1968–69 Los Angeles Lakers season

The 1968–69 NBA season was the Lakers' 21st season in the NBA and ninth season in Los Angeles. This season saw the Lakers acquire Wilt Chamberlain.

1968–69 Los Angeles Lakers season
Division champions
Head coachButch van Breda Kolff
OwnersJack Kent Cooke
ArenaThe Forum
Results
Record55–27 (.671)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Western)
Playoff finishNBA Finals
(Lost to Celtics 3–4)
Local media
TelevisionKTLA
RadioKNX

The Lakers would make it to the NBA Finals, but would lose to the Boston Celtics in seven games despite being the heavy favorites. This marked the Lakers' seventh consecutive defeat to the Celtics in the NBA Finals.

Jerry West, who averaged nearly 38 points per game in the Finals, became the inaugural recipient of the Finals Most Valuable Player award. To date he is the only player in NBA history to win the award as a member of the losing team.

Offseason

Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 11 Bill Hewitt (PF)  United States USC

Roster
Roster listing
1968–69 Los Angeles Lakers roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
G 40 Anderson, Cliff 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1944-09-07 Saint Joseph's
F 22 Baylor, Elgin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1934-09-16 Seattle
F 52 Carty, Jay 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1941-07-04 Oregon State
C 13 Chamberlain, Wilt 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 275 lb (125 kg) 1936-08-21 Kansas
C 31 Counts, Mel 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1941-10-16 Oregon State
SG 12 Crawford, Freddie 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 189 lb (86 kg) St. Bonaventure
PG 21 Egan, Johnny 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1939-01-31 Providence
F 24 Erickson, Keith 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1944-04-19 UCLA
F 33 Hawkins, Tom 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Notre Dame
F 30 Hewitt, Bill 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Southern California
G 44 West, Jerry 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1938-05-28 West Virginia
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Regular season

Season standings
Western Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Los Angeles Lakers 5527.671–32–921–182–030–10
x-Atlanta Hawks 4834.585728–1218–212–126–14
x-San Francisco Warriors 4141.5001422–1918–211–120–20
x-San Diego Rockets 3745.4511825–168–254–420–20
Chicago Bulls 3349.4022219–2112–252–319–21
Seattle SuperSonics 3052.3662518–186–296–515–23
Phoenix Suns 1666.1953911–264–281–128–30

Record vs. opponents
1968-69 NBA Records
Team ATL BAL BOS CHI CIN DET LAL MIL NYK PHI PHO SDR SFW SEA
Atlanta —2–43–36–14–26–03–44–22–41–56–03–44–34–2
Baltimore 4–2—5–26–04–37–03–35–13–42–46–05–13–34–2
Boston 3–32–5—4–25–25–12–45–11–65–26–04–23–33–3
Chicago 1–60–62–4—1–53–33–45–12–41–54–23–34–34–3
Cincinnati 2–43–42–55–1—3–42–45–14–23–44–22–43–33–3
Detroit 0–60–71–53–34–3—3–32–43–43–44–23–32–44–2
Los Angeles 4–33–34–24–34–23–3—5–15–11–56–07–04–35–1
Milwaukee 2–41–51–51–51–54–21–5—0–60–66–24–23–33–5
New York 4–24–36–14–22–44–31–56–0—4–35–13–35–16–0
Philadelphia 5–14–22–55–14–34–35–16–03–4—5–14–22–46–0
Phoenix 0–60–60–62–42–42–40–62–61–51–5—1–72–43–3
San Diego 4–31–52–43–34–23–30–72–43–32–47–1—3–33–3
San Francisco 3–43–33–33–43–34–23–43–31–54–24–23–3—4–3
Seattle 2–42–43–33–43–32–41–55–30–60–63–33–33–4—

Game log
1968–69 game log
October
1968–69 schedule

Playoffs

West Division Semifinals

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) San Francisco Warriors: Lakers win series 4–2

  • Game 1 @ Los Angeles: San Francisco 99, Los Angeles 94
  • Game 2 @ Los Angeles: San Francisco 107, Los Angeles 101
  • Game 3 @ San Francisco: Los Angeles 115, San Francisco 98
  • Game 4 @ San Francisco: Los Angeles 103, San Francisco 88
  • Game 5 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 103, San Francisco 98
  • Game 6 @ San Francisco: Los Angeles 118, San Francisco 78

West Division Finals

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (2) Atlanta Hawks: Lakers win series 4–1

  • Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 95, Atlanta 93
  • Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 104, Atlanta 102
  • Game 3 @ Atlanta: Atlanta 99, Los Angeles 86
  • Game 4 @ Atlanta: Los Angeles 100, Atlanta 85
  • Game 5 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 104, Atlanta 96

NBA Finals

(W1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (E4) Boston Celtics: Celtics win series 4–3

  • Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 120, Boston 118
  • Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 118, Boston 112
  • Game 3 @ Boston: Boston 111, Los Angeles 105
  • Game 4 @ Boston: Boston 89, Los Angeles 88
  • Game 5 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 117, Boston 104
  • Game 6 @ Boston: Boston 99, Los Angeles 90
  • Game 7 @ Los Angeles: Boston 108, Los Angeles 106

Playoffs

Awards
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References
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