Davis (42)
Anthony Davis (12)
Alex Caruso (8)
Staples Center 3,144
38–30
69
May 11
New York
W 101–99 (OT)
Kyle Kuzma (23)
Andre Drummond (18)
Talen Horton-Tucker (10)
Staples Center 3,550
39–30
70
May 12
Houston
W 124–122
Talen Horton-Tucker (23)
Drummond, Kuzma (10)
Talen Horton-Tucker (10)
Staples Center 4,087
40–30
71
May 15
@ Indiana
W 122–115
Anthony Davis (28)
Andre Drummond (15)
LeBron James (8)
Bankers Life Fieldhouse 0
41–30
72
May 16
@ New Orleans
W 110–98
LeBron James (25)
Andre Drummond (13)
Caldwell-Pope, James (6)
Smoothie King Center 3,700
42–30 :
2020–21 season schedule :

## Player stats
### Regular season statistics

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| LeBron James | 45 | 45 | 33.4 | .513 | .365 | .698 | 7.7 | 7.8 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 25.0 |
| Anthony Davis | 36 | 36 | 32.3 | .491 | .260 | .738 | 7.9 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 21.8 |
| Dennis Schröder | 61 | 61 | 32.1 | .437 | .335 | .848 | 3.5 | 5.8 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 15.4 |
| Kyle Kuzma | 68 | 32 | 28.7 | .443 | .361 | .691 | 6.1 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 12.9 |
| Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | 67 | 67 | 28.4 | .431 | .410 | .866 | 2.7 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 9.7 |
| Andre Drummond* | 21 | 21 | 24.8 | .531 | .000 | .605 | 10.2 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 11.9 |
| Montrezl Harrell | 69 | 1 | 22.9 | .622 | .000 | .707 | 6.2 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 13.5 |
| Alex Caruso | 58 | 6 | 21.0 | .436 | .401 | .645 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 6.4 |
| Talen Horton-Tucker | 65 | 4 | 20.1 | .458 | .282 | .775 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 9.0 |
| Markieff Morris | 61 | 27 | 19.7 | .405 | .311 | .720 | 4.4 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 6.7 |
| Wesley Matthews | 58 | 10 | 19.5 | .353 | .335 | .854 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 4.8 |
| Marc Gasol | 52 | 42 | 19.1 | .454 | .410 | .720 | 4.1 | 2.1 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 5.0 |
| Ben McLemore* | 21 | 1 | 17.5 | .390 | .368 | .762 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 8.0 |
| Damian Jones^ | 8 | 6 | 14.0 | .941 | .000 | .917 | 3.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 5.4 |
| Jared Dudley | 12 | 0 | 6.8 | .222 | .333 | .000 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 3.1 |
| Alfonzo McKinnie | 39 | 0 | 6.6 | .516 | .410 | .556 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 3.1 |
| Devontae Cacok | 20 | 1 | 4.9 | .586 | .000 | .455 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 2.0 |
| Quinn Cook* | 16 | 0 | 3.9 | .462 | .385 | .800 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 2.1 |
| Kostas Antetokounmpo | 15 | 0 | 3.7 | .300 | .000 | .462 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.8 |
*Total with the Lakers only

## Play-in

2021 play-in game log Total: 1–0 (home: 1–0) :
Play-in: 1–0 (home: 1–0; road: 0–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 19
Golden State
W 103–100
Anthony Davis (25)
Anthony Davis (12)
LeBron James (10)
Staples Center 6,022
1–0 :

## Playoffs
### Game log

2021 playoff game log Total: 2–4 (home: 1-2; road: 1–2) :
First round: 2–4 (home: 1–2; road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
May 23
@ Phoenix
L 90–99
LeBron James (18)
Andre Drummond (9)
LeBron James (10)
Phoenix Suns Arena 11,824
0–1
2
May 25
@ Phoenix
W 109–102
Anthony Davis (34)
Andre Drummond (12)
LeBron James (9)
Phoenix Suns Arena 11,919
1–1
3
May 27
Phoenix
W 109–95
Anthony Davis (34)
Davis, Drummond (11)
LeBron James (9)
Staples Center 7,825
2–1
4
May 30
Phoenix
L 92–100
LeBron James (25)
LeBron James (12)
LeBron James (6)
Staples Center 8,025
2–2
5
June 1
@ Phoenix
L 85–115
LeBron James (24)
Andre Drummond (13)
LeBron James (7)
Phoenix Suns Arena 16,163
2–3
6
June 3
Phoenix
L 100–113
LeBron James (29)
LeBron James (9)
Gasol, James (7)
Staples Center 8,550
2–4 :
2021 playoff schedule :

## Transactions
### Overview

| Players Added Via draft Via trade Via free agency | Players Lost Via free agency Via retirement Waived |

### Trades

| November 18, 2020 | To Los Angeles LakersDennis Schröder | To Oklahoma City ThunderDanny Green Draft rights to Jaden McDaniels (#28) |
| November 23, 2020 | To Los Angeles LakersAlfonzo McKinnie Jordan Bell | To Cleveland CavaliersJaVale McGee 2026 LAL second-round pick |

### Free agency
#### Re-signed

| Date | Player | Contract terms |
| November 22 | Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | 3 year $40 million deal |
| November 23 | Markieff Morris | 1 year $1.4 million deal |
| November 26 | Kostas Antetokounmpo | Two-way contract |
| December 1 | Jared Dudley | 1 year $2.6 million deal |
| December 2 | LeBron James | 2 year $85 million deal |
| December 3 | Anthony Davis | 5 year $190 million deal |
| December 4 | Quinn Cook | 1 year $1.7 million deal |
| December 20 | Kyle Kuzma | 3 year $40 million deal |

#### Additions

| Date | Player | Contract terms | Former team |
| November 22 | Montrezl Harrell | 2 year $19 million deal | Los Angeles Clippers |
| November 22 | Wesley Matthews | 1 year $3.6 million deal | Milwaukee Bucks |
| November 24 | Marc Gasol | 2 year $5.3 million deal | Toronto Raptors |
| March 28 | Andre Drummond | 1 year $794,536 deal | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| April 6 | Ben McLemore | 1 year $455,000 deal | Houston Rockets |

#### Subtractions

| Date | Player | Reason | New team |
| November 21 | Dwight Howard | 1 year $2.6 million deal | Philadelphia 76ers |
| November 23 | Avery Bradley | 2 year $11.6 million deal | Miami Heat |
| November 23 | Rajon Rondo | 2 year $15 million deal | Atlanta Hawks |
| February 22 | Quinn Cook | Waived | Cleveland Cavaliers |