Team History: Los Angeles Lakers Quiz

Answer: 43-17

The Lakers were formed when Minnestota businessmen Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen purchased the defunct Detroit Gems franchise. The team was known as the Lakers due to Minnesota's nickname as the "land of 10,000 lakes". The Lakers stayed in Minnesota until 1960, when the team relocated to Los Angeles. With a roster that contained talented players such as forward Jim Pollard and center George Mikan, the team compiled a 43-17 record in 1947-48 and went on to win that year's National Basketball League championship 3-1 vs. Rochester Royals.

Answer: NBA scoring champion

Mikan is described on the NBA'S official website as the "first superstar" in league history. He led the league in rebounds in 1952-53, averaging an incredible 14.4 rebounds per game, while also averaging 20.6 points per game. In the 1953 NBA All-Star Game, Mikan had 22 points and 16 rebounds as the West defeated the East 79-75.

It was the first time that the West had ever won the game. Mikan was a three-time scoring champion, but accomplished this feat in 1949, 1950 and 1951.

Answer: St. Louis Hawks

1960 was arguably the most significant in Lakers history, with the team relocating and future Hall-of-Famer Jerry West in the same year (picked by the Lakers in the 1960 draft). In 1960-61, the Lakers had a disappointing 36-43 record but still made the playoffs. After a 3-2 win against the Pistons, the Lakers eventually lost in the Division Finals, losing out 4-3 to the Hawks.

Answer: Frank Selvy

The series was tied at 3-3 after six games. With five seconds left of Game 7 in Boston, Selvy missed am open 12-footer from the baseline that almost certainly would have won the game. Instead, the game went to overtime with the Celtics eventually winning Game 7 (and the title) with a 110-107 scoreline.

This was the start of a worrying trend for the Lakers, who would go on to lose the 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968 and 1969 NBA Finals to the Celtics.

Answer: 3

Chamberlain was considered the best player in the NBA when this trade occurred in July 1968. Chamberlain had won the last three NBA MVPs (and four overall) and was a seven-time ALL-NBA First Team selection. The Lakers sent Darrell Imhoff, Archie Clark and Jerry Chambers to the Sixers in exchange for Chamberlain, who was turning 32 that off-season. Chamberlain was a huge success with the Lakers, bringing the team its first championship since its relocation and winning the 1972 NBA Finals MVP.

Answer: Julius Erving

The American Basketball Association (ABA) merged with the NBA in 1976, and Erving had been a two-time ABA champion and five-time ABA All-Star with the New York Nets. The Nets were listening to offers, but owner Jack Kent Cooke refused to stump up the money. Erving eventually joined the Philadelphia 76ers.

While Abdul-Jabbar did join the Lakers, this occurred in 1975 in a trade with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Answer: Seattle SuperSonics

The Lakers won the fifth seed in the Western Conference, finishing with a 47-35 record in the regular season. The Lakers started their playoff run by defeating the Denver Nuggets 2-1 in the First Round. However, the SuperSonics proved too much for the team in the semi-finals, with the Lakers just taking one game in a 4-1 series loss.

The Sonics went on to win that year's NBA Finals, defeating the Washington Bullets 4-1. The Kings lost 4-1 to the Phoenix Suns in the Conference semi-finals.

Answer: 12

Four of the Lakers players were inducted into the Hall of Fame. This includes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1995), Spencer Haywood (2015), Magic Johnson (2002) and Jamaal Wilkes (2012). Three of Philly's roster made it as well: Maurice Cheeks (2018), Julius Erving (1993) and Bobby Jones (2019).

Both head coaches (Pat Riley and Billy Cunningham) were inducted into the Hall of Fame, as was Chuck Daly, who at the time was an assistant to Buckingham. Referees Darell Garretson and Earl Strom were inducted also.

Answer: 2

The Lakers were the top seed in the Western Conference, so were allowed to skip the first round. The team swept both the Phoenix Suns and the San Antonio Spurs in the Western playoffs to set up a Finals matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Lakers won the 1982 NBA Finals 4-2. Magic Johnson was named MVP, just as he was in 1980.

Answer: James Worthy

Worthy was known for almost always being fit to play (he completed the 82 game achievement three times: 1983-84, 1986-87 & 1992-93) and for making big plays in big moments. He was one of three Lakers to play all 82 games in the 1986-87 campaign, alongside Byron Scott and Michael Cooper. Johnson played 80 games while an aging Abdul-Jabbar still managed to play 78 games. Thompson, who the Lakers had signed in that year's off-season, suffered an injury-hit season and played just 33 times.

Answer: The Lakers would repeat as champions next year

It was surprising that Riley would make such a promise, as no team had repeated as NBA champions since the 1969 Boston Celtics. The Lakers went on to fulfil this promise, defeating the Detroit Pistons in seven games for the team's eleventh title. Riley left the team after the 1989-90 season. Abdul-Jabbar left two years after the declaration. Johnson announced his retirement in November 1991, but has since stated his regret at doing so.

Answer: Randy Pfund

Pfund did not last long in LA. After the team's poor showing in 1992-93, Pfund was fired with the team sitting on a 27-37 record. Dunleavy was Pat Riley's successor, coaching the team from 1990 to 1992.

Harris lasted from 1994 to 1999, and even won an NBA Coach of the Year award in 1994-95, but was removed after a poor run of form in February 199 with Rambis taking over as interim head coach. Rambis was not offered the job upon the completion of the 1998-99 campaign, with Phil Jackson receiving the job instead.

Answer: Jerry West

The Lakers acquired a then 17-year-old Bryant from the Charlotte Hornets and signed O'Neal in free agency after a four year stint with the Orlando Magic. It was originally West's idea to trade for Bryant, and O'Neal stated that "Jerry West is the reason I came to the Lakers".

Answer: 8

Despite holding the top seed in the Western Conference with a 67-15 record, the Lakers came close to exiting the 2000 NBA Playoffs a number of times. The 8th seeded Sacramento Kings took the Lakers to five games in their best-of-five series (3-2), but the Phoenix Suns went down 4-1 in the Conference semi-finals.

The Lakers won 4-3 in their Western finals with the Portland Trail Blazers before defeating the Indiana Pacers 4-2 in the 2000 NBA Finals. Shaquille O'Neal won Finals MVP and the Lakers were twelve-time NBA champions.

Answer: 2

Of the team's 13-man roster, eleven were born in the USA, with twelve of the team's players arriving from USA's educational system into the NBA. Only forward Rick Fox (who is Canadian-Bahamian) and power forward Stanislav Medvedenko (born in the Ukraine) were not of US nationality.

Answer: Andrew Bynum

At age 17 and 244 days, Bynum became the youngest player to be drafted by an NBA team. He spent eight years in LA, helping the Lakers to the 2009 and 2010 NBA championships. He received an All-Star nomination in 2012, the year he left the team.

Turiaf was drafted in 2005 by the Lakers, but was taken with the 37th pick. Crittenton, like Bynum, was a first round pick by the Lakers and went with the 19th pick in 2007. Jackson went tenth overall in 2004, signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Answer: 1

The Los Angeles Lakers won the 1988 NBA Finals by a 4-3 scoreline against the Detroit Pistons. While the Lakers had won two previous Game 7's in Finals, this had occurred when the team was still playing in Minnesota. The Minneapolis Lakers won the 1952 and 1954 NBA Finals in seven games, defeating the New York Knicks and Syracuse Nationals respectively.

Answer: Mitch Kupchak

Buss was the first to end his association, which was as a result of his death in 2013. His franchise had won ten championships since Buss had bought the team in 1979. Bryant retired after 20 years as a Laker in 2016, with the team going 17-65 in his last season with the franchise.

As a result of the 2015-16 season's results, head coach Byron Scott lost his job as head coach, with the Lakers deciding not to offer him a new deal. Kupchak had been the GM of the Lakers since 2000, but he was fired in February 2017.

Answer: Joe Mullaney

Mullaney coached the Lakers between 1969 and 1971, compiling a 94-70 record in his 164 games in charge. Westhead was coach between 1979 and 1981, winning the 1980 NBA championship, and he coached the team for 161 games. Pfund's only head coaching job came with the Lakers, but his 146 games in charge saw a poor 66-80 record between 1992 and 1994. D'Antoni had 154 games as the head honcho in LA, put compiled a poor 67-87 record.

Answer: George Mikan

Worthy's #42 jersey was retired in December 1995, just a year after he retired. Wilkes' was with the Lakers between 1977 and 1985, but had to wait until 2012 to see his number hung up. West's jersey was retired in 1983, with only Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor's numbers hanging up before his.

While Mikan's name is as synonymous with Lakers glory as anybody, the Lakers follow a policy of "honoring" players from the franchise's Minneapolis years rather than retiring their jersey. Mikan's #99 jersey is honored by the Lakers.