# 1968–69 Los Angeles Lakers season

The 1968–69 NBA season was the Lakers' 21st season in the NBA and ninth season in Los Angeles. This season saw the Lakers acquire Wilt Chamberlain from the Philadelphia 76ers in a trade that sent Jerry Chambers, Archie Clark, and Darrall Imhoff to the 76ers. The team also lost future star Gail Goodrich to the Phoenix Suns via expansion draft.
The Lakers would make it to the NBA Finals, but would lose to the Boston Celtics in seven games despite being the heavy favorites. This marked the Lakers' seventh consecutive defeat to the Celtics in the NBA Finals.
Jerry West, who averaged nearly 38 points per game in the Finals, became the inaugural recipient of the Finals Most Valuable Player award. To date he is the only player in NBA history to win the award as a member of the losing team.

## Offseason
### Draft picks

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
| 1 | 11 | Bill Hewitt | (PF) | United States | USC |

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Western Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| x-Los Angeles Lakers | 55 | 27 | .671 | – | 32–9 | 21–18 | 2–0 | 30–10 |
| x-Atlanta Hawks | 48 | 34 | .585 | 7 | 28–12 | 18–21 | 2–1 | 26–14 |
| x-San Francisco Warriors | 41 | 41 | .500 | 14 | 22–19 | 18–21 | 1–1 | 20–20 |
| x-San Diego Rockets | 37 | 45 | .451 | 18 | 25–16 | 8–25 | 4–4 | 20–20 |
| Chicago Bulls | 33 | 49 | .402 | 22 | 19–21 | 12–25 | 2–3 | 19–21 |
| Seattle SuperSonics | 30 | 52 | .366 | 25 | 18–18 | 6–29 | 6–5 | 15–23 |
| Phoenix Suns | 16 | 66 | .195 | 39 | 11–26 | 4–28 | 1–12 | 8–30 |

### Record vs. opponents

1968-69 NBA Records :
| Team | ATL | BAL | BOS | CHI | CIN | DET | LAL | MIL | NYK | PHI | PHO | SDR | SFW | SEA |
| Atlanta | – | 2–4 | 3–3 | 6–1 | 4–2 | 6–0 | 3–4 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 1–5 | 6–0 | 3–4 | 4–3 | 4–2 |
| Baltimore | 4–2 | – | 5–2 | 6–0 | 4–3 | 7–0 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 3–4 | 2–4 | 6–0 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 4–2 |
| Boston | 3–3 | 2–5 | – | 4–2 | 5–2 | 5–1 | 2–4 | 5–1 | 1–6 | 5–2 | 6–0 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 3–3 |
| Chicago | 1–6 | 0–6 | 2–4 | – | 1–5 | 3–3 | 3–4 | 5–1 | 2–4 | 1–5 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 4–3 | 4–3 |
| Cincinnati | 2–4 | 3–4 | 2–5 | 5–1 | – | 3–4 | 2–4 | 5–1 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 3–3 |
| Detroit | 0–6 | 0–7 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 4–3 | – | 3–3 | 2–4 | 3–4 | 3–4 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 4–2 |
| Los Angeles | 4–3 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 4–3 | 4–2 | 3–3 | – | 5–1 | 5–1 | 1–5 | 6–0 | 7–0 | 4–3 | 5–1 |
| Milwaukee | 2–4 | 1–5 | 1–5 | 1–5 | 1–5 | 4–2 | 1–5 | – | 0–6 | 0–6 | 6–2 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 3–5 |
| New York | 4–2 | 4–3 | 6–1 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 4–3 | 1–5 | 6–0 | – | 4–3 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 6–0 |
| Philadelphia | 5–1 | 4–2 | 2–5 | 5–1 | 4–3 | 4–3 | 5–1 | 6–0 | 3–4 | – | 5–1 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 6–0 |
| Phoenix | 0–6 | 0–6 | 0–6 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 0–6 | 2–6 | 1–5 | 1–5 | – | 1–7 | 2–4 | 3–3 |
| San Diego | 4–3 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 0–7 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 7–1 | – | 3–3 | 3–3 |
| San Francisco | 3–4 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 3–4 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 3–3 | 1–5 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 3–3 | – | 4–3 |
| Seattle | 2–4 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 3–4 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 1–5 | 5–3 | 0–6 | 0–6 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 3–4 | — |

### Game log
## Playoffs

1969 playoff game log :
Division Semi-finals: 4–2 (home: 1–2; road: 3–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 26
San Francisco
L 94–99
Jerry West (36)
Wilt Chamberlain (30)
Jerry West (7)
The Forum 10,697
0–1
2
March 28
San Francisco
L 101–107
Jerry West (36)
Wilt Chamberlain (17)
Jerry West (11)
The Forum 15,119
0–2
3
March 31
@ San Francisco
W 115–98
Jerry West (25)
Wilt Chamberlain (28)
Jerry West (9)
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 13,221
1–2
4
April 2
@ San Francisco
W 103–88
Jerry West (36)
Wilt Chamberlain (14)
Jerry West (5)
Cow Palace 14,812
2–2
5
April 4
San Francisco
W 103–98
Jerry West (29)
Wilt Chamberlain (27)
Jerry West (13)
The Forum 17,309
3–2
6
April 5
@ San Francisco
W 118–78
Jerry West (29)
Wilt Chamberlain (25)
Jerry West (8)
Cow Palace 8,924
4–2 :
Division finals: 4–1 (home: 3–0; road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
April 11
@ Atlanta
W 95–93
Jerry West (25)
Wilt Chamberlain (29)
Baylor, Egan (6)
The Forum 16,190
1–0
2
April 13
Atlanta
W 104–102
Wilt Chamberlain (23)
Wilt Chamberlain (29)
Johnny Egan (11)
The Forum 15,136
2–0
3
April 15
@ Atlanta
L 86–99
Johnny Egan (19)
Wilt Chamberlain (22)
West, Baylor (4)
Alexander Memorial Coliseum 7,140
2–1
4
April 17
@ Atlanta
W 100–85
Wilt Chamberlain (25)
Wilt Chamberlain (19)
Jerry West (5)
Alexander Memorial Coliseum 7,140
3–1
5
April 20
Atlanta
W 104–96
Elgin Baylor (29)
Wilt Chamberlain (29)
Elgin Baylor (12)
The Forum 16,273
4–1 :
NBA Finals: 3–4 (home: 3–1; road: 0–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
April 23
Boston
W 120–118
Jerry West (53)
Wilt Chamberlain (23)
Jerry West (10)
The Forum 17,554
1–0
2
April 25
Boston
W 118–112
Jerry West (41)
Wilt Chamberlain (19)
Egan, West (8)
The Forum 17,559
2–0
3
April 27
@ Boston
L 105–111
Jerry West (24)
Wilt Chamberlain (26)
Jerry West (6)
Boston Garden 14,037
2–1
4
April 29
@ Boston
L 88–89
Jerry West (40)
Wilt Chamberlain (31)
West, Baylor (4)
Boston Garden 15,128
2–2
5
May 1
Boston
W 117–104
Jerry West (39)
Wilt Chamberlain (31)
Jerry West (9)
The Forum 17,553
3–2
6
May 3
@ Boston
L 90–99
West, Baylor (26)
Wilt Chamberlain (18)
Wilt Chamberlain (4)
Boston Garden 15,128
3–3
7
May 5
Boston
L 106–108
Jerry West (42)
Wilt Chamberlain (27)
Jerry West (12)
The Forum 17,568
3–4 :
1969 schedule :

## Awards

* Jerry West, NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award
* Elgin Baylor, All-NBA First Team
* Jerry West, All-NBA Second Team
* Jerry West, NBA All-Defensive Second Team
* Elgin Baylor, NBA All-Star Game
* Jerry West, NBA All-Star Game
* Wilt Chamberlain, NBA All-Star Game
* Bill Hewitt, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team