Los Angeles Lakers

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The franchise began in 1946 as the Detroit Gems of the National Basketball League (NBL). After one season, a new owner moved the team to Minneapolis and renamed it the Minneapolis Lakers. The Lakers won the 1948 NBL championship before joining the rival Basketball Association of America, where they won the 1949 BAA championship. After the merger of the NBL and the BAA into the NBA in 1949, the Lakers won four of the next five NBA championships. After struggling financially in the late 1950s, they moved to Los Angeles before the 1960–61 season. The Lakers made the NBA Finals six times in the 1960s, but lost every series to the Celtics. In 1968, the Lakers acquired Wilt Chamberlain and won their sixth NBA title in 1972. After Chamberlain retired, the team traded for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In 1979, Jerry Buss purchased the Lakers and the team drafted Magic Johnson. The franchise won five championships in the 1980s, including two of three Finals matchups against the Celtics. In 1996, the Lakers traded for the draft rights to Kobe Bryant and signed Shaquille O'Neal, leading to three consecutive championships between 2000 and 2002. After trading O'Neal, the Lakers returned to the Finals after trading for Pau Gasol, losing to the Celtics in 2008 but winning championships in 2009 and 2010. After Jackson retired in 2011, the Lakers endured their longest playoff drought. Gasol left in 2014, and Bryant retired in 2016. The Lakers signed LeBron James in 2018 and traded for Anthony Davis in 2019, winning their 17th championship in 2020. In February 2025, the team traded Davis to acquire Luka Dončić.

In Their Own Story

The intensity of this rivalry fluctuates with its stars but remains ever-present. It cooled slightly after Bird and Magic retired in the early 1990s but surged again in 2008, marking their first Finals meeting since 1987. In the 1960s, the Lakers were forced to watch from the outside as Boston captured every title except 1967. The emotional weight of these encounters is best illustrated by the 1984 series, where a blowout in Game 3 led Bird to call his teammates "sissies," and the physical aggression that followed. Even today, with Boston holding the only winning overall record against Los Angeles as of 2023–24, the history of these 12 meetings defines the league's hierarchy.

Reader's Guide

The Lakers hold the record for the NBA's longest winning streak, 33 straight games, set in 1971–72. 26 Hall of Famers have played for Los Angeles, while four have coached the team. Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, O'Neal, and Bryant won a combined eight NBA MVP awards with the Lakers.

Did You Know?

• The Lakers began as the Detroit Gems in 1946.
• The team moved to Minneapolis and was renamed the Lakers after Minnesota's nickname, 'Land of 10,000 Lakes'.
• George Mikan led the Lakers to five championships in the NBL, BAA, and early NBA.
• The Lakers lost all six NBA Finals they played against the Celtics in the 1960s.
• The Lakers' 33-game winning streak in 1971–72 is the longest in NBA history.