1972 Los Angeles Lakers: Beating 17 Years of Frustration

From 1949 to 1954, the Minneapolis Lakers won five NBA titles. They reached the Finals again in 1959 but lost to the Celtics.

The Lakers moved to LA before the start of the 1960-1961 season. They reached the NBA Finals again in 1962 and 1963, but lost to the Celtics both times. They also lost to Boston in 1965, 66, 68, and 69. In 1970, they lost to the New York Knicks.

From 1955 to 1971, the Lakers made the postseason every year except in 1958, but they did not win an NBA title. Would 1972 finally be the year?

LISTEN ON YOUR PODCAST APP OF CHOICE

1972 Los Angeles Lakers' Year?

Many doubted it. For starters, forward Elgin Baylor, widely regarded as one of the NBA’s best players, retired nine games into the season. Center Wilt Chamberlain was 35 and, while still dominant, was showing signs of slowing down. Guard Jerry West was 33 and returning from a torn knee ligament.

Before the start of the season, Bill Sharman, a former Celtics player, was named head coach. The starting lineup featured Chamberlain at center, West and Gale Goodrich at guard, and Jim McMillian and Happy Hairston at forward.

The season began on October 15, 1971. The Lakers won their first four games but lost three of their next five. After a four-day break, the Lakers began the longest winning streak in professional sports history. From November 5th to January 7th, the team won 33 straight games. The winning streak finally ended on January 9th.

The Lakers cooled off a bit but still won 30 of their next 40 games, finishing the regular season with a 69–13 record. To this day, only two teams in NBA history have surpassed that mark.

Gail Goodrich led the team in scoring with 25.9 points per game. Jerry West was a close second with 25.8 points per game. West also led the team in assists with 9.7 per game. Wilt Chamberlain, the team’s oldest player, appeared in all 82 games and led the team in rebounds with 19.2 per game.

1972 NBA Post-Season

Bill Sharman won the Coach of the Year Award. Chamberlain, West, and Goodrich made the All-Star team, and West was voted MVP of the game.

The Lakers would face the Chicago Bulls in the playoffs and had no trouble, sweeping the Bulls in four games. Next up for LA was the defending NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks were the team that ended the Lakers’ 33-game winning streak. Milwaukee won Game 1 easily, 93-72, and who could blame Lakers fans for thinking, here we go again!

But LA came back to win games two and three before getting beaten up in game four, 114–88. The Lakers won a laugher in game five, 115–90. After three full quarters, the Bucks led 77–72 in game six, but the Lakers rallied in the final quarter to win 104–100 and take the series four games to two.

The Lakers were on their way to their 14th NBA Finals. Their opponent was the Knicks, the team that had beaten them in the Finals two years earlier. With Willis Reed out of Game One due to injury, the Lakers were heavily favored to win.

But Reed’s replacement, Jerry Lucas, scored 26 points. The Knicks won easily, 114–92. Many Lakers fans left the Forum early, and who could blame them? After all, the Lakers were 0 for 8 in their last eight appearances in the NBA Finals. Would this be yet another collapse?

LA won games two and three without much difficulty, but Laker fans didn’t want to get their hopes up. They had been through this before.

Game four went into overtime. Chamberlain was one foul away from fouling out, but he stayed aggressive and blocked several shots by the Knicks. The final score was LA 116, NY 111.

Game five was tied 53-53 at halftime, but the Lakers dominated the second half. The final score was LA 114, NY 100. After 17 years of frustration, the Lakers were the NBA Champions! Wilt Chamberlain won the Series MVP.

The Lakers faced the Knicks in the finals again the following season but lost. Since then, the Lakers have won an incredible 11 NBA titles.

Mark Morthier is the host of Yesterday’s Sports, a podcast dedicated to reliving memorable sports moments from his childhood days and beyond. He grew up in New Jersey just across from New York City, so many of his episodes revolve around the great sport’s teams of the 70s for the New York area.

He is also an author of No Nonsense, Old School Weight Training (Second Edition): A Guide for People with Limited Time and Running Wild: (Growing Up in the 1970s)