1987–88 Los Angeles Lakers season

1987–88 Los Angeles Lakers season
NBA Champions
Conference Champions
Division Champions
Head coach	Pat Riley
Owner(s)	Jerry Buss
Arena	The Forum
Results
Record	62–20 (.756)
Place	Division: 1st (Pacific) Conference: 1st (Western)
Playoff finish	NBA Champions
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	Prime Ticket, KHJ
Radio	AM 570 KLAC

A ticket for Game 1 of the 1988 Western Conference Finals between the Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks.

A ticket for Game 1 of the 1988 NBA Finals at The Forum.

The 1987–88 season saw the Lakers win their eleventh NBA championship, defeating the Detroit Pistons in a seven-game final to become the NBA's first repeat champions since the Boston Celtics did it in the 1968–69 NBA season. In doing so, the Lakers made good on Pat Riley's famous promise to repeat as champions. “I will guarantee you,” Riley said after the Lakers' 1987 championship win, “we're gonna repeat.”^[1] Before that, the Lakers swept the San Antonio Spurs in the opening round. The following two rounds wouldn't be as easy for the Lakers, but they still managed to get through a tough seven-game series against Utah and Dallas, respectively.

The 1988 Finals was the final time the Lakers won the NBA Championship as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar abruptly retired after another NBA Finals appearance the next year, in which the Lakers were swept in four straight by the rejuvenated Pistons. Although they made the Finals in 1991, the Lakers lost to the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls in five games. After that, the Lakers didn't make another Finals appearance and win another NBA Championship until 2000. It was also the final time the Lakers won the Championship at the Forum.

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
3	69	Willie Glass	Forward	United States	St. John's
4	92	Ralph Tally	Point Guard	United States	Norfolk State
6	115	Kenny Travis		United States	New Mexico State
6	138	Frank Ford	Guard-Forward	United States	Auburn University
7	161	Ron Vanderschaaf		Netherlands	Central Washington University

Roster

Los Angeles Lakers roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From C 33 Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem (C) 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 225 lb (102 kg) UCLA G/F 19 Campbell, Tony 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Ohio State G/F 21 Cooper, Michael 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 170 lb (77 kg) New Mexico F/C 45 Green, A.C. 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Oregon State G 32 Johnson, Magic 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Michigan State G/F 3 Lamp, Jeff 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Virginia G 1 Matthews, Wes 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) University of Wisconsin F 31 Rambis, Kurt 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 213 lb (97 kg) Santa Clara University G 4 Scott, Byron 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Arizona State C 52 Smrek, Mike 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Canisius College F 55 Thompson, Billy 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Louisville F/C 43 Thompson, Mychal 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 226 lb (103 kg) University of Minnesota F 34 Tolbert, Ray 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Indiana G 20 Wagner, Milt 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Louisville F 42 Worthy, James 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) North Carolina	Head coach Pat Riley (Kentucky) Assistant coach(es) Bill Bertka Randy Pfund (Wheaton College) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Mychal Thompson	Mike Smrek
PF	A. C. Green	Kurt Rambis
SF	James Worthy	Tony Campbell		Billy Thompson
SG	Byron Scott	Michael Cooper	Milt Wagner	Jeff Lamp
PG	Magic Johnson	Wes Matthews

Regular season

Season standings

#	Western Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Los Angeles Lakers	62	20	.756	–
2	y-Denver Nuggets	54	28	.659	8
3	x-Dallas Mavericks	53	29	.646	9
4	x-Portland Trail Blazers	53	29	.646	9
5	x-Utah Jazz	47	35	.573	15
6	x-Houston Rockets	46	36	.561	16
7	x-Seattle SuperSonics	44	38	.537	18
8	x-San Antonio Spurs	31	51	.378	31
9	Phoenix Suns	28	54	.341	34
10	Sacramento Kings	24	58	.293	38
11	Golden State Warriors	20	62	.244	42
12	Los Angeles Clippers	17	65	.207	45

z – clinched division title

y – clinched division title

x – clinched playoff spot

Game log

1987–88 game log Total: 62–20 (Home: 36–5; Road: 26–15)
November: 9–2 (Home: 7–1; Road: 2–1) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 November 6, 1987 Seattle 2 November 8, 1987 Houston 3 November 10, 1987 @ San Antonio 4 November 12, 1987 L.A. Clippers 5 November 14, 1987 @ Golden State 6 November 15, 1987 San Antonio 7 November 17, 1987 Portland 8 November 20, 1987 7:30 PM PST Dallas W 119–116 Scott (25) Green (11) Johnson (15) The Forum 17,505 8–0 9 November 22, 1987 Milwaukee 10 November 24, 1987 @ Seattle 11 November 27, 1987 7:30 PM PST Denver W 127–119 Green (28) Green (16) Johnson (16) The Forum 17,505 9–2
December : 11–4 (Home: 5–1; Road: 6–3) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 12 December 1, 1987 @ Sacramento 13 December 2, 1987 Portland 14 December 4, 1987 @ Milwaukee 15 December 5, 1987 4:30 PM PST @ Cleveland L 95–97 Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson & Scott (19) Green & Johnson (9) Johnson (9) The Coliseum 20,015 10–5 16 December 8, 1987 @ New Jersey 17 December 9, 1987 @ Washington 18 December 11, 1987 5:00 PM PST @ Boston W 115–114 Abdul-Jabbar (23) Abdul-Jabbar & Johnson (8) Johnson (17) Boston Garden 14,890 12–6 19 December 13, 1987 7:30 PM PST Cleveland W 90–89 Worthy (20) Green (11) Johnson (8) The Forum 17,505 13–6 20 December 15, 1987 Phoenix 21 December 17, 1987 @ Golden State 22 December 19, 1987 @ L.A. Clippers 23 December 20, 1987 Seattle 24 December 23, 1987 Sacramento 25 December 26, 1987 @ Utah 26 December 29, 1987 Philadelphia
January : 13–2 (Home: 7–0; Road: 6–2) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 27 January 3, 1988 @ Portland 28 January 4, 1988 San Antonio 29 January 6, 1988 7:30 PM PST Dallas W 103–89 Scott (28) Green (9) Johnson (15) The Forum 17,505 23–6 30 January 8, 1988 5:00 PM PST @ Detroit W 106–104 Scott (35) Worthy (8) Johnson (9) Pontiac Silverdome 40,278 24–6 31 January 9, 1988 @ Indiana 32 January 12, 1988 Golden State 33 January 13, 1988 @ L.A. Clippers 34 January 16, 1988 @ Phoenix 35 January 18, 1988 Houston 36 January 21, 1988 6:30 PM PST @ Denver L 113–115 Worthy (22) Green & Johnson (10) Johnson (14) McNichols Sports Arena 17,022 28–8 37 January 22, 1988 New York 38 January 24, 1988 @ Seattle 39 January 26, 1988 Utah 40 January 28, 1988 @ Sacramento 41 January 29, 1988 7:30 PM PST Atlanta W 117–107 Worthy (29) Green (8) Johnson (13) The Forum 17,505 33–8
February : 12–1 (Home: 7–1; Road: 5–0) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 42 February 2, 1988 7:30 PM PST Chicago W 110–101 Johnson (25) Abdul-Jabbar (8) Johnson (11) The Forum 17,505 34–8 43 February 4, 1988 @ L.A. Clippers 44 February 9, 1988 Indiana 45 February 11, 1988 6:30 PM PST @ Denver W 120–108 Johnson (26) Green (14) Cooper (9) McNichols Sports Arena 17,022 36–9 46 February 12, 1988 @ San Antonio 47 February 14, 1988 12:30 PM PST Boston W 115–106 Scott (38) Thompson (11) Johnson (14) The Forum 17,505 38–9 48 February 16, 1988 L.A. Clippers 49 February 18, 1988 @ Houston 50 February 19, 1988 5:00 PM PST @ Atlanta W 126–119 (OT) Worthy (38) Green (11) Johnson (19) The Omni 16,451 41–9 51 February 21, 1988 12:30 PM PST Detroit W 117–110 Worthy (24) Scott & Thompson (8) Johnson (13) The Forum 17,505 42–9 52 February 23, 1988 Washington 53 February 26, 1988 Utah 54 February 28, 1988 Phoenix
March : 8–7 (Home: 4–2; Road: 4–5) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 55 March 1, 1988 @ Seattle 56 March 4, 1988 Golden State 57 March 6, 1988 11:00 AM PST @ Dallas W 108–97 Scott (28) Green (12) Johnson (16) Reunion Arena 17,007 47–10 58 March 7, 1988 @ Philadelphia 59 March 9, 1988 @ New York 60 March 10, 1988 5:30 PM PST @ Chicago L 107–128 Worthy (21) Green, Thompson (12) Wagner (6) Chicago Stadium 18,676 49–11 61 March 12, 1988 8:00 PM PST Dallas L 101–110 Scott (35) Thompson (11) Scott (10) The Forum 17,505 49–12 62 March 14, 1988 New Jersey 63 March 15, 1988 @ Portland 64 March 19, 1988 @ Phoenix 65 March 20, 1988 @ Golden State 66 March 22, 1988 Houston 67 March 25, 1988 7:30 PM PST Denver L 119–120 Worthy (24) Green (13) Scott (10) The Forum 17,505 52–15 68 March 26, 1988 @ Sacramento 69 March 29, 1988 Utah
April : 9–4 (Home: 6–0; Road: 3–4) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 70 April 2, 1988 @ Utah 71 April 3, 1988 Sacramento 72 April 5, 1988 Seattle 73 April 8, 1988 L.A. Clippers 74 April 9, 1988 @ Portland 75 April 12, 1988 Portland 76 April 13, 1988 6:30 PM PDT @ Denver L 106–120 Campbell (16) Johnson (11) Johnson (10) McNichols Sports Arena 17,022 57–19 77 April 15, 1988 Phoenix 78 April 17, 1988 @ Houston 79 April 19, 1988 @ San Antonio 80 April 20, 1988 5:30 PM PDT @ Dallas W 114–107 Scott (31) Thompson (11) Johnson (23) Reunion Arena 17,007 60–20 81 April 22, 1988 @ Phoenix 82 April 24, 1988 Golden State
1987–88 season schedule

Playoffs

West First Round

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) San Antonio Spurs: Lakers win series 3–0

• Game 1 @ The Forum, Los Angeles (April 29): Los Angeles 122, San Antonio 110
• Game 2 @ The Forum, Los Angeles (May 1): Los Angeles 130, San Antonio 112
• Game 3 @ HemisFair Arena, San Antonio (May 3): Los Angeles 109, San Antonio 107

Last Playoff Meeting: 1986 Western Conference First Round (Los Angeles won 3–0)

West Conference Semifinals

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (5) Utah Jazz: Lakers win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ The Forum, Los Angeles (May 8): Los Angeles 110, Utah 91
• Game 2 @ The Forum, Los Angeles (May 10): Utah 101, Los Angeles 97
• Game 3 @ Salt Palace, Salt Lake City (May 13): Utah 96, Los Angeles 89
• Game 4 @ Salt Palace, Salt Lake City (May 15): Los Angeles 113, Utah 100
• Game 5 @ The Forum, Los Angeles (May 17): Los Angeles 111, Utah 109
• Game 6 @ Salt Palace, Salt Lake City (May 19): Utah 108, Los Angeles 80
• Game 7 @ The Forum, Los Angeles (May 21): Los Angeles 109, Utah 98

Last Playoff Meeting: Not available (first playoff series)

West Conference Finals

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Dallas Mavericks: Lakers win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ The Forum, Los Angeles (May 23): Los Angeles 113, Dallas 98
• Game 2 @ The Forum, Los Angeles (May 25): Los Angeles 123, Dallas 101
• Game 3 @ Reunion Arena, Dallas (May 27): Dallas 106, Los Angeles 94
• Game 4 @ Reunion Arena, Dallas (May 29): Dallas 118, Los Angeles 104
• Game 5 @ The Forum, Los Angeles (May 31): Los Angeles 119, Dallas 102
• Game 6 @ Reunion Arena, Dallas (June 2): Dallas 105, Los Angeles 103
• Game 7 @ The Forum, Los Angeles (June 4): Los Angeles 117, Dallas 102

Last Playoff Meeting: 1986 Western Conference Semifinals (Los Angeles won 4–2)

NBA Finals

(W1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (E2) Detroit Pistons: Lakers win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ The Forum, Los Angeles (June 7): Detroit 105, Los Angeles 93
• Game 2 @ The Forum, Los Angeles (June 9): Los Angeles 108, Detroit 96
• Game 3 @ Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac (June 12): Los Angeles 99, Detroit 86
• Game 4 @ Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac (June 14): Detroit 111, Los Angeles 86
• Game 5 @ Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac (June 16): Detroit 104, Los Angeles 94
• Game 6 @ The Forum, Los Angeles (June 19): Los Angeles 103, Detroit 102
• Game 7 @ The Forum, Los Angeles (June 21): Los Angeles 108, Detroit 105

Last Playoff Meeting: 1962 Western Division Finals (Los Angeles won 4–3)

1988 playoff game log
Western Conference First Round: 3–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–0) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 29, 1988 San Antonio 2 May 1, 1988 San Antonio 3 May 3, 1988 @ San Antonio
Western Conference Semifinals: 4–3 (Home: 3–1; Road: 1–2) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 May 8, 1988 Utah 2 May 10, 1988 Utah 3 May 13, 1988 @ Utah 4 May 15, 1988 @ Utah 5 May 17, 1988 Utah 6 May 19, 1988 @ Utah 7 May 21, 1988 Utah
Western Conference Finals: 4–3 (Home: 4–0; Road: 0–3) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 May 23, 1988 7:30 PM PDT Dallas W 113–98 Worthy (28) Green, Johnson & Thompson (6) Johnson (12) The Forum 17,505 1–0 2 May 25, 1988 7:30 PM PDT Dallas W 123–101 Scott (30) Abdul-Jabbar (7) Johnson (19) The Forum 17,505 2–0 3 May 27, 1988 5:00 PM PDT @ Dallas L 94–106 Worthy (19) Johnson (8) Johnson (10) Reunion Arena 17,007 2–1 4 May 29, 1988 12:30 PM PDT @ Dallas L 104–118 Johnson (28) Green (12) Johnson (12) Reunion Arena 17,007 2–2 5 May 31, 1988 8:30 PM PDT Dallas W 119–102 Worthy (28) Green (10) Johnson (20) The Forum 17,505 3–2 6 June 2, 1988 6:00 PM PDT @ Dallas L 103–105 Scott & Worthy (27) Worthy (11) Johnson (12) Reunion Arena 17,007 3–3 7 June 4, 1988 12:30 PM PDT Dallas W 117–102 Worthy (28) Johnson (9) Johnson (11) The Forum 17,505 4–3
NBA Finals: 4–3 (Home: 3–1; Road: 1–2) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 June 7, 1988 6:00 PM PDT Detroit L 93–105 Johnson (28) Green (12) Johnson (10) The Forum 17,505 0–1 2 June 9, 1988 6:00 PM PDT Detroit W 108–96 Worthy (26) Green (13) Johnson (11) The Forum 17,505 1–1 3 June 12, 1988 12:30 PM PDT @ Detroit W 99–86 Worthy (24) Worthy (9) Johnson (14) Pontiac Silverdome 39,188 2–1 4 June 14, 1988 6:00 PM PDT @ Detroit L 86–111 Johnson (23) Green (10) Johnson (6) Pontiac Silverdome 34,297 2–2 5 June 16, 1988 6:00 PM PDT @ Detroit L 94–104 Abdul-Jabbar (26) Abdul-Jabbar, Green & Johnson (6) Johnson (17) Pontiac Silverdome 41,372 2–3 6 June 19, 1988 12:30 PM PDT Detroit W 103–102 Worthy (28) Green (10) Johnson (19) The Forum 17,505 3–3 7 June 21, 1988 6:00 PM PDT Detroit W 108–105 Worthy (36) Worthy (16) Johnson (14) The Forum 17,505 4–3
1987–88 season schedule

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	80	80	28.9	.532	.000	.762	6.0	1.7	0.6	1.2	14.6
Tony Campbell	13	1	18.6	.564	.333	.718	2.1	1.1	0.8	0.2	11.0
Michael Cooper	61	8	19.4	.392	.320	.858	3.7	4.7	1.1	0.4	8.7
A.C. Green	82	64	32.1	.503	.000	.773	8.7	1.1	1.1	0.5	11.4
Magic Johnson	72	70	36.6	.492	.196	.853	6.2	11.9	1.6	0.2	19.6
Jeff Lamp	3	0	2.3	.000	.000	1.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.7
Wes Matthews	51	8	13.8	.460	.233	.831	1.3	2.7	0.5	0.1	5.7
Kurt Rambis	70	20	12.1	.548	.000	.785	3.8	0.8	0.6	0.2	4.0
Byron Scott	81	81	37.6	.527	.346	.858	4.1	4.1	1.9	0.3	21.7
Mike Smrek	48	2	8.8	.427	.000	.667	1.8	0.2	0.1	0.9	2.8
Billy Thompson	9	0	4.2	.231	.000	.800	1.0	0.1	0.1	0.0	1.6
Mychal Thompson	80	0	25.1	.512	.000	.634	6.1	0.8	0.5	1.0	11.6
Ray Tolbert	14	0	5.9	.571	.000	.769	0.7	1.5	0.2	0.2	3.0
James Worthy	75	72	35.4	.531	.125	.796	5.0	3.9	1.0	0.7	19.7

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	24	24	29.9	.464	.000	.789	5.5	1.5	0.6	1.5	14.1
Tony Campbell	15	0	6.3	.429	.000	.688	0.7	0.3	0.2	0.0	3.1
Michael Cooper	24		24.5	.412	.403	.741	2.4	2.7	0.8	0.3	6.4
A.C. Green	24		30.3	.544	.000	.753	7.3	0.8	0.1	0.5	10.1
Magic Johnson	24	24	40.2	.514	.500	.852	5.4	12.6	1.4	0.1	19.9
Wes Matthews	10	0	2.7	.400	.000	.800	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.0	1.2
Kurt Rambis	19		9.8	.618	.000	.692	2.7	0.4	0.2	0.1	2.7
Byron Scott	24	24	37.4	.499	.436	.865	4.2	2.5	1.4	0.2	19.6
Mike Smrek	8	0	4.3	.200	.000	.333	0.8	0.0	0.1	0.3	0.4
Mychal Thompson	24		25.6	.513	.000	.581	7.1	0.5	0.7	0.8	9.7
James Worthy	24	24	37.3	.523	.111	.758	5.8	4.4	1.3	0.8	21.1

Awards and records

Awards

• James Worthy, NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award
• Magic Johnson, All-NBA First Team
• Michael Cooper, NBA All-Defensive First Team

All-Star

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was named to his 18th consecutive NBA All-Star Game. He broke the All-Star scoring record during the game at Chicago Stadium
• Magic Johnson was voted to his 6th consecutive NBA All-Star Game as a starter and 8th overall
• James Worthy was voted to his 3rd consecutive NBA All-Star Game

Transactions

Free Agents

Additions Player Signed Former team

Subtractions Player Left New team

See also

• 1987–88 NBA season

References

1. "Halfway Through A 2-Year Quest For Greatness". New York Times. November 1, 1987.

External links

• "Back to Back" – Documentary on the 1987–88 Los Angeles Lakers on YouTube