Top 10 Facts about the Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles – NBA Lakers Vs Pelicans And Hooters photo by Miguel Discart – Wikimedia commons

Top 10 Facts about the Los Angeles Lakers

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 league’s Western Conference Pacific Division. The team has unquestionably been among the NBA’s most acclaimed and well-liked teams. Some of the greatest basketball players in NBA history have played for this team.

The storied Los Angeles Lakers NBA franchise has dominated the league for years and for that reason, their fan-based continues to be loyal to the team. Here are the top 10 facts about the Los Angeles Lakers.

1. The Lakers were founded in Minneapolis

Wilt Chamberlain (#13) playing for Los Angeles Lakers in the 1969 NBA finals v Boston Celtics photo sourced from Wikimedia commons

The Los Angeles Lakers weren’t always in Los Angeles, which may surprise some people. In actuality, this squad relocated from Minneapolis in 1960. Given that Minneapolis was known as the “land of 10,000 lakes,” this is precisely where the name Lakers originated.

The original state of Lakers, Minneapolis, widely known as “The Land of 10,000 Lakes,” is where the term Lakers originated. As a result, they changed their name from Detroit Gems to Minneapolis Lakers, which was then modified to “Los Angeles Lakers” when they relocated to Los Angeles in 1960.

2. The Lakers’ president is Jeanie Buss

Jeanie Buss at a WOW Event at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles photo by David McLane – Wikimedia commons

Jeanie Marie Buss is an American sports executive who is the majority owner and president of the National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Lakers. She was president of the Great Western Forum before becoming vice president of the Lakers. She was the daughter of Jerry Buss, who controlled the Lakers and other sports enterprises.

Her father died in 2013, and his majority ownership of the Lakers was transferred to his six children through a family trust, with each sibling given an equal vote. Buss assumed the role of team president as well as the Lakers’ representative on the NBA Board of Governors. She became the first female controlling owner to lead her club to an NBA title in 2020.

3. The Lakers play their home games at Crypto.com Arena

Crypto.com Arena July 2022 photo by Benoît Prieur – Wikimedia commons

L.A Lakers host their home games at L.A. Live in Downtown Los Angeles, at Crypto.com Arena. For Lakers games, the arena seats up to 18,997 people and opened in the fall of 1999. The Los Angeles Clippers, the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, and the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings all play in the arena, which is owned and operated by AEG and L.A. Arena Company. Before relocation to Staples Center, the Lakers played their home games at The Forum in Inglewood, California, about 10 miles southwest of the team’s present location, for 32 seasons (1967-1999).

The team’s first seven years in Los Angeles were spent playing in the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, located south of Downtown Los Angeles. From 1947 through 1960, the team’s home games were held at the Minneapolis Auditorium.

During the 1999 preseason, the Lakers played their home games in the Forum before moving to Crypto.com Arena. On October 9, 2009, the Lakers staged a preseason game against the Golden State Warriors to mark the team’s 50th anniversary season in Los Angeles.

4. The club has won 17 NBA championships

Parade celebrating the 2009 NBA Champions Los Angeles Lakers. photo by Jorge Mir – Wikimedia commons

The Lakers have won 17 titles to date. In the realm of basketball, the Los Angeles Lakers began their journey in 1947. They are fortunate to have not just such exceptional players, but also the backing of some outstanding coaches. Basketball legends such as Phil Jackson and Pat Riley made significant contributions to the Lakers’ success.

The Los Angeles Lakers had the honour of winning the championship trophy not once, twice, or three times, but seventeen times because of their incredible collaboration. They began doing magic in baskets in 1949 and have continued to be successful in 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, and 2020.

5. They have a huge rivalry with the Boston Celtics

Boston Celtics in April 2011 photo by Keith Allison – Wikimedia commons

The Boston Celtics have been one of the Lakers’ most formidable opponents. The Celtics-Lakers rivalry is a rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Celtics and Lakers are the NBA’s two most historic clubs, and their rivalry has been dubbed “the greatest in NBA history.”

The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers have played in the NBA Finals a record 12 times, beginning with their first meeting in 1959. They went on to dominate the league in the 1960s and 1980s, meeting six times in the 1960s, three times in the 1980s, and twice in 2008 and 2010.

Since Larry Bird and Magic Johnson’s retirements in the early 1990s, the rivalry has been less heated. For the first time since 1987, the two teams faced off in the NBA Finals in 2008. The Celtics prevailed 4-2, ending the series. In the 2010 NBA Finals, which the Lakers won in 7 games, they ran against each other again.

6. They hold the NBA’s longest winning streak

The Lakers are unquestionably among the top NBA teams, which is why fans like them. Because of their 33 straight victories in the 1971–72 season, which currently stands as an NBA record, the Los Angeles Lakers effectively hold the record for the longest victory streak in league history.

The dynasty-in-the-making Golden State Warriors of our current era have eclipsed the record twice but have fallen short of attaining 28 straight wins.

7. L. A Lakers are home to the all-time NBA leading scorer

Professional basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar photo by Steve Jenner – Wikimedia commons

One of the best Laker players, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar amassed a career total of 38,387 points while playing for the franchise. No other player has been able to surpass his score thus far today. LeBron James, another Laker star, is a player who is fairly near to his score, and without a doubt, this is just increasing the Lakers’ popularity in the NBA.

LeBron James, who recently joined the Los Angeles Lakers, and other current NBA players might challenge his scoring record if they keep up their current pace, but for the time being, his record is secure.

8. 1980s Lakers were nicknamed “Showtime”

Showtime in basketball was a period in Los Angeles Lakers history from 1979 to 1991 when the National Basketball Association (NBA) club played an entertaining run-and-gun style of basketball. The squad relied on fast breaks and won five NBA championships, led by Magic Johnson’s passing skills and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring.

9. Lakers owner hired dancers to make their games entertaining 

Los Angeles Lakers cheerleaders photo by Betsy Weber – Wikimedia commons

Jerry Buss, the Lakers owner, wanted his team’s games to be exciting. He urged that the Lakers play an up-tempo style, and the team recruited dancers and a live band for home games at The Forum. He was a regular at The Horn, a nightclub in Santa Monica, California, that catered to an aristocratic audience in the 1960s.

Buss enjoyed the thrill of the club’s famed opening performance, which involved a dramatic darkening of the lights followed by a theatrical singing of their signature song, “It’s Showtime.” Buss began work on a grand scale replica of The Horn after purchasing the Lakers and The Forum from Cooke. He thought a basketball game, like a nightclub show, should be exciting.

A theatrical environment combined with the running game, according to Buss, would thrill the crowd and improve the Lakers’ home-court edge. He intended to create a Hollywood ambience that the Los Angeles culture would adore even if the rest of the country despised it. The name “Showtime” was coined by Buss from The Horn to characterize the Lakers’ approach to basketball, and it was quickly adopted by Lakers fans and the Los Angeles media.

10. The team has retired a total number of ten players

Kobe Bryant of Los Angeles Lake photo by Keith Allison – Wikimedia commons

To honour the Lakers’ all-time greatest players, 11 jerseys from the franchise have been retired from the team to this point. The Lakers have retired the numbers of ten players: Kobe Bryant (8 and 24), Wilt Chamberlain (13), Elgin Baylor (22), Gail Goodrich (25), Magic Johnson (32), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (33), Shaquille O’Neal (34), James Worthy (42), Jerry West (44) and Jamaal Wilkes (52). LeBron James is probably going to eventually join this list.