LA Lakers Statistics

The Los Angeles Lakers are a National Basketball Association (NBA) team based in Los Angeles, California. The LA Lakers compete in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the NBA. The Lakers play their home games at Staples Center, which they share with their fellow NBA rival, the Los Angeles Clippers, and their sister team, the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA. The Staples Center opened in 1999 and seats up to 18,997 for Lakers Games.

The team's colors are purple, gold and white. The Lakers logo consists of the team name, "Los Angeles Lakers" written in purple on top of a gold basketball. Purple uniforms are used for road games and gold uniforms are used for home games. The team also wears white jerseys for Sunday and holiday home games.

Early History of the LA Lakers

The Lakers franchise was founded in 1946 in Detroit, Michigan before moving to Minneapolis, where the team got its official title from the state's nickname, "Land of 10,000 Lakes." The Lakers won five championships before relocating to Los Angeles in the 1960-61 season.

The Lakers lost all of their eight appearances in the NBA Finals in the 1960s, despite having help from Elgin Baylor and Jerry West. In 1972, the Lakers won their sixth title, their first in Los Angeles, under coach Bill Sharman. The Lakers' popularity soared in the 1980s when they won five additional championships during a nine-year span with the leadership of Hall of Famers Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy and coach Pat Riley, the franchise's all-time leader in regular season game wins and playoff games coached and wins. Two of those championships during that span were against their arch-rivals, the Boston Celtics.

Overall Statistics for the LA Lakers

From 2000 to 2002, the Lakers won three titles consecutively with the help of Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson. After losing both the 2004 and 2008 NBA Finals, the Lakers captured the championship for the 15th time in 2009, defeating the Orlando Magic four games to one.

The Lakers hold records for having the most wins, the highest winning percentage (61.8%), the most NBA Finals appearances (31), the second fewest non-playoff seasons, and the second-most NBA championships. They also hold the record for compiling the longest win streak (33) in U.S. professional team sports (also an NBA record) in the 1971-72 season. Fourteen Hall of Famers have played for the Lakers, while four Hall of Famers (John Kundla, Bill Sharman, Pat Riley and Phil Jackson) have coached the team. Four Lakers (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant) have won the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for a total of 8 MVP awards.

Since the Lakers were established in 1948, the team has only missed the NBA playoffs five times. The team has 15 NBA titles and has appeared in the NBA Finals 15 other times. These appearances include eight NBA Finals appearances in the 80s. The best record posted by the team was 69-13, in 1972; the worst record was 19-53, in 1957-58.

The Lakers are one of only 3 teams to have never lost 60 games in a season. The other teams are the New York Knicks and the New Orleans/Utah Jazz.

LA Lakers Coaches

There have been 21 head coaches for the Lakers franchise. The franchise won their first five NBA championships, from 1949 to 1954, all while coached by John Kundla. Pat Riley was the franchise's all-time leader in both regular season and playoff games coached and games won. Though the regular season record was broken by Phil Jackson in 2009, Riley still holds the playoff wins and games coached record. Riley was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. John Kundla, Bill Sharman, and Phil Jackson have also all been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach. George Mikan, Jim Pollard, Jerry West, Pat Riley, Magic Johnson, and Kurt Rambis have all played and head coached for the Lakers.

NBA Drafts

The Lakers have had three first overall picks in their history: Elgin Baylor (selected in 1958), Magic Johnson (selected in 1979) and James Worthy (selected in 1982). The Lakers have also had two Lottery picks in their history: Eddie Jones (selected tenth overall in 1994) and Andrew Bynum (selected tenth overall in 2005). Other draft picks include Jerry West, Gail Goodrich in the 1960s, Michael Cooper, Norm Nixon in the 1970s, A. C. Green and Vlade Divac in the 1980s, Elden Campbell, Nick Van Exel, Derek Fisher, and Devean George in the 1990s, and Luke Walton Saša Vujačić, and Ronny Turiaf in the 2000s

Winning Statistics for the LA Lakers - NBA Championships

At the start of the 1999-2000 season, the LA Lakers won 31 of their first 36 games. They won 67 games, the most games since they won 65 in the 1986-87 season. The team eliminated the Sacramento Kings and the Phoenix Suns in the first two rounds of the playoffs. After taking a three games to one lead in the Western Conference Finals, the Trail Blazers came back to force a game seven. The team was down by 15 points but went on a 19-4 run to tie the game. The Lakers won 89-84 and went to the NBA Finals. The team defeated Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers four games to two in the 2000 NBA Finals to win their first title since 1988.

In the 2000-2001 season, the team won 11 fewer regular season games, but they swept the first three rounds of the playoffs, beating the Trail Blazers in three and the Kings and Spurs in four. The team met Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2001 NBA Finals, and the Sixers took game one in overtime. But the Lakers came back, taking four in a row to clinch their second straight title. The team had a 15-1 record in the postseason, the best in NBA history.

The Lakers won 58 games in the 2001-02 season, but the Sacramento Kings clinched the Pacific Division. In the playoffs, the Lakers eliminated the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, three games to none, and the San Antonio Spurs four games to one in the second round. The team faced the Sacramento Kings in the Western Conference Finals. The series went to seven games, the last of which ended in a six-point overtime win in favor of the Lakers. The Lakers then achieved a three-peat by sweeping the New Jersey Nets in the NBA Finals.

Recent Statistics for the Lakers

In the beginning of the 2002-03 season, they started 11-19. The team went 39-13 for the rest of the season and won 50 games. The team faced the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2003 NBA Playoffs, and the Lakers took the series in six games. The team was eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs four games to two in the Western Conference Semifinals.

The following off-season, the Lakers signed Karl Malone and Gary Payton. Three of the "big four", however, struggled with injuries: Shaquille O'Neal suffered from a strained calf, Karl Malone with an injured knee and Kobe Bryant with a shoulder injury. Ending up with a 56-26 record, they clinched the Pacific Division and entered the playoffs as the number two seed. They defeated the Houston Rockets, Spurs, and Timberwolves in the first three rounds of the 2004 NBA Playoffs, before they succumbed to the Detroit Pistons in five games in the 2004 NBA Finals.

2004-2007: Rebuilding the Lakers

During the 2004 off-season, the team entered the rebuilding phase when O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, Caron Butler and a first-round draft pick. The team also traded Rick Fox and Gary Payton to the Boston Celtics, for Chris Mihm, Marcus Banks, and Chucky Atkins. Derek Fisher, frustrated with losing playing time, opted out of his contract and signed with the Warriors. As Phil Jackson was not brought back to coach the team for the 2004-05 season, the team hired Rudy Tomjanovich. Of the previous powerhouse team, only Kobe Bryant remained, and after key injuries to Bryant and Odom, the Lakers finished with a 34-48 record in 2005, missing the playoffs for the fifth time in their franchise history. Since the team failed to make the playoffs, they were in the 2005 Draft Lottery, their first since 1994.

With the tenth overall pick, the Lakers selected Andrew Bynum, a center from St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, New Jersey. The team also traded Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins to the Washington Wizards for Kwame Brown and Laron Profit. Jackson returned to coach the team after Rudy Tomjanovich resigned midway through the previous season. On January 22, 2006, Kobe Bryant scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, the second-highest total in NBA history. Ending the season with a 45-37 record, the team made the playoffs for the first time since 2004. After taking a three games to one lead in the first round, the Phoenix Suns came back to take the series in seven games. In the following season, they won 26 of their first 39 games. For the rest of the season, they lost 27 of their last 43 games, including a seven game losing streak. The team was eliminated in the first round by the Phoenix Suns again, four games to one.

2007-present: Return to championship form

After re-acquiring Derek Fisher, the Lakers started the 2007-08 season fairly well, supported by the flourishing Andrew Bynum. However, Bynum's season ended in injury in January, leading the Lakers to trade Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the draft rights to Marc Gasol, and two first round draft picks to the Memphis Grizzlies for Pau Gasol and a second round draft choice. After the trade, the Lakers went on to clinch the first seed in the Western Conference with a 57-25 record. Kobe Bryant was awarded the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, becoming the first Los Angeles Lakers player to have won the award since Shaquille O'Neal won the award in 2000.

The Lakers went to the playoffs and defeated the Denver Nuggets in four games, the Utah Jazz in six games, and the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in five games. They entered the NBA Finals for the first time in four years, facing their long-time rivals, the Boston Celtics, whom they had not played in the Finals in 21 years. The Lakers eventually lost the series in six games.

In the 2008-09 NBA season, the Lakers returned to championship form. Los Angeles finished with a 65-17 record, easily winning the Pacific Division and clinching first place in the Western Conference. After eliminating the Utah Jazz 4-1, they needed 7 games to fight off the Houston Rockets and six to defeat the Denver Nuggets, to win the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers' quest for another title was successfully completed, as they defeated the Orlando Magic in the 2009 NBA Finals in five games, and won their 15th title, their first in seven years. Kobe Bryant was named the NBA Finals MVP for the first time in his career. On January 13, 2010, the Lakers became the first team in NBA history to win 3,000 regular season games, in a 100-95 win against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Lakers finished the 2009-10 season with 57 victories, once again the West's best record for the third straight season. They defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in six games of the first round, then swept past the Utah Jazz in the Conference Semifinals. They defeated the Phoenix Suns in the Conference Finals, four games to two.

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