The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most storied and popular franchises. They have won 16 championships and have appeared in 31 finals. In its history, the team has missed the playoffs only five times! Anyways, the team started out as the Minneapolis Lakers in 1949. It was led to 5 championships in 6 years by huge, dominant center George Mikan, Vern Mikkelhson, Jim Pollard, Clyde Lovellette, and Slater Martin. They were highly competitive with the Rochester Royals, resulting in close results for 1st Place in the Western Division. When Mikan left in 1954 though, the team struggled, but was kept afloat by Lovellette's newfound role as the leader of the team. In 1958, when they won only 19 games, they got the top pick in the draft and used it to select Elgin Baylor. Baylor posted 24 PPG and 15 RPG to secure second place in their division, but fell in a slump the next season. The team moved to Los Angeles in 1960 and got another high draft pick, the second pick, using it to pick Jerry West. Mr. Inside (Baylor) and Mr. Outside (West) put up faboulous scoring to propel the team to five finals appearances, but losing all of them to the Celtics. By 1968, they've had enough. They aquired Wilt Chamberlain from the 76ers and he helped the team make two more finals appearances in the late 60's, but lost both of them again. Then in 1972, they finally hit the jackpot. They won 33 straight games, won a NBA record 69 games (has been broken), and won the finals, at the expense of sadly losing Baylor. West retired in 1974 and the team budged a little bit, but Gail Goodrich kept them alive. Then the showtime era started. The first step was getting Magic Johnson as the number 1 pick in 1979 and aquiring the rights to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from the Bucks. Then in 1982, the final piece of the puzzle, James Worthy was drafted #1. The Lakers won 5 championships during this time and won their division 9 years in a row. Every good thing has got to come to an end, so by 1994, all 3 stars were gone. Finally, from 1999-2002, the Lakers led by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal won 3 titles in a row. Their overall record is 3134-1928 (.619). Their best season was their 1971-1972 season, where they got an impressive 69-13 (.841) record, and their worst season was their 1957-1958 season, where they got a 19-53 (.264) record. They've retired 16 people. 13 (Wilt Chamberlain), 22 (Elgin Baylor), 25 (Gail Goodrich), 32 (Magic Johnson), 33 (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), 34 (Shaquille O'Neal), 42 (James Worthy), 44 (Jerry West), 52 (Jamaal Wilkes), a microphone for broadcaster Chick Hearn, and a Minneapolis Lakers banner honoring George Mikan, Vern Mikkelhson, Jim Pollard, Slater Martin, John Kundla, and Clyde Lovellette.