1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers season

1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers season
NBA Champions
Conference Champions
Division Champions
Head coach	Bill Sharman
Owner(s)	Jack Kent Cooke
Arena	The Forum
Results
Record	69–13 (.841)
Place	Division: 1st (Pacific) Conference: 1st (Western)
Playoff finish	NBA Champions
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	KTLA
Radio	KABC

During the 1971–72 season the Los Angeles Lakers won their first title since moving to Los Angeles. The Lakers beat the New York Knicks in five games to win the title, after going 69–13 during the regular-season, a record that stood for 24 seasons until the Chicago Bulls went 72-10 in 1996. During the regular season, they would also go on to win a current-standing NBA (as well as MLB, NFL, and NHL) record 33 straight games.

Offseason

• Traded a 1971 2nd round draft pick to the Cincinnati Royals for guard Flynn Robinson.
• Hired Bill Sharman as the new head coach to replace Joe Mullaney.
• Traded a 1972 2nd round draft pick to the Portland Trail Blazers for center Leroy Ellis.
• Claimed forward John Trapp off waivers from the Houston Rockets.

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	13	Jim Cleamons	Guard	United States	Ohio State

Roster

1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From F 22 Baylor, Elgin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1934-09-16 Seattle F 5 McMillian, Jim 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1948-03-11 Columbia C 13 Chamberlain, Wilt 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 275 lb (125 kg) 1936-08-21 Kansas G 11 Cleamons, Jim 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1949-09-13 Ohio State C 14 Ellis, Leroy 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1940-03-10 St. John's F 24 Erickson, Keith 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1944-04-19 UCLA G 25 Goodrich, Gail 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1943-04-23 UCLA F 52 Hairston, Happy 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1942-05-31 NYU G 12 Riley, Pat 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1945-03-20 Kentucky G 21 Robinson, Flynn 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1941-04-28 Wyoming F 31 Trapp, John 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1945-10-02 UNLV G 44 West, Jerry 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1938-05-28 West Virginia	Head coach Bill Sharman Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster Last transaction: 2013-03-22

Regular season

Since moving to Los Angeles, the Lakers were repeatedly foiled by the Boston Celtics in their attempts to capture an NBA title. The Lakers lost the championship to them six times in eight years. In 1970, with the aging Celtics out of title contention, the Lakers lost in the NBA finals to the New York Knicks. In 1971, after losing Jerry West to a season ending injury in February, they lost in the Western Conference finals to the powerful Milwaukee Bucks.

Going into the 1971-72 season, many experts thought the chance at a championship had passed for this aging team. Star players Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, and Jerry West were all in their 30s, and had all missed significant time due to injuries in the prior two seasons. The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks, led by superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar appeared to starting a new NBA dynasty. But new coach Bill Sharman still believed the Lakers had the talent to contend. He introduced strict conditioning drills and implemented a running fast break based offense. He re-tooled Wilt Chamberlain's game to focus on defense, rebounding, and jump starting the fast break with quick outlet passes to guards Jerry West and Gail Goodrich. The only casualty of this system was the aging Baylor, who could not physically handle the up tempo practices and offense and retired 9 games into the season. He was replaced at small forward by Jim McMillian, who played at a near all star level.

Shortly thereafter, the Lakers strung together a record 33-game win streak. The streak ended on January 9, 1972 against the Milwaukee Bucks.^[1] The Lakers and Bucks then staged a season long race for the league's best record, with the Lakers setting a then NBA record with 69 wins (the Bucks had the second best record at 63-19).

Season standings

Pacific Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers	69	13	.841	–	36–5	31–7	2–1	21–3
x-Golden State Warriors	51	31	.622	18	27–8	21–20	3–3	14–10
Seattle SuperSonics	47	35	.573	22	28–12	18–22	1–1	12–12
Houston Rockets	34	48	.415	35	15–20	14–23	5–5	9–15
Portland Trail Blazers	18	64	.220	51	14–26	4–35	0–3	4–20

Season schedule

1971–72 season game log
October 6–3 (Home: 1–2; Road: 5–1) Date Opponent Result Score Record Streak Fri, Oct 15, 1971 @ Detroit Pistons Win 132–103 1–0 Won 1 Sat, Oct 16, 1971 @ New York Knicks Win 119–104 2–0 Won 2 Tue, Oct 19, 1971 @ Buffalo Braves Win 123–106 3–0 Won 3 Wed, Oct 20, 1971 @ Atlanta Hawks Win 126–104 4–0 Won 4 Fri, Oct 22, 1971 Chicago Bulls Loss 106–113 4–1 Lost 1 Sun, Oct 24, 1971 @ Houston Rockets Win 113–103 5–1 Won 1 Fri, Oct 29, 1971 Cincinnati Royals Win 119–107 6–1 Won 2 Sat, Oct 30, 1971 @ Seattle SuperSonics Loss 106–115 6–2 Lost 1 Sun, Oct 31, 1971 Golden State Warriors Loss 105–109 6–3 Lost 2
November 14–0 (Home: 9–0; Road: 5–0) Date Opponent Result Score Record Streak Fri, Nov 5, 1971 Baltimore Bullets Win 110–106 7–3 Won 1 Sat, Nov 6, 1971 @ Golden State Warriors Win 105–89 8–3 Won 2 Sun, Nov 7, 1971 New York Knicks Win 103–96 9–3 Won 3 Tue, Nov 9, 1971 @ Chicago Bulls Win 122–109 10–3 Won 4 Wed, Nov 10, 1971 @ Philadelphia 76ers Win 143–103 11–3 Won 5 Fri, Nov 12, 1971 Seattle SuperSonics Win 115–107 12–3 Won 6 Sat, Nov 13, 1971 @ Portland Trail Blazers Win 130–108 13–3 Win 7 Sun, Nov 14, 1971 Boston Celtics Win 128–115 14–3 Won 8 Tue, Nov 16, 1971 Cleveland Cavaliers Win 108–90 15–3 Won 9 Fri, Nov 19, 1971 Houston Rockets Win 106–99 16–3 Won 10 Sun, Nov 21, 1971 Milwaukee Bucks Win 112–105 17–3 Won 11 Thu, Nov 25, 1971 @ Seattle SuperSonics Win 139–115 18–3 Won 12 Fri, Nov 26, 1971 Detroit Pistons Win 132–113 19–3 Won 13 Sun, Nov 28, 1971 Seattle SuperSonics Win 138–111 20–3 Won 14
December 16–0 (Home: 7–0; Road: 9–0) Date Opponent Result Score Record Streak Wed, Dec 1, 1971 @ Boston Celtics Win 124–111 21–3 Won 15 Fri, Dec 3, 1971 @ Philadelphia 76ers Win 131–116 22–3 Won 16 Sun, Dec 5, 1971 Portland Trail Blazers Win 123–107 23–3 Won 17 Wed, Dec 8, 1971 @ Houston Rockets Win 125–120 24–3 Won 18 Thu, Dec 9, 1971 @ Golden State Warriors Win 124–111 25–3 Won 19 Fri, Dec 10, 1971 Phoenix Suns Win 126–117 (OT) 26–3 Won 20 Sun, Dec 12, 1971 Atlanta Hawks Win 104–95 27–3 Won 21 Tue, Dec 14, 1971 @ Portland Trail Blazers Win 129–114 28–3 Won 22 Fri, Dec 17, 1971 Golden State Warriors Win 129–99 29–3 Won 23 Sat, Dec 18, 1971 @ Phoenix Suns Win 132–106 30–3 Won 24 Sun, Dec 19, 1971 Philadelphia 76ers Win 154–132 31–3 Won 25 Tue, Dec 21, 1971 @ Buffalo Braves Win 117–103 32–3 Won 26 Wed, Dec 22, 1971 @ Baltimore Bullets Win 127–120 33–3 Won 27 Sun, Dec 26, 1971 Houston Rockets Win 137–115 34–3 Won 28 Tue, Dec 28, 1971 Buffalo Braves Win 105–87 35–3 Won 29 Thu, Dec 30, 1971 @ Seattle SuperSonics Win 122–106 36–3 Won 30
January 8–4 (Home: 4–1; Road: 4–3) Date Opponent Result Score Record Streak Sun, Jan 2, 1972 Boston Celtics Win 122–113 37–3 Won 31 Wed, Jan 5, 1972 @ Cleveland Cavaliers Win 113–103 38–3 Won 32 Fri, Jan 7, 1972 @ Atlanta Hawks Win 134–90 39–3 Won 33 Sun, Jan 9, 1972 @ Milwaukee Bucks Loss 104–120 39–4 Lost 1 Tue, Jan 11, 1972 @ Detroit Pistons Win 123–103 40–4 Won 1 Wed, Jan 12, 1972 @ Cincinnati Royals Loss 107–108 40–5 Lost 1 Fri, Jan 14, 1972 @ Philadelphia 76ers Win 135–121 41–5 Won 1 Fri, Jan 21, 1972 New York Knicks Loss 101–104 41–6 Lost 1 Sat, Jan 22, 1972 @ Phoenix Suns Loss 102–116 41–7 Lost 2 Tue, Jan 25, 1972 Phoenix Suns Win 129–119 42–7 Won 1 Fri, Jan 28, 1972 Houston Rockets Win 118–105 43–7 Won 2 Sun, Jan 30, 1972 Portland Trail Blazers Win 153–131 44–7 Won 3
February 13–4 (Home: 7–1; Road: 5–2; Neutral: 1–1) Date Opponent Result Score Record Streak Fri, Feb 4, 1972 Milwaukee Bucks Win 118–105 45–7 Won 4 Sat, Feb 5, 1972 @ Golden State Warriors Win 108–96 46–7 Won 5 Sun, Feb 6, 1972 Baltimore Bullets Win 151–127 47–7 Won 6 Tue, Feb 8, 1972 @ New York Knicks Win 107–102 48–7 Won 7 Wed, Feb 9, 1972 @ Atlanta Hawks Win 117–113 49–7 Won 8 Fri, Feb 11, 1972 @ Boston Celtics Loss 108–121 49–8 Lost 1 Sun, Feb 13, 1972 vs Baltimore Bullets Win 121–110 50–8 Won 1 Tue, Feb 15, 1972 New Jersey Nets Win 125–118 51–8 Won 2 Wed, Feb 16, 1972 @ Phoenix Suns Loss 109–110 51–9 Lost 1 Fri, Feb 18, 1972 Portland Trail Blazers Win 125–114 52–9 Won 1 Sat, Feb 19, 1972 @ Portland Trail Blazers Win 115–94 53–9 Won 2 Sun, Feb 20, 1972 Boston Celtics Win 132–113 54–9 Won 3 Tue, Feb 22, 1972 Detroit Pistons Loss 134–135 (OT) 54–10 Lost 1 Wed, Feb 23, 1972 vs Houston Rockets Loss 110–115 54–11 Lost 2 Fri, Feb 25, 1972 Cincinnati Royals Win 109–88 55–11 Won 1 Sun, Feb 27, 1972 Chicago Bulls Win 123–118 (OT) 56–11 Won 2 Tue, Feb 29, 1972 @ New York Knicks Win 114–111 57–11 Won 3
March 12–2 (Home: 8–1; Road: 3–1; Neutral: 1–0) Date Opponent Result Score Record Streak Wed, Mar 1, 1972 vs Milwaukee Bucks Win 109–108 58–11 Won 4 Fri, Mar 3, 1972 Atlanta Hawks Win 114–104 59–11 Won 5 Sun, Mar 5, 1972 Baltimore Bullets Loss 94–108 59–12 Lost 1 Tue, Mar 7, 1972 Philadelphia 76ers Win 114–97 60–12 Won 1 Fri, Mar 10, 1972 Cleveland Cavaliers Win 132–98 61–12 Won 2 Sun, Mar 12, 1972 Buffalo Braves Win 141–102 62–12 Won 3 Tue, Mar 14, 1972 @ Detroit Pistons Win 129–116 63–12 Won 4 Wed, Mar 15, 1972 @ Cincinnati Royals Win 121–116 64–12 Won 5 Fri, Mar 17, 1972 Milwaukee Bucks Win 123–107 65–12 Won 6 Sun, Mar 19, 1972 Golden State Warriors Win 162–99 66–12 Won 7 Tue, Mar 21, 1972 @ Chicago Bulls Win 109–104 67–12 Won 8 Wed, Mar 22, 1972 @ Cleveland Cavaliers Loss 120–124 67–13 Lost 1 Fri, Mar 24, 1972 Phoenix Suns Win 112–110 68–13 Won 1 Sun, Mar 26, 1972 Seattle SuperSonics Win 124–98 69–13 Won 2
Season Schedule

Playoffs

1971–72 playoff game log
Conference Semifinals 4–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 2–0) Date Opponent Result Score Record Streak Tue, Mar 28, 1972 Chicago Bulls Win 95–80 1–0 Won 1 Thu, Mar 30, 1972 Chicago Bulls Win 131–124 2–0 Won 2 Sun, Apr 2, 1972 @ Chicago Bulls Win 108–101 3–0 Won 3 Tue, Apr 4, 1972 @ Chicago Bulls Win 108–97 4–0 Won 4
Conference Finals 4–2 (Home: 2–1; Road: 2–1) Date Opponent Result Score Record Streak Sun, Apr 9, 1972 Milwaukee Bucks Loss 72–93 0–1 Lost 1 Wed, Apr 12, 1972 Milwaukee Bucks Win 135–134 1–1 Won 1 Fri, Apr 14, 1972 @ Milwaukee Bucks Win 108–105 2–1 Won 2 Sun, Apr 16, 1972 @ Milwaukee Bucks Loss 88–114 2–2 Lost 1 Tue, Apr 18, 1972 Milwaukee Bucks Win 115–90 3–2 Won 1 Sat, Apr 22, 1972 @ Milwaukee Bucks Win 104–100 4–2 Won 2
NBA Finals 4–1 (Home: 2–1; Road: 2–0) Date Opponent Result Score Record Streak Wed, Apr 26, 1972 New York Knicks Loss 92–114 0–1 Lost 1 Sun, Apr 30, 1972 New York Knicks Win 106–92 1–1 Won 1 Wed, May 3, 1972 @ New York Knicks Win 107–96 2–1 Won 2 Fri, May 5, 1972 @ New York Knicks Win 116–111 (OT) 3–1 Won 3 Sun, May 7, 1972 New York Knicks Win 114–100 4–1 Won 4
Playoff Schedule

Player stats

Regular Season

Player	GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
Elgin Baylor	9	26.6	.433	.815	6.3	2.0	11.8
Wilt Chamberlain	82	42.3	.649	.422	19.2	4.0	14.8
Jim Cleamons	38	5.3	.350	.778	1.0	0.9	2.6
LeRoy Ellis	74	14.6	.460	.695	4.2	0.6	4.6
Keith Erickson	15	17.5	.482	.857	2.6	2.3	5.7
Gail Goodrich	82	37.1	.487	.850	3.6	4.5	25.9
Happy Hairston	80	34.4	.461	.779	13.1	2.4	13.1
Jim McMillian	80	38.1	.482	.791	6.5	2.6	18.8
Pat Riley	67	13.8	.447	.743	1.9	1.1	6.7
Flynn Robinson	64	15.7	.490	.860	1.8	2.2	9.9
John Trapp	58	13.1	.443	.699	3.1	0.7	5.7
Jerry West	77	38.6	.477	.814	4.2	9.7	25.8

Playoffs

Player	GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
Wilt Chamberlain	15	46.9	.563	.492	21.0	3.3	14.7
Jim Cleamons	6	2.8	.571	N/A	0.7	0.7	1.3
LeRoy Ellis	13	10.3	.463	.250	3.2	0.8	3.0
Gail Goodrich	15	38.3	.445	.898	2.5	3.3	23.8
Happy Hairston	15	38.5	.440	.794	13.1	2.1	13.5
Jim McMillian	15	41.6	.447	.857	5.7	1.5	19.1
Pat Riley	15	16.3	.333	.750	1.9	0.9	5.2
Flynn Robinson	7	10.3	.463	.700	1.9	0.7	6.4
John Trapp	10	7.1	.242	.571	1.6	0.5	2.0
Jerry West	15	40.5	.376	.830	4.9	8.9	22.9

NBA finals

Main article: 1972 NBA Finals

The Los Angeles Lakers played against the New York Knicks in the NBA finals during the postseason.

Game 1

Although without Willis Reed because of his knee injury. Jerry Lucas scored 26 points but was only one of several Knicks who was red hot. Bill Bradley hit 11 of 12 shots from the field as New York shot 53 percent for the game. The team took advantage of a nearly perfect first half to jump to a good lead and won easily, 114-92. Early in the second half, the Forum crowd began filing out dejectedly. It looked like another Los Angeles fold in the Finals.

Game 2

Knicks forward Dave DeBusschere hurt his side and didn't play after the first half. Hairston scored 12 points in the second half, and Los Angeles evened the series with a 106-92 win.

Game 3

DeBusschere attempted to play in the first half and missed all six of his field-goal attempts. He was hurting and elected not to play in the second half. DeBusschere explained :"I didn't feel I was helping the team,". The Lakers danced out to a 22-point lead and regained the home-court advantage with a 107-96 win.

Game 4

The game went into overtime, but at the end of regulation, Wilt Chamberlain picked up his fifth foul. In 13 NBA seasons, he had never fouled out of a game, a history he was immensely proud of but also one that usually led to him playing less aggressively when he was on the verge of getting a 6th foul. As the press waited for Wilt to take the floor and hurt the Lakers by reverting to a passive style, he instead came out in a shotblocking fury that propelled the Lakers to a 116-111 win. At three games to one, their lead now seemed insurmountable.

Game 5

The Lakers won their sixth NBA championship by the score of 114-100. This was their first championship since moving to Los Angeles in 1960. Jerry West also won his first NBA championship after 12 years of waiting. Wilt Chamberlain scored 24 points and 29 rebounds and earned the NBA Finals MVP Award.

Award winners

• Bill Sharman, NBA Coach of the Year
• Jerry West, All-NBA First Team
• Jerry West, All-NBA Defensive First Team
• Wilt Chamberlain, All-NBA Defensive First Team
• Wilt Chamberlain, NBA Leader, Shooting Percentage (.649)^[2]

References

1. Numbelivable!, p.58, Michael X. Ferraro and John Veneziano, Triumph Books, Chicago, Illinois, 2007, ISBN 978-1-57243-990-0
2. Numbelivable!, p.58, Michael X. Ferraro and John Veneziano, Triumph Books, Chicago, Illinois, 2007, ISBN 978-1-57243-990-0

• Lakers on Database Basketball
• Lakers on Basketball Reference