Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers is an American professional basketball franchise, based in Los Angeles. The Lakers play in the Pacific Division of the National Basketball Association as a member of the league's Western Conference. The Lakers play their home games at the Staples Center, an venue shared with the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers, 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 history's most prolific NBA franchises, winning 16 NBA trophies, second behind the Boston Celtics. The franchise started in 1947 with the purchase of a disbanded team, the Detroit Diamonds of the National Basketball League. The new team started playing in Minneapolis, and the Minneapolis Lakers were renamed themselves. Initially an NBL team, the Lakers won the 1948 NBL championship before joining the Basketball Association of America, where they would win five of the next six titles, led by star George Mikan. They transferred to Los Angeles before the season of 1960–61, with Mikan's retirement in the late 1950s having struggled financially. Six times in the 1960s, led by Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, Hall of Famers, Los Angeles reached the NBA Finals, but lost each game to the Celtics, beginning a long, storied rivalry. In 1968, the Lakers drafted four-time NBA Most Valuable Player Wilt Chamberlain and won their sixth NBA title — the first in Los Angeles — in 1972, led by new head coach Bill Sharman. Upon West and Chamberlain's retirement, the team drafted Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who also received multiple MVP awards but were unable to finalise in the late 1970s. The 1980s Lakers were dubbed "Showtime," due to their fast break-offense led by Magic Johnson. The team won five titles in a nine-year stretch, with Hall of Famers Jordan, Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy, and was led by Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley. Since Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson retired, the franchise struggled in the early 1990's, before adding Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in 1996. Around 2000 and 2002, the team won three consecutive championships with the duo, led by another Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson, giving the franchise its second "three-peat," adding two more trophies in 2009 and 2010 while failing to regain its former dominance in the decade that followed. The Lakers hold record set for NBA's longest winning streak, 33 straight games, during the 1971–72 season. Twenty-six Hall of Famers, including four coaching the franchise, starred for Los Angeles. The eight-time NBA MVP Award is won by four Lakers — Abdul-Jabbar, Jordan, O'Neal and Bryant. The nickname Laker comes from Minnesota state being a country of 10,000 Lakes. The squad colours are lilac, purple, and white. The Lakers logo consists of the franchise name, "Los Angeles Lakers," which is written in purple on top of a gold hoop. The player usually wears white jersey for Sunday and Holiday home games. At Staples Center, in L.A., the Lakers play their home games. Function in centre in Los Angeles. The stadium opens in the fall of 1999, with seats increased to 18,997 for the Lakers play. Executed and owned by AEG and L.A. Stadium Management, the stadium now houses the NHL's Los Angeles Clippers, the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks and Los Angeles Kings. The Lakers have been playing their home games for 32 seasons before moving to Staples Center at The Forum in Inglewood, California located about 10 miles southwest of the current site for the franchise. During the 1999 pre-season, the Lakers played their home games at the Forum before moving permanently to the Staples Center and staging a pre-season game against the Golden State Warriors on October 9, 2009, this time in Los Angeles to mark the team's 50th anniversary season. In the first seven years in Los Angeles, the franchise has played her home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, south of Downtown Los Angeles. The club played its home games at the Minneapolis Auditorium from 1947 to 1960 when the team played in Minneapolis.