EVENTS
 Sportsman of the Year
 Heisman Trophy
 Swimsuit 2001

CNNSI.com GROUP
 Sports Illustrated
 Life of Reilly
 Television
 SI Women
 SI for Kids
 Press Room
 TBS/TNT Sports
 CNN Languages

COMMERCE
 SI Customer Service
 SI Media Kits
 Get into College
 Sports Memorabilia
 TeamStore

Lakers Championship Timeline

1949

Just a year after joining the fledgling NBA, the Minneapolis Lakers knock off Chicago and Rochester before beating Washington in the league finals. The title, the franchise's first, paves the way for the Lakers to win four of the NBA's next five championships. Led by George Mikan, who averages 28.3 points per game in the regular season, the Lakers are clearly better than the Washington Capitols. "They just didn't have anyone to guard George," said Lakers coach John Kundla in 1987. "We'd throw the ball to him in the paint, and if they double-teamed, he would pass to a wide-open teammate. If they played him straight up, he would score or get fouled every time."

1950

The Lakers lose one home game during the season and successfully defend their title against the Syracuse Nationals in six games. Kundla's experiment -- playing rookie Vern Mikkelsen at a new position ("power forward") -- pays off. Mikkelsen, Mikan and Jim Pollard form an unstoppable front line. "If you double-teamed George," said the Nationals' Dolph Schayes, "then Mikkelsen would clean up. And Pollard was able to drive." Mikan scores 40 points in the final game, but it's best remembered for the several brawls. Nationals player-coach Al Cervi is ejected and four Lakers foul out.

1952

In the first of three straight championships, the Lakers survive a hard-fought series against the Knicks, winning 4-3. The Lakers are forced to play most of the series in St. Paul because of a scheduling conflict. But when Game 7 is moved back to the Minneapolis Auditorium, the series is all but over: the Knicks had gone winless there in 11 tries.

1953

Even though Mikan's regular-season scoring average falls from 23.8 to 20.6, Mikkelsen and Pollard are there to pick up the slack. In a rematch with the Knicks, Minneapolis loses the first game of the series but blows through the next four for the title. After the first game, the New York media intimates that the Knicks were on their way to a sweep. "The New York newspapers were all saying that the series wouldn't go back to Minneapolis. They were right," says Mikkelsen.

1954

The Lakers "three-peat" in what will be their final title in Minneapolis. Mikan sees his regular-season scoring average fall to 18.1 points per game, but he's still strong enough to lead the team past the Syracuse Nationals in the finals. The Nats, nursing injuries coming in, surprise nearly everyone by forcing a seventh game. But the Lakers, backed by Pollard's 21 points, jump to an early lead and hold on. Mikan, just 29, shocks the NBA by announcing his retirement afterward.

1961

To the dismay of Minneapolis fans, the Lakers bolt for larger-market Los Angeles. The "new" Lakers start building a nucleus that centers on Elgin Baylor and rookie guard Jerry West. The team plays in seven finals from 1962-70, but loses six times to the Boston Celtics and once to the Knicks.

1971-72

The Lakers finally nab their first title since 1954 -- and first in eight tries while in Los Angeles -- by defeating the injury-depleted Knicks 4-1. The Lakers drop the opening game at home but surge back to win the next four. Series MVP Wilt Chamberlain, who scores 24 points and grabs 29 rebounds in the clinching game, takes an anti-inflammatory shot beforehand to alleviate pain in his sprained right wrist. During the season the Lakers establish an NBA-record 33 consecutive wins and post the best all-time record (69-13), which is later broken by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (72-10). Said West: "When we went to training camp last fall, I thought we'd win our division, but never get past Chicago or Milwaukee into the finals. ... As for Wilt, he was simply the guy that got us here." One little-known fact: Pat Riley, who would later coach the team to five titles, serves as a role player.

1980

In one of the greatest performances in NBA finals history, rookie Magic Johnson spells an ailing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at center in Game 6 of the finals vs. the Philadelphia 76ers. Remarkably, Johnson pours in 42 points, grabs 15 rebounds, records seven assists and three steals as the Lakers begin a run of five championships in the 1980s. Of a pregame dream, Johnson says: "I made the shots. I got the boards. I did what I came here to do."

1982

In a rematch of the '80 finals, the Lakers again dispatch the 76ers 4-2. But this time the team plays through off-the-court turmoil when Johnson requests a trade several games into the season. At odds with coach Paul Westhead's offensive style, Johnson wins the battle; Westhead is fired a day after the trade request. West joins rookie coach Riley on the bench, but it's clear only one of them can stay. West opts for the front office, which leads Jamaal Wilkes to say, "You didn't know who the coach was -- Riley, West, Magic or even [owner Jerry] Buss. Riley guides the Lakers to the finals, where Johnson wins his second MVP. And thus begins the 'Showtime!' era, during which Riley gradually transforms the team into a running machine over the next seven years.

1985

The Lakers finally break a dubious franchise streak of losing eight straight finals to the Boston Celtics. What's more, they avenge the previous year's 4-3 loss to Larry Bird and Co. by winning the clinching game on Boston's vaunted parquet floor -- the first time ever that an opposing team performed such a feat. L.A. controlled the series by running every chance it got. "I'd seen that they were tired all over their faces," Johnson said. "Even if we pushed it up and didn't score, my job was still to push it up. To keep pushing it 'till they'd break." After being vilified by Riley early in the series for poor play, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar responds to win the MVP. "He defies logic," Riley says afterward. "He's the most unique and durable athlete of our time, the best you'll ever see. You'd better enjoy him while he's here."

1987

The best rivalry in sports during its time, the Lakers-Celtics matchup again captivates a national audience in the finals. L.A. relies on its fast break to demoralize the Celtics 4-2. "There's no question this is the best team I've played on. It's fast, it can shoot and rebound, it has inside people, it was everything," says Johnson. The championship also allows three-time finals MVP Johnson to one-up rival Bird in head-to-head NBA titles. The backbreaking blow is delivered in Game 4 in Boston, when Johnson hits a game-winning skyhook over Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. Afterward, Bird is ready to concede the series. "How do you think I feel?" Bird says. "I know that when I'm up 3-1, I say it's over."

1988

The Lakers become the first team since the 1969 Celtics to win back-to-back titles. L.A. battles back from a 3-2 deficit to beat the Detroit Pistons in a grueling series. In Game 6, Detroit's Isiah Thomas forces the deciding game after scoring 43 points -- including a finals-record 25 in the third quarter -- on a badly sprained ankle. But the Pistons have no answer for series MVP James Worthy, who racks up 36 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in Game 7. It would be the last Lakers championship -- their fifth of the '80s, 11th overall. Says Riley of the team's place in history as a dynasty: "We made a very strong defense. Now it's up to you, the prosecutors, to judge us, to give us our place in history."

2000

Following in the line of great Lakers centers who have won titles, Shaquille O'Neal finally earns one of his own. L.A. wins its 12th championship behind O'Neal's MVP performance, beating the Pacers four-games-to-two. The victory gives Phil Jackson his eighth as a coach and first without Michael Jordan but it also ruins coach Larry Bird's hopes to deliver Indiana a title as its coach. After pouring in 41 points in Game 6, O'Neal becomes only the third player in NBA history to notch a regular-season MVP, All-Star Game MVP and Finals MVP in the same year. "I've held the emotion for about 11 years now, three years of college and eight years here; I wanted to win," says a weeping O'Neal afterward. Besides O'Neal, the Lakers are powered by Kobe Bryant, who has 26 points in Game 6 and 28 in a Game 4 overtime victory. "We were a couple of bounces here and there from making ... plays and doing something special," says Pacers guard Reggie Miller.

Copyright © 2001 CNN/Sports Illustrated An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.