Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball
The Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team represents the University of Alabama in NCAA Division I men's basketball. The program plays in the Southeastern Conference. In the conference it trails only long-time basketball powerhouse Kentucky in basketball wins and SEC tournament titles, is third behind Kentucky and LSU in SEC regular season conference titles. Alabama was retroactively recognized as the pre-NCAA Tournament national champion for the 1929–30 season by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll; the men's basketball program has spent most of its history in the shadow of Alabama's football team, but has risen in stature over the past several decades. Under former coach Mark Gottfried, the team achieved a No. 1 national ranking in 2003, competed for a NCAA Regional Tournament Championship in 2004. The program was notable as a regular conference basketball contender in the 1980s and early 1990s under the direction of coach Wimp Sanderson and in the 1970s under coach C. M. Newton. Alabama has eight NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances.
In the 2003–04 season, the team defeated #1-seeded Stanford in the NCAA Tournament, reached the Elite Eight round where they lost to the eventual national champion, Connecticut. Former coaches with at least five years with the Crimson Tide include the following: Hank Crisp, Hayden Riley, C. M. Newton, Wimp Sanderson – Alabama's winningest coach, David Hobbs, Mark Gottfried, Anthony Grant. Other coaches include John Dee, Floyd Burdette, Charles A. Bernier. In 1968, legendary Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, Alabama's athletic director, called Kentucky men's basketball coach Adolph Rupp looking for someone to turn around Alabama's basketball program. Rupp recommended C. M. Newton, a former backup player at Kentucky, at Transylvania University for 12 years. In twelve seasons at Alabama, Newton led the Tide to a record of 211–123; the Crimson Tide won three straight SEC titles under Newton, the only program besides Kentucky to accomplish this feat. Newton guided Alabama to four NIT and two NCAA Men's Division I Championship tournament berths, prompting the school to name a recruiting suite in his honor in 2006.
Just as he did at Transylvania, Newton recruited Alabama's first black player, Wendell Hudson, in 1969, integrating his second team in as many coaching stops. Newton resigned as head coach after the 1980–81 season to become assistant commissioner of the SEC, he was succeeded by Wimp Sanderson. He had been at Alabama since 1960 as a graduate assistant to Hayden Riley. In 12 years as head coach his teams averaged 21.8 wins a year, with a 267–119 record, they won 4 SEC tournaments. They played in one NIT and eight NCAA tournaments making the "Sweet 16" five times. Sanderson is the only coach in Alabama history to win 200 or more games in his first 10 years, he was the SEC Coach of the Year in 1987, 1989 and 1990, was the National Coach of the Year in 1987. Sanderson was best known for wearing garish plaid sports jackets on the sidelines. At one point, Coleman Coliseum was known as the "Plaid Palace", the mid-court logo was painted in a crimson-and-white plaid pattern. Hobbs was hired at Alabama as an assistant coach for Wimp Sanderson in 1985 and spent seven years as an assistant in Tuscaloosa helping the Crimson Tide win one SEC Championship and four SEC Tournament crowns while the Tide made four appearances in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.
As an assistant, he had the opportunity to coach such All-SEC performers as Robert Horry, James "Hollywood" Robinson and Latrell Sprewell. When Sanderson left Alabama following the 1992 season, Hobbs was named head coach. In his first season, the Tide finished 16–13 and advanced to the NIT. In 1994 and 1995, Alabama recorded 20-win seasons and advanced to the NCAA Tournament behind the play of future NBA All-Star Antonio McDyess. In 1996, Hobbs led UA to a 19 -- a berth in the NIT Final Four, he resigned his post following the 1998 season after compiling a 110–76 career record and producing nine All-SEC players. Mark Gottfried served as the Crimson Tide's head coach from the 1998–99 season until midway through the 2008–09 season. Gottfried played 3 seasons of basketball at Alabama under Wimp Sanderson, the Crimson Tide advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in each of those seasons, he was hired by Alabama in March 1998 after coaching at Murray State for three seasons. The Crimson Tide achieved the highest pinnacle for the school in both the NCAA Championship Tournament and the Associated Press Poll reaching the Elite Eight in the tournament in 2004 and reaching the No. 1 spot in the nation in the AP poll in 2002, both under Mark Gottfried's command.
Gottfried led the Tide to its only SEC Championship under his watch during the 2001–02 season, although the team never won a conference tournament championship during his tenure. For his efforts in 2002, Gottfried was named SEC Coach of the Year by both the Associated Press and his fellow Southeastern Conference coaches, his biggest accomplishment as coach at Alabama was leading the Crimson Tide to five consecutive NCAA tournaments from 2002–2006, another first for the school that occurred under his watch. Gottfried resigned on January 26, 2009 with 11 regular season games still remaining on the team's schedule. Athletic Director Mal Moore named long-time Alabama assistant and former player, Philip Pearson as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2008–09 season. On March 27, 2009 Anthony Grant agreed in principle to become the twentieth Crimson Tide head men's basketball coach. Grant came to Alabama after serving as the head coach at V
Jerry West
Jerry Alan West is an American basketball executive and former player who played professionally for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. His nicknames included Mr. Clutch, for his ability to make a big play in a clutch situation, such as his famous buzzer-beating 60-foot shot that tied Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the New York Knicks. West played the small forward position early in his career, he was a standout at East Bank High School and at West Virginia University, where he led the Mountaineers to the 1959 NCAA championship game, he earned the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player honor despite the loss. He embarked on a 14-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, was the co-captain of the 1960 U. S. Olympic gold medal team, a squad, inducted as a unit into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. West's NBA career was successful. Playing the guard position, he was voted 12 times into the All-NBA First and Second Teams, was elected into the NBA All-Star Team 14 times, was chosen as the All-Star MVP in 1972, the same year that he won the only title of his career.
West holds the NBA record for the highest points per game average in a playoff series with 46.3. He was a member of the first five NBA All-Defensive Teams, which were introduced when he was 32 years old. Having played in nine NBA Finals, he is the only player in NBA history to be named Finals MVP despite being on the losing team. West was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980 and voted as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history in 1996. After his playing career ended, West took over as head coach of the Lakers for three years, he earned a Western Conference Finals berth once. Working as a player-scout for three years, West was named general manager of the Lakers prior to the 1982–83 NBA season. Under his reign, Los Angeles won six championship rings. In 2002, West became general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies and helped the franchise win their first-ever playoff berths. For his contributions, West won the NBA Executive of the Year Award twice, once as a Lakers manager and as a Grizzlies manager.
West's son, played college basketball for West Virginia. Jerome Alan West was born into a poor household in West Virginia, he was the fifth of six children of Cecil Sue West, a housewife, Howard Stewart West, a coal mine electrician. West was an aggressive child in his youth, until his brother's death in the Korean War aged 21 turned him into a shy and introverted boy when Jerry was 12/13, he was so small and weak that he needed lots of vitamin injections from his doctor and was kept apart from children's sports, to prevent him from getting injured. Growing up, West spent his days hunting and fishing, but his main activity was shooting at a basketball hoop that a neighbor had nailed to his storage shed. West spent days shooting baskets from every possible angle, ignoring mud and snow in the backyard, as well as his mother's whippings when he came home hours late for dinner. West attended East Bank High School in East Bank, West Virginia from 1952 to 1956. During his first year, he was benched by his coach Duke Shaver due to his lack of height.
Shaver emphasized the importance of conditioning and defense, which were lessons that the teenager appreciated. West soon became the captain of the freshman team, during the summer of 1953 he grew to 6 ft 0 in. West became the team's starting small forward, he established himself as one of the finest West Virginia high school players of his generation, he was named All-State from 1953–56 All-American in 1956 when he was West Virginia Player of the Year, becoming the state's first high-school player to score more than 900 points in a season, with an average of 32.2 points per game. West's mid-range jump shot became his trademark and he used it to score while under pressure from opposing defenses. West led East Bank to a state championship on March 24 that year, prompting East Bank High School to change its name to "West Bank High School" every year on March 24 in honor of their basketball prodigy; this practice remained in effect until the school closed in 1999. West graduated from East Bank High School in 1956, more than 60 universities showed interest in him.
He chose to stay in his home state and attend West Virginia University, located in Morgantown. In his freshman year, West was a member of the WVU freshman squad that achieved a perfect record of 17 wins without a loss over the course of the season. In his first varsity year under head coach Fred Schaus, West scored 17.8 points per game and averaged 11.1 rebounds. These performances earned him a multitude of honors, among them an All-American Third Team call-up; the Mountaineers went 26–2 that year, ending the season with a loss to Manhattan College in post-season tournament play. During his junior year, West scored 26.6 points per game
Basketball positions
The five basketball positions employed by organized basketball teams are the point guard, the shooting guard, the small forward, the power forward, the center. The point guard is the leader of the team on the court; this position requires substantial ball handling skills and the ability to facilitate the team during a play. The shooting guard, as the name implies, is the best shooter; as well as being capable of shooting from longer distances, this position tends to be the best defender on the team. The small forward has an aggressive approach to the basket when handling the ball; the small forward is known to make cuts to the basket in efforts to get open for shots. The power forward and the center are called the "frontcourt" acting as their team's primary rebounders or shot blockers, or receiving passes to take inside shots; the center is the larger of the two. Only three positions were recognized based on where they played on the court: Guards played outside and away from the hoop and forwards played outside and near the baseline, with the center positioned in the key.
During the 1980s, as team strategy evolved. More specialized roles developed. Team strategy and available personnel, still dictate the positions used by a particular team. For example, the dribble-drive motion offense and the Princeton offense use four interchangeable guards and one center; this set is known as a "four-in and one-out" play scheme. Other combinations are prevalent. Besides the five basic positions, some teams use non-standard or hybrid positions, such as the point forward, a hybrid small forward/point guard; the point guard known as the one, is the team's best ball handler and passer. Therefore, they lead their team in assists and are able to create shots for themselves and their teammates, they are quick and are able to hit shots either outside the three-point line or "in the paint" depending on the player's skill level. Point guards are looked upon as the "floor general" or the "coach on the floor", they should study the game and game film to be able to recognize the weaknesses of the defense, the strengths of their own offense.
They are responsible for directing plays, making the position equivalent to that of quarterback in American football, playmaker in association football, center in ice hockey, or setter in volleyball. Good point guards increase team efficiency and have a high number of assists, they are referred to as dribblers or play-makers. In the NBA, point guards are the shortest players on the team and are 6 feet 4 inches or shorter; the shooting guard is known as the two or the off guard. Along with the small forward, a shooting guard is referred to as a wing because of its use in common positioning tactics; as the name suggests, most shooting guards are prolific from the three-point range. Besides being able to shoot the ball, shooting guards tend to be the best defender on the team, as well as being able to move without the ball to create open looks for themselves; some shooting guards have good ball handling skills creating their own shots off the dribble. A versatile shooting guard will have good passing skills, allowing them to assume point guard responsibilities known as combo guards.
Bigger shooting guards tend to play as small forwards. In the NBA, shooting guards range from 6 feet 4 inches to 6 feet 8 inches; the small forward known as the three, is considered to be the most versatile of the main five basketball positions. Versatility is key for small forwards because of the nature of their role, which resembles that of a shooting guard more than that of a power forward; this is why the small forward and shooting guard positions are interchangeable and referred to as wings. Small forwards have a variety such as quickness and strength inside. One common thread among all kinds of small forwards is an ability to "get to the line" and draw fouls by aggressively attempting plays, lay-ups, or slam dunks; as such, accurate foul shooting is a common skill for small forwards, many of whom record a large portion of their points from the foul line. Besides being able to drive to the basket, they are good shooters from long range; some small forwards have good passing skills, allowing them to assume point guard responsibilities as point forwards.
Small forwards should be able to do a little bit of everything on the court playing roles such as swingmen and defensive specialists. In the NBA, small forwards range from 6 feet 6 inches to 6 feet 9 inches; the power forward known as the four plays a role similar to that of the center, down in the "post" or "low blocks". The power forward is the team's most versatile scorer, being able to score close to the basket while being able to shoot mid-range jump shots from 12 to 18 feet from the basket; some power forwards have become known as stretch fours, since extending their shooting range to three-pointers. On defense, they are required to have the strength to guard bigger players close to the basket and to have the athleticism to guard quick players away from the basket. Most power forwards tend to be more versatile than centers since they can be part of plays and are not always in the low block. In the
WVU Coliseum
The WVU Coliseum is a 14,000-seat multi-purpose arena located on the Evansdale campus of West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. The circular arena features a poured concrete roof, it was built with state funds and replaced the WVU Fieldhouse, which seated 6,000. The Coliseum, which opened in 1970, has more than 10.5 million cubic feet of space. It is home to West Virginia University Mountaineers sports teams, including the men's and women's basketball teams, men's wrestling, women's volleyball and gymnastics. There is a 3,000-square-foot weight room located in the lower level of the Coliseum; the arena has nearly 100 offices, 13 lecture and seminar rooms, a dance studio, safety lab and squash courts, the Jerry West Mountaineer Room, which holds nearly 150 people for meetings. The arena has more than 1,000 individual locker units in various dressing rooms available for students and staff; the Coliseum has been used for music concerts but the concrete roof has poor sound distribution properties, so other venues in town are more appropriate for this purpose.
The poor sound quality was purposeful, as it was the intention of the designers to cup the ceiling so that crowd noise generated at basketball games would be directed back to the floor. The seating at the venue was designed for optimized viewing during sporting events, making the setup for concerts to be not as optimal as other large arenas; the first event held at the Coliseum was a Grand Funk Railroad concert in 1970, with the first game taking place on 1 December 1970. The Coliseum was one of the sites for games of the 1974 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. Other National Collegiate Athletic Association men's Division I college basketball events it has hosted include the ECAC South Region Tournament organized by the Eastern College Athletic Conference in 1975 and 1976 and the Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball tournament in 1984 and 1988. During the 1998-99 season, the Jerry West Lounge, named for WVU and National Basketball Association Hall-of-Famer Jerry West, was formally dedicated.
A display showcasing the highlights of the Mountaineer great flanks the entrance to the lounge. In November 2005, the University announced that a life size bronze statue of West would adorn the Blue Gate entrance of the Coliseum, the statue has since been installed there. West's number is retired and a sign hangs over Seating Section 44 with "Jerry West 44" written on it. Hot Rod Hundley's number 33 is retired and hangs from the walls. In 1999-2000, the school was forced to play a year of games split between Wheeling and Charleston, the gymnasium at nearby Fairmont State University while asbestos was removed from the Coliseum. In 2004 the Coliseum underwent an upgrade which included renovations to the men's and women's locker rooms, construction of a player's lounge and team video theater, expansion of the equipment and athletic training rooms, refurbishment of the Coliseum roof, construction of a club seating area in the main arena complete with a private space for concessions, hospitality area, rest rooms under the lower level seats.
In 2008, the Coliseum received a new video scoreboard, a new public address system, a new lighting system, two LED ribbon boards, a new floor design. WVU Athletic Director Ed Pastilong announced the construction of a new $20–$22 million practice facility to be built adjacent to the Coliseum. West Virginia Men's Basketball season results in the ColiseumOVERALL: 547–158 List of NCAA Division I basketball arenas WVUSports.com on the WVU Coliseum WVU Coliseum Information
Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball team participates in the Atlantic Coast Conference and their homecourt is the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Wake Forest made the Final Four in 1962 and through the years, the program has produced many NBA players; the Demon Deacons have won the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament four times, in 1961, 1962, 1995, 1996. Wake Forest's biggest rivalries are with the North Carolina Tar Heels, the Duke Blue Devils and the NC State Wolfpack; the most recent coach is Danny Manning, hired on April 4, 2014. Head Coach – Danny Manning Assoc. Head Coach- Randolph Childress Asst. Coach – Steve Woodberry Asst. Coach – Jamil Jones Jeff Bzdelik Dino Gaudio Skip Prosser Dave Odom Bob Staak Carl Tacy Jack McCloskey Jack Murdock Bones McKinney Murray Greason Fred Emmerson Pat Miller James A. Baldwin R. S. Hayes Hank Garrity Phil Utley James L. White, Jr. Bill Holding Irving Carlyle E. T. MacDonnell J. R. Crozier The Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum is a 14,407-seat multi-purpose arena in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
It was named after Lawrence Joel, an Army medic from Winston-Salem, awarded the Medal of Honor in 1967 for action in Vietnam on November 8, 1965. The memorial was designed by James Ford in New York, includes the poem "The Fallen" engraved on an interior wall, it is home to Wake Forest's men's and women's basketball teams, is adjacent to the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds. The arena replaced the old Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum, torn down for the LJVM Coliseum's construction. Banners hang in the rafters commemorating past players' retired numbers and the late Skip Prosser. There are banners recognizing the Demon Deacons' past NCAA and ACC successes; the arena is home to the Screamin' Demon student section. Wake Forest's black and gold tie-dyed apparel and "Zombie Nation" were both implemented upon Prosser's arrival at Wake Forest; the Miller Center is the basketball team's on-campus home. It houses the players' locker rooms, team meeting rooms, coaches' offices, the Dave Budd Practice Gym; the players utilize the Miller Center for practice, academic work, relaxing with their teammates.
The Dave Budd Practice Gym has a full-length court, six stand alone baskets, bleacher seating and banners honoring some of the best players to don the black and gold. The locker room includes a separate player lounge which features multiple large flat screen TVs, multiple entertainment systems plus the latest video software, as well as dedicated equipment and training rooms. On March 5, 2014, Wake Forest announced a $7.5 million donation from WFU alum Bob McCreary towards a 95,000 square foot sports performance center. The Sports Performance Center is designed to meet the training needs of more than 350 student-athletes who compete in 18 sports; the building will be located on Wake Forest's main campus near the Miller Center. The building will house the football program's headquarters and will provide invaluable resources to the basketball program as well; the sports performance center will feature a robust strength and conditioning facility that will provide all athletes ample room and equipment to maximize their training.
Additionally, the new building will house a state of the art athlete nutrition program, which will provide all Wake Forest student-athletes with convenient access to nutritional resources and grab-and-go food options. The Demon Deacons have appeared in the NCAA Tournament 23 times, their combined record is 28–23. The Demon Deacons have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament six times, their combined record is 10–5. They were NIT champions in 2000. #3 – Chris Paul #5 – Josh Howard #12 – Charlie Davis #14 – Tyrone "Muggsy" Bogues #15 – Skip Brown #21 – Tim Duncan #22 – Randolph Childress #24 – Dickie Hemric #32 – Rod Griffin #50 – Len Chappell #54 – Rodney Rogers Skip Prosser National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame: Billy Packer – 2008 Tim Duncan – 2017John R. Wooden Award: Tim Duncan – 1997Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award: Muggsy BoguesMcDonald's All-Americans Chris Paul - 2003 Al-Farouq Aminu - 2010ACC Coach of the Year: Murray Greason – 1956 Bones McKinney – 1960, 1961 Dave Odom – 1991, 1994, 1995 Skip Prosser – 2003ACC Player of the Year: Dickie Hemric – 1954, 1955 Len Chappell – 1961, 1962 Charlie Davis – 1971 Rod Griffin – 1977 Rodney Rogers – 1993 Tim Duncan – 1996, 1997 Josh Howard – 2003ACC Rookie of the Year: Rodney Rogers – 1991 Robert O'Kelley – 1998 Chris Paul – 2004ACC Most Improved Player of the Year John Collins – 2017 The players are all first team All-ACC, unless otherwise noted Denotes 2nd Team All-ACC Denotes 3rd Team All-ACC 1990: Rodney Rogers - NC 2003: Chris Paul - NC 2008: Ty Walker - NC 2008: Al-Farouq Aminu - GA Tim Duncan - San Antonio Spurs Dickie Hemric - Boston Celtics Al-Farouq Aminu - Portland Trailblazers John Collins - Atlanta Hawks James Johnson - Miami Heat Chris Paul - Houston Rockets Ish Smith - Detroit Pistons Jeff Teague - Minnesota Timberwolves Doral Moore - Memphis Hustle Bryant Crawford - Hapoel Gilboa Galil Codi Miller-McIntyre - BC Zenit Saint Petersburg Dinos Mitoglou - Panathinaikos Official website
William & Mary Tribe men's basketball
The William & Mary Tribe men's basketball team represents the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia in NCAA Division I competition. The school's team competes in the Colonial Athletic Association and play their home games in Kaplan Arena; the Tribe have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament three times. Their combined record is 0–3. None William & Mary is one of four original Division I teams in history to have never participated in the NCAA Tournament; when the NCAA split its classification into divisions in 1948–49, William & Mary was classified as a Division I school. Of all Division I schools today that were charter members of this new classification, only William & Mary, The Citadel, St. Francis Brooklyn have never reached the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at least once; the closest effort by the Tribe to reach the NCAA Tournament was a 75–74 loss in the 2014 CAA Tournament Final to Delaware. The Tribe lost conference tournament championships in 1958, 1961, 1965, 1975, 1983, 2008, 2010, 2015, now having gone 0–9 in NCAA Tournament berth-clinching games.
William & Mary's traditional rivals have included in-state opponents Old Dominion University, James Madison University, the University of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University, George Mason University. However, of these teams, only the James Madison Dukes are still members of the Colonial Athletic Association; the Richmond Spiders, VCU Rams, George Mason Patriots have all moved on to the Atlantic 10 Conference while the Old Dominion Monarchs left for Conference USA in 2013. Some of these teams are maintained as part of William & Mary's out of conference schedule each year along with other Virginia schools like Virginia, Virginia Tech, Radford, VMI, Liberty. Records through the 2017–18 season Through the 2017–18 season, March 5 IndividualBill Chambers, highest single game rebound total, 51, February 14, 1953 vs. Virginia TeamIn 2009–10, they became the first team in NCAA history to score baskets in four consecutive conference tournament games with less than eight seconds remaining in each game William & Mary joined the Colonial Athletic Association, its current conference, in 1982–83.
The CAA's predecessor was the ECAC South, which existed between 1977–78 and 1984–85. The CAA recognizes the 1982–83 through 1984–85 seasons as part of its basketball history but not any earlier; the CAA was formally founded in 1982–83 as the ECAC South Basketball League. It was renamed the Colonial Athletic Association in 1985–86 when it added championships in other sports. William & Mary has retired five men's basketball jerseys in its program's history. Uniform numbers are not only ceremonial jerseys. Banners depicting the all-time greats hang in the rafters of Kaplan Arena. There hang banners which commemorate their 1983 National Invitation Tournament and 2010 National Invitation Tournament bids; this section is for William & Mary players who have appeared in at least one regular season or postseason NBA game. Andy Duncan – Rochester Royals.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association, as a member of the league's Western Conference in the Pacific Division; the Lakers play their home games at Staples Center, an arena shared with the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association, the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League. The Lakers are one of the most successful teams in the history of the NBA, have won 16 NBA championships, the second-most behind the Boston Celtics; the franchise began with the 1947 purchase of a disbanded team, the Detroit Gems of the National Basketball League. The new team began calling themselves the Minneapolis Lakers. A member of the NBL, the Lakers won the 1948 NBL championship before joining the rival Basketball Association of America, where they would win five of the next six championships, led by star George Mikan. After struggling financially in the late 1950s following Mikan's retirement, they relocated to Los Angeles before the 1960–61 season.
Led by Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, Los Angeles made the NBA Finals six times in the 1960s, but lost each series to the Celtics, beginning their long and storied rivalry. In 1968, the Lakers acquired four-time NBA Most Valuable Player Wilt Chamberlain, won their sixth NBA title—and first in Los Angeles—in 1972, led by new head coach Bill Sharman. After the retirement of West and Chamberlain, the team acquired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who won multiple MVP awards, but was unable to make the Finals in the late 1970s; the 1980s Lakers were nicknamed "Showtime" due to their fast break-offense led by Magic Johnson. The team won five championships in a nine-year span, contained Hall of Famers Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, was led by Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley. After Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson retired, the team struggled in the early 1990s, before acquiring Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in 1996. With the duo, who were led by another Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson, the team won three consecutive titles between 2000 to 2002, securing the franchise its second "three-peat".
The Lakers won two more championships in 2009 and 2010, but failed to regain their former glory in the following decade. The Lakers hold the record for NBA's longest winning streak, 33 straight games, set during the 1971–72 season. 21 Hall of Famers have played for Los Angeles. Four Lakers—Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, O'Neal, Bryant—have won the NBA MVP Award for a total of eight awards; the Lakers' franchise began in 1947 when Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen of Minnesota purchased the disbanded Detroit Gems of the National Basketball League for $15,000 from Gems owner Maury Winston. Minneapolis sportswriter Sid Hartman played a key behind the scenes role in helping put together the deal and the team. Inspired by Minnesota's nickname, "Land of 10,000 Lakes", the team christened themselves the Lakers. Hartman helped 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; the Lakers had a solid roster, which featured forward Jim Pollard, playmaker Herm Schaefer, center George Mikan, who became the most dominant player in the NBL.
In their first season, they led the league with a 43–17 record winning the NBL Championship that season. In 1948, the Lakers moved from the NBL to the Basketball Association of America, Mikan's 28.3 point per game scoring average set a BAA record. In the 1949 BAA Finals they won the championship; the following season, the team improved to 51–17, repeating as champions. In the 1950–51 season, Mikan won his third straight scoring title at 28.4 ppg and the Lakers went 44–24 to win their second straight division title. One of those games, a 19–18 loss against the Fort Wayne Pistons, became infamous as the lowest scoring game in NBA history. In the playoffs, they defeated the Indianapolis Olympians in three games but lost to the Rochester Royals in the next round. During the 1951 -- 52 season, the Lakers won 40 games, they faced the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals. In the 1952–53 season, Mikan led the NBA in rebounding, averaging 14.4 rebounds per game, was named MVP of the 1953 NBA All-Star Game.
After a 48–22 regular season, the Lakers defeated the Fort Wayne Pistons in the Western playoffs to advance to the NBA Finals. They defeated the New York Knicks to win their second straight championship. Though Lakers star George Mikan suffered from knee problems throughout the 1953–54 season, he was still able to average 18 ppg. Clyde Lovellette, drafted in 1952, helped the team win the Western Division; the team won its third straight championship in the 1950s and fifth in six seasons when it defeated the Syracuse Nationals in seven games. Following Mikan's retirement in the 1954 off-season, the Lakers struggled but still managed to win 40 games. Although they defeated the Rochester Royals in the first round of the playoffs, they were defeated by the Fort Wayne Pistons in the semifinals. Although they had losing records the next two seasons, they made the playoffs each year. Mikan came back for the last half of the 1955–56 season, but struggled and retired for good after the season. Led by Lovellette's 20.6 points and 13.5 rebounds, they advanced to the Conference Finals in 1956–57.
The Lakers had one of the worst seasons in team history in 1957–58 when they won a league-low 19 games. They had hired Mikan, the team's general manager for the previous two seasons, as head coach to replace Kundla. Mikan was fired in January when
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