Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are an NBA Franchise located in Los Angeles, California. The team is a part of the Pacific division of the NBA's Western Conference. The team is located at the Staples Center, in downtown Los Angeles. They share the Staples Center with the Los Angeles Clippers. The Staples Center was built in 1998 and opened in 1999 and has become a notable sight to see in Los Angeles. The Lakers CEO is a collective family, known as the Buss family. They have owned the Lakers collectively for over 30 years. The President of the company is Jeanie Buss, leads the business side of the company, while Rob Polenkia, Kobe Bryant's ex-agent, is the Main-Operator of Basketball Operations, and the GM. He makes the decisions on the head coach, stadium utilities, roster changes, salary changes, etc. The current head coach of the Lakers is Frank Vogel, with Jason Kidd as an Assistant Head Coach.

## Current Roster

* Lebron James - Starting Small Forward, #23, 6 ft. 9 in., 250 lbs.
* Anthony Davis - Starting Power Forward, #3, 6 ft. 10 in., 253 lbs.
* Javale Mcgee - Starting Center, #7, 7 ft. 0 in., 270 lbs.
* Danny Green - Starting Shooting Guard, #14, 6 ft. 6 in., 215 lbs.
* Avery Bradley - Starting Point Guard, #11, 6 ft. 3 in., 180 lbs.
* Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Shooting Guard, #1, 6 ft. 5 in., 205 lbs.
* Dwight Howard, Center, #39, 6 ft 10 in., 265 lbs.
* Alex Caruso, Point Guard, #4, 6 ft. 5 in., 186 lbs.
* Kyle Kuzma, Power Forward, #0, 6 ft. 8 in., 220 lbs.
* Rajon Rondo, Point Guard, #9, 6 ft. 1in., 186 lbs.
* Jared Dudley, Small Forward, #10, 6 ft. 6 in., 237 lbs.
* Quinn Cook, Point Guard, #2 or #28, 6 ft. 1 in., 179 lbs.
* Markieff Morris, Power Forward, # 88, 6 ft. 8 in., 245 lbs.
* Kostas Antetokounmpo, Power Forward, #37, 6 ft. 10 in., 200 lbs.
* Talen Horton-Tucker, Shooting Guard, #5, 6 ft. 1 in., 235 lbs.

## Team History

### 1947 - 1958: The Minneapolis Era

The team began as the Minnesota Lakers in 1947, based off the fact that Minnesota is known as the State of 10,000 Lakes. The team was purchased by Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen when they bought the recently "deceased" franchise of of the Detroit Gems for $15,000, which in today's money, goes for about $174,000.00 in today's money. The roster was solid for the time with Jim Pollard, Herm Schafer, and George Mikan. The first league the Lakers were in during this period of time was in the BAA (Basketball Association of America,) until they merged with the NBA in 1949. In the 51-52 season, the Lakers went to their first NBA Finals and beat the New York Knicks in seven games, marking this as the 1st of many championships in the history of the Lakers. 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. 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.

### 1958 - 1968: Move to L.A. and Celtics Rivalry Beginnings

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. Snow storms had driven the pilot 150 miles off course when he was forced to land in a cornfield. No one was hurt. Their record earned them the number two pick in the 1960 NBA draft. The team selected Jerry West from West Virginia University. 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. 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. 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. In doing so, Baylor broke his own NBA record of 64 points. Despite a losing record, the Lakers made the playoffs. They came within two points of the NBA Finals when they lost in game seven of their second round series against St. Louis.

Led by Baylor and West at 38.3 and 30.8 ppg respectively, 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, despite fouling out of the game. The Lakers, however, lost to the Celtics by three points in overtime of game seven. Frank Selvy, after making two jumpers in the final 40 seconds to tie the game, 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.

Los Angeles won 53 games in 1962–63, behind Baylor's 34.0 ppg and West's 27.1 ppg but lost in the NBA Finals in six games to the Celtics. 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. They lost again to Celtics in the Finals however, this time in five games.

Los Angeles lost in the finals to Boston in seven games again in 1966, this time by two points. 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. 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. 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 Chamberlain Era

On July 6th, 1968, the Lakers would make a trade that would help to define the franchise for the next decade. They traded Darrell Imhoff, Archie Clark, and Jerry Chambers to the Philadelphia 76ers for the 7 ft. 1 in. giant of a man Wilt Chamberlain. With the dynamic big three of West, Baylor, and Chamberlain, the next 5 year would be known as some of the best in Lakers history. In the 68-69 finals, the Celtics once again faced off against the Lakers. Unfortunately, after leading the series 3-2 with two chances to close out the Celtics, the Lakers eventually fell in 7 games. However, there was a bright side to that lose. Jerry West was so dominant in this series that he became the ONLY player in history so far to get the Finals MVP Award, despite being on the losing side. In the 70-71 season, the Lakers went to the finals once again, but they lost to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Milwaukee Bucks, giving the Bucks their 1st, (and so far only,) Championship. Luckily, in the 1971-72 season, changes in the Lakers organization would result in the tandem finally breaking through. Bill Sharman was brought in as the new head coach, and Elgin announced his retirement intentions at the end of the season. It was Bill Sharman who would introduce the concept of shootarounds before the games and practices so that the team could get some energy into their arms for the games. They would go on that season to get an NBA record 33 win streak, and would go on to win the most NBA games in a season at 69. This record would hold for 24 years until finally broken by the Chicago Bulls in the 1995-96 season in which the Bulls won 72 games. They would go on to the NBA Finals and finally defeating the New York Knicks to get Wilt his one and only championship with the Lakers. Unfortunately, the next year, (Wilt's final career season,) they would go on to the finals as well, only to lose to the revenge-seeking New York Knicks.

### 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. Goodrich, averaging 25.3 points, helped the team to a late-season surge. 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.

In the 74 season, they lost out on the playoffs, and in doing so, attracted the services of Kareem Abdul-Jabar, who ironically was a part of the 1971 Bucks who beat the Lakers in that years NBA Finals. That first year in L.A., the Lakers stayed out of the playoffs