2019–20 Los Angeles Lakers season

Front office and coaching changes

On April 9, 2019, Magic Johnson stepped down as president of basketball operations.^[6] Three days after that, coach Luke Walton and the team agreed to part ways.^[7] On May 13, the team hired Frank Vogel as their new head coach^[8] and Jason Kidd was named an assistant coach.^[9]

Draft

The Lakers held one first-round draft pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.^[10][11] The Lakers initially held the rights to two second-round picks in the 2019 draft as well, but later traded those picks to the Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks, respectively.^[12][13] On the night of the NBA draft lottery, the Lakers received the fourth overall pick in the draft; the team had been projected to receive the 11th overall pick.^[14] The Lakers used the fourth overall draft pick to select De'Andre Hunter; the team later sent the rights to Hunter to the New Orleans Pelicans in a trade that brought Anthony Davis to Los Angeles.^[15]

Trades

On June 15, 2019, the Lakers agreed to acquire six-time NBA All-Star power forward Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans. (The deal did not take full effect until July 6).^[16][15] In exchange for Davis, the Lakers gave up forward Brandon Ingram, guards Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart, and three first-round picks (including De'Andre Hunter, the No. 4 draft overall selection in 2019).^[15] On June 27, the Washington Wizards joined the trade, obtaining Moritz Wagner, Isaac Bonga, Jemerrio Jones, and a 2022 second-round pick from the Lakers in exchange for cash considerations.^[17]

Free agents

During the offseason, the Lakers re-signed guard Rajon Rondo,^[18] guard Alex Caruso,^[19] guard/forward Kentavious Caldwell-Pope,^[20][21] and center JaVale McGee.^[20] The Lakers also signed several veteran free agents to complement James and Davis; those veteran free agents included guard/forward Danny Green,^[22] guard Avery Bradley,^[23] and center Dwight Howard.^[24]

Game log

^[25]

Standings

Game log

Season notes

The Lakers got off to a fast start to the season, amassing a franchise best 17–2 record by the end of November.^[28] Four months later, they were able to clinch their first playoff berth since the 2012–13 season with a 113–103 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on March 6, 2020.^[29]

Five days after the Lakers clinched their playoff berth, the NBA season was abruptly suspended by league officials ^[30] after it was reported that Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz tested positive for COVID-19.^[31] Two unidentified players of the Lakers would later test positive for COVID-19 on March 19.^[32] When the season resumed, Avery Bradley declined to play because his oldest child had a history of struggling to recover from respiratory illnesses.^[33] The Lakers replaced Bradley on the roster with J. R. Smith, who was James' teammate on the NBA championship-winning 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers.^[34]

Death of Kobe Bryant

On January 26, 2020, tragedy struck the Lakers organization when retired Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash that also claimed the lives of his daughter Gianna "Gigi" Bryant and seven other passengers.^[35] Bryant was 41 at the time of his death, and Gigi was 13. Bryant's death prompted the Lakers to dedicate the rest of their season to his memory.^{[36][37][38][39]}

The previous evening on January 25, LeBron James passed Bryant for third place on the NBA's all-time scoring list during a road loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in Bryant's hometown. James would eventually surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to stand alone as the NBA's all-time leading scorer three years later on February 7, 2023. The team learned of Bryant's death while flying back to Los Angeles from Philadelphia one day following their loss to the 76ers, leaving everyone on board the flight in absolute shock and their January 28 meeting with the crosstown rival Los Angeles Clippers would be postponed the following day.^[40] This marked the first time an NBA game was postponed for any reason since nearly seven years earlier when the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing led to the postponement of a Celtics game.

The Lakers did not play a game in the wake of Bryant's death until January 31 when they hosted the Portland Trail Blazers on ESPN.^[42] Prior to the commencement of the game, the Lakers conducted a 24-minute long, heavily detailed tribute to Bryant, his daughter and the seven other victims. This tribute began with Usher performing "Amazing Grace" and was capped off by a rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner by Boyz II Men before being concluded with a speech from James, who initially had a monologue prepared, but quickly tossed his index card onto the hardwood after saying "Laker Nation man, I would be selling y'all short if I read off this shit, so I'm going to go straight from the heart", as he proceeded to address a sorrowful Staples Center crowd with an emotional, improvised oration, ending his speech with "...so in the words of Kobe Bryant: 'Mamba out', but in the words of us: 'not forgotten', live on brother".^[43] Following the eulogy, each member of the Lakers' starting five would be introduced with Bryant's credentials.^[44] Portland won 127–119, in what turned out to be the second most watched NBA broadcast ever in ESPN's history, averaging 4.41 million viewers.^[45] The first ever head-to-head meeting between Shaquille O'Neal and Yao Ming in 2003 was the only one with more viewers.^[46]

Beginning with the January 31 game against Portland, the Lakers added a black logo featuring Bryant’s initials to the baseline of their home floor, and a matching commemorative patch to their jerseys.^[47] The team also added a number 8 decal to the immediate left of the scorer's table and a number 24 decal to the right of it. The on-court logos remained in place for home games at Staples Center for about six weeks, until the COVID-19 suspension on March 11. The jersey patch continued to be worn for the rest of the season, including through the Orlando bubble with the 2020 NBA playoffs and Finals.

Game log

† Originally scheduled for August 26. Game 5 was rescheduled due to a boycott from NBA players after a police officer shot Jacob Blake.^[48]

Playoff notes

In the NBA playoffs, the Lakers faced off against the eight-seed Portland Trail Blazers in the first round and won the series in five games. In the Western Conference Semifinals, they faced the fourth-seeded Houston Rockets, again winning in five games. The Lakers advanced to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2010, where they defeated the Denver Nuggets in five games.

The Lakers reached the NBA Finals for the first time in a decade. In the Finals, the Lakers competed against the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat; this was the first time that the two teams had met in the NBA Finals. The Lakers won the series in six games, winning the championship for the first time since the 2010 season. They became the first team since the 2007–08 Boston Celtics to miss the playoffs one season and win a championship the following season. The Lakers also tied the Celtics for the highest-ever number of NBA championship wins with 17.^[49][5] The Lakers' LeBron James was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the fourth time in his career. He became the first player in league history to be named Finals MVP with three different franchises (twice with the Heat, once with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and once with the Lakers). James and Danny Green became the third and fourth players, respectively, to win NBA championships with three different teams.^[50] Lakers president Jeanie Buss became the first female controlling owner to guide her team to an NBA title.^[51][52]

Regular season

Playoffs

Overview

Trades

Free agency