1998–99 Los Angeles Lakers season
The 1998–99 NBA season was the Lakers' 51st season in the National Basketball Association, and 39th in the city of Los Angeles. It was also the Lakers' final season at the Great Western Forum. During the off-season, the Lakers signed free agent Derek Harper. After a lockout had cut the season to just 50 games, the Lakers played around .500 with a 6–6 start as head coach Del Harris was fired. After one game under interim Bill Bertka, the team hired former Laker Kurt Rambis as their new coach. The Lakers had signed free  agent and rebounding specialist Dennis Rodman, who was well known for winning championships with the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls. However, after 23 games, Rodman was released by the team, averaging 11.2 rebounds per game. At midseason, Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell were both traded to the Charlotte Hornets for All-Star forward Glen Rice, J.R. Reid and B. J. Armstrong, who was released to free agency and signed with the Orlando Magic. The Lakers won ten straight games between February and March, and finished second in the Pacific Division with a 31–19 record. Their attendance for the season  was 430,007 (12th in the league). Kobe Bryant averaged 19.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game in his first season as a starter, and was selected to the All-NBA Third Team, while Shaquille O'Neal finished second in the league in scoring with 26.3 points, and averaged 10.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game, made the All-NBA Second Team, and finished in sixth place in Most Valuable Player voting. In addition, Rice played in 27 games due to an elbow injury he sustained in Charlotte, and provided the team with 17.5 points per game, while Rick Fox  contributed 9.0 points per game off the bench, and Harper provided with 6.9 points and 4.2 assists per game. In the playoffs, the Lakers defeated the Houston Rockets 3–1 in the Western Conference First Round, but were swept in four straight games by the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs during the Western Conference Semi-finals. Following the season, Rambis was fired as head coach, while Reid signed as a free agent with the Milwaukee Bucks, Sean Rooks was traded back to his former team, the Dallas Mavericks, rookie forward Ruben Patterson signed with the Seattle SuperSonics, and Harper was dealt  to the Detroit Pistons, but was released and then retired. Regular season. The Lakers went through three coaches during the season: Del Harris (6–6), Bill Bertka (1–0) and Kurt Rambis (24–13). Fourteen different Lakers started at least one game during the season. From February 25 to March 12, the Lakers won ten consecutive games. Outside of the streak, the Lakers were 21-19 in all other games. During the season, over half of the Lakers' games were televised nationally. At season's end, the Lakers ranked second in the league in scoring at 99.0 points per game (only Sacramento averaged  more points: 100.2 ppg). Despite the high scoring, the Lakers were the fourth worst Free Throw shooting team in the league with a percentage of .683. Shaquille O'Neal had a percentage of .540. Following the season, Rambis was fired as coach.