About Me
The Lakers began in 1947 when Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen bought the Detroit Gems of the National Basketball League for $15,000 and relocated it to Minneapolis. As the Gems had by far the worst record in the NBL, the Lakers had the first pick in the 1947 dispersal draft, which they used to select George Mikan, later to become, arguably, the greatest center of his time. With Mikan, new coach John Kundla and an infusion of former University of Minnesota players, the Lakers won the NBL championship in that 1947-48 season and joined four other NBL teams in jumping to the Basketball Association of America, where they promptly won the 1948-49 BBA championship. The NBL and BBA merged to become the NBA in 1949.
The Minneapolis Lakers were one of the dominant teams of the fledgling NBA. With Hall of Famers George Mikan, Vern Mikkelsen, Jim Pollard, Slater Martin, and Clyde Lovellette, they were the NBA's first "dynasty", winning five championships in six years (1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954).
After their move to Los Angeles in 1960, the team featured Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Gail Goodrich, and Wilt Chamberlain, but despite the wealth of talent, they were repeatedly foiled by the Boston Celtics, losing the championship to them six times in eight years. It wasn't until 1972 when they strung together a record 33-game win streak under Coach of the Year Bill Sharman that they were able to secure their first championship in Los Angeles.
However, even with the addition of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, they weren't able to win another championship until the arrival of Earvin "Magic" Johnson in 1979, defeating the Philadelphia 76ers thanks to an MVP performance by the rookie Magic, who, starting for the injured Kareem, had 42 points, 15 rebounds, and 7 assists to clinch the series. Under coach Pat Riley, a former Laker player, the Lakers then went on to dominate the 1980s, appearing in the finals eight times in the decade and being crowned champions five times, including consecutive championships in 1987 and 1988, the first team to do so since Boston in 1969.
In a December 9, 1977 game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets center Kevin Kunnert got into a fight with the Lakers' Kermit Washington. As Houston guard Rudy Tomjanovich ran over to the two, Washington turned and blindly swung his fist. The powerful blow landed squarely on the face of a running Tomjanovich, causing massive jaw, eye, and cheek injuries; Tomjanovich's skull was also fractured when his head hit the floor. That shocking scene became the defining moment of not only the Rockets' 1977-78 season (a conference finals team the previous year, collapsed into last place with a 28-54 record) but also of two basketball players' professional careers. Tomjanovich, displaying the "heart of a champion", spent the next five months in rehab returning to play as an NBA all-star.
Although they made another finals appearance in 1991, they spent most of the 1990s fielding teams that were not considered legitimate championship contenders. During the 1999-2000 season, however, they were able to make it back to the Finals when Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Phil Jackson proved to be the winning combination, taking three consecutive championships. After missing out in 2003, a retooled Lakers team featuring newcomers Karl Malone and Gary Payton roared into the 2004 finals heavily favored to win, only to lose to Detroit in five games.
The following summer, the team was ripped apart. Personality conflicts between Shaq and Kobe Bryant came to a head. Shaquille O'Neal demanded to be traded and he was, sent to the Miami Heat. Karl Malone retired, Gary Payton was traded to the Boston Celtics, and Phil Jackson left, replaced by Rudy Tomjanovich, who left the team part way through his first season.
Kobe Bryant led the retooled young team but the results were anything but positive and the Lakers ended up missing the playoffs for the 1st time in 11 years, & the 1st time in Kobe Bryants's professional career. Here in the 2005 season, fans have reason to be optimistic, thanks to the return of Jackson, and are looking for the Lakers to make the playoffs.
The Los Angeles Lakers can arguably be considered the greatest NBA franchise in the history of the league as they boast having (at the end of the 2006-07 season) the most wins with 2,848, the highest winning percentage (61.3%), and the second most NBA titles with 14.
