Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
History of 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.
The Lakers are one of the NBA's most famous and successful franchises. As of August 2024, the Lakers are second in the NBA's all-time records for wins (3,550) and winning percentage (.591), and hold the all-time record for most NBA Finals appearances (32). They are second in NBA championship wins with 17, just behind the Boston Celtics with 18 NBA titles, and with nine more Finals appearances than the Celtics, their biggest rival. Their team has had many NBA legends, including George Mikan, Jim Pollard, Clyde Lovellette, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Gail Goodrich, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jamaal Wilkes, James Worthy, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
The franchise was founded in 1946 as the Detroit Gems, led by founder/owner C. King Boring and his business partner Maurice Winston, and played in the National Basketball League (NBL) during the 1946–47 season where it finished last in the league with only 4 wins in 44 games. Though the team was scheduled to continue in the NBL the following season, its ownership, faced with high losses due to low attendance and lack of homecourt, decided on selling the team to Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen of Minnesota for $15,000 in June 1947. Minneapolis sportswriter Sid Hartman played a key behind-the-scenes role in helping put together the deal and later the team, including helping them hire John Kundla from College of St. Thomas, to be their first head coach, by meeting with him and selling him on the team.
Berger and Chalfen relocated the team to Minneapolis, with home games being played at both the Minneapolis Auditorium and the Minneapolis Armory. The franchise was re-christened the "Lakers" in reference to Minnesota's nickname, "The Land of 10,000 Lakes". Berger and Chalfen brought in Max Winter, later to become a founder and owner of the National Football League's Minnesota Vikings, to be the Lakers' new general manager. Winter also took an ownership stake in the team, which he would maintain until he left the Lakers in 1955.
The acquisition of the franchise left the team with no players of value and the former ownership had sold away the few players it drafted in the 1947 NBL draft before the sale. As the Gems had recorded by far the worst record in the NBL, the Lakers had the first pick in the 1947 Professional Basketball League of America dispersal draft, which they used to select George Mikan, later to become one of the greatest centers of his time. With Mikan, new coach Kundla and an infusion of former University of Minnesota players to replace those lost prior to the relocation, the Lakers won the NBL championship in their first season. A week prior to the NBL finals, the Lakers won the annual World Professional Basketball Tournament, where Mikan was named MVP after scoring a tournament-record 40 points against the New York Renaissance in the title-clinching game.
The following season, the Lakers switched to the 12-team Basketball Association of America (BAA) and proceeded to win the championship in that season. The next year saw the merging of the NBL and the BAA to form the National Basketball Association, and the Lakers won the inaugural NBA championship on the backs of Mikan, Vern Mikkelsen, and future National Football League coach Bud Grant.
The Lakers' three-year streak of championships came to an end in 1951, when they lost to the Rochester Royals in the NBA Western Division Finals. Nevertheless, they rebounded from that defeat to capture the title for the next three consecutive years, thus becoming the NBA's first "dynasty", having won six NBL/BAA/NBA championships in seven years. In addition to Mikan and Mikkelsen, the Lakers teams of these years also featured future Hall of Famers Jim Pollard, Slater Martin, and Clyde Lovellette. During this time, the team also participated in the lowest-scoring game in NBA history; on November 22, 1950, the Lakers fell to the Fort Wayne Pistons by a score of 19–18. This contest later proved to be a factor in the league's introduction of the shot clock.
Three days before the start of the 1954–55 season training camp in September 1954, Mikan unexpectedly announced his retirement from basketball. Without him, Lovellette led the Lakers in scoring and to the Western Division finals where the team lost 3–1 to the Fort Wayne Pistons. After stumbling to a 14–21 record to start the 1955–56 season, Mikan was persuaded to come out of retirement in January 1956 for the second half of the season to backup Lovellette. With Mikan, the Lakers made the playoffs but lost to the St. Louis Hawks in the Western Division semifinals.
Hub AI
History of the Los Angeles Lakers AI simulator
(@History of the Los Angeles Lakers_simulator)
History of 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.
The Lakers are one of the NBA's most famous and successful franchises. As of August 2024, the Lakers are second in the NBA's all-time records for wins (3,550) and winning percentage (.591), and hold the all-time record for most NBA Finals appearances (32). They are second in NBA championship wins with 17, just behind the Boston Celtics with 18 NBA titles, and with nine more Finals appearances than the Celtics, their biggest rival. Their team has had many NBA legends, including George Mikan, Jim Pollard, Clyde Lovellette, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Gail Goodrich, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jamaal Wilkes, James Worthy, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
The franchise was founded in 1946 as the Detroit Gems, led by founder/owner C. King Boring and his business partner Maurice Winston, and played in the National Basketball League (NBL) during the 1946–47 season where it finished last in the league with only 4 wins in 44 games. Though the team was scheduled to continue in the NBL the following season, its ownership, faced with high losses due to low attendance and lack of homecourt, decided on selling the team to Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen of Minnesota for $15,000 in June 1947. Minneapolis sportswriter Sid Hartman played a key behind-the-scenes role in helping put together the deal and later the team, including helping them hire John Kundla from College of St. Thomas, to be their first head coach, by meeting with him and selling him on the team.
Berger and Chalfen relocated the team to Minneapolis, with home games being played at both the Minneapolis Auditorium and the Minneapolis Armory. The franchise was re-christened the "Lakers" in reference to Minnesota's nickname, "The Land of 10,000 Lakes". Berger and Chalfen brought in Max Winter, later to become a founder and owner of the National Football League's Minnesota Vikings, to be the Lakers' new general manager. Winter also took an ownership stake in the team, which he would maintain until he left the Lakers in 1955.
The acquisition of the franchise left the team with no players of value and the former ownership had sold away the few players it drafted in the 1947 NBL draft before the sale. As the Gems had recorded by far the worst record in the NBL, the Lakers had the first pick in the 1947 Professional Basketball League of America dispersal draft, which they used to select George Mikan, later to become one of the greatest centers of his time. With Mikan, new coach Kundla and an infusion of former University of Minnesota players to replace those lost prior to the relocation, the Lakers won the NBL championship in their first season. A week prior to the NBL finals, the Lakers won the annual World Professional Basketball Tournament, where Mikan was named MVP after scoring a tournament-record 40 points against the New York Renaissance in the title-clinching game.
The following season, the Lakers switched to the 12-team Basketball Association of America (BAA) and proceeded to win the championship in that season. The next year saw the merging of the NBL and the BAA to form the National Basketball Association, and the Lakers won the inaugural NBA championship on the backs of Mikan, Vern Mikkelsen, and future National Football League coach Bud Grant.
The Lakers' three-year streak of championships came to an end in 1951, when they lost to the Rochester Royals in the NBA Western Division Finals. Nevertheless, they rebounded from that defeat to capture the title for the next three consecutive years, thus becoming the NBA's first "dynasty", having won six NBL/BAA/NBA championships in seven years. In addition to Mikan and Mikkelsen, the Lakers teams of these years also featured future Hall of Famers Jim Pollard, Slater Martin, and Clyde Lovellette. During this time, the team also participated in the lowest-scoring game in NBA history; on November 22, 1950, the Lakers fell to the Fort Wayne Pistons by a score of 19–18. This contest later proved to be a factor in the league's introduction of the shot clock.
Three days before the start of the 1954–55 season training camp in September 1954, Mikan unexpectedly announced his retirement from basketball. Without him, Lovellette led the Lakers in scoring and to the Western Division finals where the team lost 3–1 to the Fort Wayne Pistons. After stumbling to a 14–21 record to start the 1955–56 season, Mikan was persuaded to come out of retirement in January 1956 for the second half of the season to backup Lovellette. With Mikan, the Lakers made the playoffs but lost to the St. Louis Hawks in the Western Division semifinals.