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The 2020–21 Los Angeles Lakers season was the franchise's 74th season, its 73rd season in the National Basketball Association (NBA), its 61st season in Los Angeles, and their 22nd season playing home games at Staples Center. The Lakers were coached by Frank Vogel in his second year as head coach. The Lakers played their home games at Staples Center as members of the Western Conference's Pacific Division. The Lakers entered the season as the defending Pacific Division, Western Conference, and NBA champions.

On November 10, 2020, the NBA announced that the 2020–21 season would begin on December 22, 2020, following the delayed finish to the 2019–20 season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Each team was to play a shortened 72-game schedule. A week later, the NBA announced the format for the season which would include a play-in tournament to determine the seventh and eighth seeds in each conference. The second half of the schedule would not be announced until a later date to allow for the makeup of any games postponed due to COVID-19 issues.

The season began just 72 days after the completion of the 2020 finals, giving the Lakers and the Miami Heat the shortest off-season in league history. In February 2021, the Lakers had the second best record in the West at 21–7, two games behind the Utah Jazz, when Anthony Davis suffered a strained calf that sidelined him for 30 games. One game after Davis was injured, Dennis Schröder missed a span of four games, in which the Lakers were winless, due to the league's health and safety protocols. LeBron James missed 26 of the team's final 30 games with a sprained ankle. After Davis returned from his nine-week absence, the Lakers were 35–23, going 14–16 without him, including 6–10 with James out as well. Schröder also missed seven games in the final weeks of the season, again due to health and safety protocols.

In an injury-laden season, the Lakers finished with a 42–30 record (roughly the equivalent of 48–34), the same as the No. 5 Mavericks and No. 6 Trail Blazers; they fell to 7th place due to tiebreakers, resulting in the Lakers having to face the No. 8 Warriors in the play-in tournament, whom they defeated to secure the No. 7 seed in the playoffs. This was the first time in James's career that he did not have home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Against the second-seeded Phoenix Suns in the opening round, they were up 2–1 when Davis suffered a strained groin in Game 4. The Lakers were eliminated in six games, the first time in James's career that his team exited in the first round of the playoffs and the first defending NBA champion that was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs since the 2014–15 San Antonio Spurs.

Previous season

The Lakers finished the 2019–20 season 52–19 to finish in 1st place in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference. In the playoffs, they defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets, and Denver Nuggets each in five games to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010. There they defeated the Miami Heat (LeBron's former team) in six games to earn the franchise's 17th NBA championship.

Offseason

Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School / club team
1	28	Jaden McDaniels	SF	United States	Washington (Fr.)

• This was a traded pick with the Oklahoma City Thunder that sent Danny Green and the draft rights to Jaden McDaniels to the Thunder in return for Dennis Schröder.

• Before the start of the 2020 NBA draft period, the Lakers' first-round selection was held stuck as the 29th pick of the draft with their record being the second-best of all NBA teams behind the Milwaukee Bucks the prior season at 49–14 before the NBA suspended their season on March 12, 2020. However, the Lakers did resume their season in the 2020 NBA Bubble, eventually winning their 17th championship there against the Miami Heat, leaving them a chance to move their first-round pick up or down for the 2020 draft. In the bubble, the Toronto Raptors ended up finishing with a better overall record than the Lakers, moving their first-round pick to the 28th selection instead, though still finishing as the best Western Conference team that season. The Lakers only held one first-round selection for this draft, as they traded their second-round pick to the Orlando Magic for the draft rights to Talen Horton-Tucker in last season's draft.

Preseason

Game log

Regular season

Standings

Division

Conference

Notes

• z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
• c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
• y – Clinched division title
• x – Clinched playoff spot
• pi – Clinched play-in spot
• o – Eliminated from playoff contention
• * – Division leader

Game log

Player stats

Regular season statistics

*Total with the Lakers only

Play-in

Playoffs

Game log

Roster

Transactions

Overview

Trades

Free agency

Re-signed

Additions

Subtractions

References

1. "Lakers Announce Hiring of Frank Vogel as Head Coach". NBA.com. May 13, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
2. Baer, Jack (May 11, 2019). "Lakers land on former Pacers coach Frank Vogel as next head coach". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
3. "NBA announces Dec. 22 return, 72-game season | CBC Sports". CBC. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
4. "NBA announces 2020–21 format, season to be played in two halves". Arizona Sports. November 18, 2020. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
5. Stein, Marc (February 5, 2021). "N.B.A. All-Star Game Would Be 'Slap in the Face,' LeBron James Says". The New York Times. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
6. Goon, Kyle (February 16, 2021). "Lakers' Anthony Davis gets MRI; report indicates he could miss weeks". Orange County Register. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
7. ^ Powell, Shaun (April 22, 2021). "Lakers stay afloat in West without LeBron James and Anthony Davis". NBA.com. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
8. Cohen, Ben (May 20, 2021). "The Lakers Won One Game. They Might Win the NBA Title". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
9. Buha, Jovan; Oram, Bill (May 4, 2021). "The 10 warning signs that the Lakers were in trouble this season". The Athletic. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
10. McMenamin, Dave (May 19, 2021). "LeBron James delivers in clutch as Los Angeles Lakers take 7th seed in NBA playoffs". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
11. "Anthony Davis plans to return to Lakers' lineup Thursday vs. Mavericks". Sportsnet.ca. AP. April 21, 2021. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
12. Turner, Broderick (May 15, 2021). "LeBron James, Anthony Davis return in Lakers' fourth straight win". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
13. Shelburne, Ramona (June 3, 2021). "A Los Angeles Lakers sequel that failed to live up to the original". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
14. "Lakers Acquire Dennis Schröder". Lakers.com. November 18, 2020.
15. "NBA Mock Draft 2020: March Sadness Edition". March 13, 2020.
16. "Lakers Acquire Talen Horton-Tucker". National Basketball Association. June 20, 2019. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
17. "Lakers Acquire Dennis Schröder". NBA.com. November 18, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
18. "Cavaliers Acquire JaVale McGee from Los Angeles Lakers". NBA.com. November 23, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
19. "Lakers re-sign Kentavious Caldwell-Pope". NBA.com. November 22, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
20. "Lakers re-sign Markieff Morris". NBA.com. November 23, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
21. "Lakers re-sign Kostas Antetokounmpo". NBA.com. November 26, 2020. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
22. "Lakers re-sign Jared Dudley". NBA.com. December 1, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
23. "LeBron James extends, reportedly for two years, with Lakers". NBA.com. December 2, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
24. "Lakers re-sign Anthony Davis". NBA.com. December 3, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
25. "Lakers re-sign Quinn Cook". NBA.com. December 4, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
26. "Lakers' Kyle Kuzma signs 3-year, $40 million extension". NBA.com. December 20, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
27. "Lakers Sign Montrezl Harrell". NBA.com. November 22, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
28. "Lakers Sign Wesley Matthews". NBA.com. November 22, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
29. "Veteran center Marc Gasol signs with Lakers | NBA.com". www.nba.com. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
30. "Lakers sign Andre Drummond". www.nba.com. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
31. "Lakers sign Ben McLemore". www.nba.com. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
32. "76ers sign Dwight Howard". NBA.com. November 21, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
33. "Avery Bradley signs with the Heat". NBA.com. November 23, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
34. "Atlanta Hawks sign free agent Rajon Rondo". NBA.com. November 23, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2020.

Notes

1. ^ Attendance not reported.

External links

• 2020–21 Los Angeles Lakers at Basketball-Reference.com

• Sports

• Los Angeles Lakers seasons
• 2020–21 NBA season by team
• 2020 in sports in Los Angeles
• 2021 in sports in Los Angeles