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 from the Philadelphia 76ers in a trade that sent Jerry Chambers, Archie Clark, and Darrall Imhoff to the 76ers.

1968–69 Los Angeles Lakers season
Division champions
Head coachButch van Breda Kolff
General managerFred Schaus
Owner(s)Jack Kent Cooke
ArenaThe Forum
Results
Record55–27 (.671)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Western)
Playoff finishNBA Finals
(Lost to Celtics 3–4)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
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
1968–69 Los Angeles Lakers roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
SG 30 Anderson, Cliff 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1944-09-07 Saint Joseph's
SF 22 Baylor, Elgin (C) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1934-09-16 Seattle
PF 52 Carty, Jay 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1941-07-04 Oregon State
C 13 Chamberlain, Wilt (C) 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 275 lb (125 kg) 1936-08-21 Kansas
PF 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) 1941-12-33 St. Bonaventure
PG 21 Egan, Johnny 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1939-01-31 Providence
SG 24 Erickson, Keith 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1944-04-19 UCLA
SF 33 Hawkins, Tom 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1936-12-22 Notre Dame
PF 30 Hewitt, Bill 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1944-08-08 Southern California
PG 44 West, Jerry (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 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

Roster
Last transaction: October 17, 1968

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—

Playoffs
1969 playoff game log
Division Semifinals: 4–2 (Home: 1–2; Road: 3–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 March 26 San Francisco L 94–99 Jerry West (36) Wilt Chamberlain (30) Jerry West (7) The Forum
10,697		 0–1
2 March 28 San Francisco L 101–107 Jerry West (36) Wilt Chamberlain (17) Jerry West (11) The Forum
15,119		 0–2
3 March 31 @ San Francisco W 115–98 Jerry West (25) Wilt Chamberlain (28) Jerry West (9) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
13,221		 1–2
4 April 2 @ San Francisco W 103–88 Jerry West (36) Wilt Chamberlain (14) Jerry West (5) Cow Palace
14,812		 2–2
5 April 4 San Francisco W 103–98 Jerry West (29) Wilt Chamberlain (27) Jerry West (13) The Forum
17,309		 3–2
6 April 5 @ San Francisco W 118–78 Jerry West (29) Wilt Chamberlain (25) Jerry West (8) Cow Palace
8,924		 4–2
Division Finals: 4–1 (Home: 3–0; Road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 April 11 @ Atlanta W 95–93 Jerry West (25) Wilt Chamberlain (29) Baylor, Egan (6) The Forum
16,190		 1–0
2 April 13 Atlanta W 104–102 Wilt Chamberlain (23) Wilt Chamberlain (29) Johnny Egan (11) The Forum
15,136		 2–0
3 April 15 @ Atlanta L 86–99 Johnny Egan (19) Wilt Chamberlain (22) West, Baylor (4) Alexander Memorial Coliseum
7,140		 2–1
4 April 17 @ Atlanta W 100–85 Wilt Chamberlain (25) Wilt Chamberlain (19) Jerry West (5) Alexander Memorial Coliseum
7,140		 3–1
5 April 20 Atlanta W 104–96 Elgin Baylor (29) Wilt Chamberlain (29) Elgin Baylor (12) The Forum
16,273		 4–1
NBA Finals: 3–4 (Home: 3–1; Road: 0–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 April 23 Boston W 120–118 Jerry West (53) Wilt Chamberlain (23) Jerry West (10) The Forum
17,554		 1–0
2 April 25 Boston W 118–112 Jerry West (41) Wilt Chamberlain (19) Egan, West (8) The Forum
17,559		 2–0
3 April 27 @ Boston L 105–111 Jerry West (24) Wilt Chamberlain (26) Jerry West (6) Boston Garden
14,037		 2–1
4 April 29 @ Boston L 88–89 Jerry West (40) Wilt Chamberlain (31) West, Baylor (4) Boston Garden
15,128		 2–2
5 May 1 Boston W 117–104 Jerry West (39) Wilt Chamberlain (31) Jerry West (9) The Forum
17,553		 3–2
6 May 3 @ Boston L 90–99 West, Baylor (26) Wilt Chamberlain (18) Wilt Chamberlain (4) Boston Garden
15,128		 3–3
7 May 5 Boston L 106–108 Jerry West (42) Wilt Chamberlain (27) Jerry West (12) The Forum
17,568		 3–4
1969 schedule

Awards

References
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