The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Lakers play their home games at Crypto.com Arena, an arena they share with the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association, and the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League. The Lakers are one of the most successful teams in the history of the NBA with 17 championships, the second most in the league behind the Boston Celtics.
Kobe Bean Bryant was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the sport's greatest and most influential players of all time, Bryant won five NBA championships and was an 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, 12-time member of the All-Defensive Team, the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), and a two-time NBA Finals MVP. He ranks fourth in league all-time regular season and postseason scoring. Bryant was posthumously voted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020 and named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.
Dwight David Howard II is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Taoyuan Leopards of T1 League. He began his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was an NBA champion, eight-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA Team honoree, five-time All-Defensive Team member, and three-time Defensive Player of the Year. Howard is regarded as one of the greatest defensive players of all time.
Gerald Hatten "Jerry" Buss was an American businessman, investor, chemist, and philanthropist. He was the majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning 10 league championships that were highlighted by the team's Showtime era during the 1980s. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor. Buss owned other professional sports franchises in Southern California.
Mitchell Kupchak is an American professional basketball executive and retired player. He is the former president of basketball operations and general manager of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a college player, Kupchak was an All-American at the University of North Carolina and a member of the gold medal-winning 1976 United States Olympic team. As a professional player, he won three NBA titles – one as a member of the Washington Bullets and two with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has a long and storied history, having played and won championships in both the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Basketball Association of America (BAA) prior to the 1949 merger which formed the National Basketball Association (NBA). The franchise traces its roots to the NBL's Detroit Gems which was formed in 1946 and relocated to Minneapolis in 1947 to become the Lakers.
Stuart Burrell Lantz is an American former professional basketball player who is a television commentator for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) on Spectrum SportsNet. He played college basketball at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
The Shaq–Kobe feud was the conflict between National Basketball Association (NBA) players Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, who played together for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1996–2004.
Andrew D. Bernstein is an American sports photographer.
The 2007 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game that was played on February 18, 2007, during the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2006–07 season. It was the 56th edition of the NBA All-Star Game, and was played at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas's Thomas & Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada. The Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference, 153–132. Kobe Bryant was named the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (MVP), having recorded 31 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 6 steals. It was the first time the All-Star Game was played in a city without an NBA franchise and first to be played on a college campus. The game was nationally televised on TNT in the United States at 9 p.m. ET as part of the NBA on TNT coverage.
FanDuel Sports Network West is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint venture between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios, and operated as part of FanDuel Sports Network, along with its sister network FanDuel Sports Network SoCal. The channel broadcasts regional coverage of professional and collegiate sports events in California, focusing primarily on teams based in the Greater Los Angeles area. FanDuel Sports Network West is available on cable providers throughout Southern California, the Las Vegas Valley and Hawaii; it is also available nationwide on satellite via DirecTV.
The logos and uniforms of the Los Angeles Lakers have gone through many changes throughout the history of the team.
The 2005–06 Los Angeles Lakers season was the 58th of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the 60th overall. The Lakers finished in third place of the Pacific Division and as the seventh seed of the Western Conference. The season ended with the team being eliminated in seven games against the Phoenix Suns in the First Round of the playoffs after holding a 3–1 series lead. After a year absence, the Lakers rehired Phil Jackson as their head coach. It was the final season that Kobe Bryant wore jersey number 8 before changing it to 24 the following season. Also memorable from this season was during a January 22, 2006 game vs. the Toronto Raptors where Bryant dropped a record 81 points, only the 2nd highest total in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962.
The 2009 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2008–09 season and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. A best-of-seven playoff series starting on June 4 and concluding on June 14, 2009, it was contested between the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers, and the Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic. The Lakers were heavily favored to win the championship over the Magic.
Spectrum SportsNet, formerly Time Warner Cable SportsNet, is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by Charter Communications through its acquisition of Time Warner Cable in May 2016, with the Los Angeles Lakers maintaining editorial control over the content, including team-assigned reporters and anchors, as well as team-related programming. The network is based near the Lakers' team headquarters in the Los Angeles suburb of El Segundo, California.
The 2012–13 NBA season was the 67th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 30, 2012, when the 2011–12 NBA champions Miami Heat started the season by hosting the Boston Celtics. The 2013 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 17, 2013, at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The regular season ended on April 17, 2013, and the playoffs began on April 20, 2013, and ended on June 20, 2013, with the Miami Heat defeating the San Antonio Spurs in seven games to win the 2013 NBA Finals.
The 2012–13 Los Angeles Lakers season was the 65th season of the franchise, its 64th season in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and its 53rd season in Los Angeles. The Lakers acquired All-Stars Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, giving them a starting lineup of five All-Stars consisting of Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Metta World Peace, Nash, and Howard, who were expected to contend for the franchise's 17th NBA championship. Instead, the Lakers struggled to qualify for the playoffs after changing head coaches and implementing multiple offenses. However, a weak defense and multiple injuries were the team's biggest problems. They exited the playoffs in the first round for the first time since 2007. Additionally, this was the first season since 2006-07 without longtime point guard Derek Fisher, who had helped the team win its last five championships. Widely regarded as a failed superteam mainly due to injuries, the Lakers started out the season as a top 2 favorite to win the championship and the Lakers were projected to win 58 games. The Lakers were also the top favorite to win the Western Conference.
Spectrum SportsNet LA and Spectrum Deportes LA is an American regional sports network jointly owned by the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers Major League Baseball team and Charter Communications through its acquisition of Time Warner Cable in May 2016. The channel's programming is devoted completely to the Dodgers, and includes coverage of all Dodgers games not being exclusively televised by MLB's national television partners, along with news, interview, and documentary programming focusing on the team.
James Hatten Buss is a part-owner and former executive vice president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is the son of former Lakers owner Jerry Buss. Buss was president of the Los Angeles Lazers professional indoor soccer team from 1985 to 1989. He later trained thoroughbred race horses for nine years before joining the Lakers in 1998 as an assistant general manager. He was promoted to vice president of basketball operations in 2005. After his father died in 2013, his controlling ownership of the Lakers passed to his children via a family trust, with each child receiving an equal interest.
