Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are a professional basketball team playing under the National Basketball Association representing the Pacific division of the Western conference. The team was established in 1948. The L.A. Clippers and the L.A. Sparks are both the sister teams of the L.A. Lakers.

The team was originally founded in Detroit and further on moved to the Los Angeles, California. Purple, Gold and White are the official colors of the Lakers. Jerry Buss is the current owner of the team and Phil Jackson is the head coach. The Lakers is one of the most valuable teams in the history of NBA.

The Lakers before entering the NBA played in the National Basketball League. The Lakers were one of the dominant teams in the NBA. The team comprised of Hall of Famers like Clyde Lovellette, Slater Martin, Jim Pollard, Vern Mikkelsen and George Mikan which formed the first “dynasty” in the NBA and in six years won five championships in 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953 and 1954.

In the off-season of 1996 the team acquired Shaquille O’Neal and from the Charlotte Hornets got rookie Kobe Bryant. In 1999 Phil Jackson was hired as the head coach who was the former Bulls coach. Then the team possessed a championship form and was led by Bryant, O’Neal along with talented supporting members. This team was triumphant in three continuous NBA finals from 2000-2002.

In the 2004 season O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat and Jackson had temporarily retired. Although the Lakers did not do well in the NBA playoffs they were able achieve the Division and the conference titles. For the next season Jackson returned to the team which was led by Bryant. This team was defeated by the Phoenix Suns in the initial round both the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. In the 2006-07 NBA season the team had a score of 42-40 which was the worst in the coaching career of Jackson.

The Lakers also have a huge Hollywood fan following. Many moviestars like Jack Nicholson, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Dustin Hoffman, Sylvester Stallone, Tobey Maguire, Salma Hayek, Snoop Dogg, Adam Sandler, Jackie Chan, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Ray Lewis and many more are among the regular crowd that attend the L.A. Lakers' games.

The Staples Center is the place where the Lakers play all their home matches. It has a maximum capacity of 18,997. One of the most respected players in the NBA history, Magic Johnson was also a part of the team and has his name along with many others written in the Hall of Famers.

In 2008 the Lakers won both the Division as well as the Conference titles and made it to the NBA finals where they were defeated by the Boston Celtics by four games to two.

Major achievements

• 28 NBA Division titles
• 29 Conference titles
• 14 NBA League Championships

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