2022–23 Los Angeles Lakers season explained

Team:	Los Angeles Lakers
End Year:	2023
Wins:	43
Losses:	39
Division:	Pacific
Division Place:	5
Conf Place:	7
Coach:	Darvin Ham
Gm:	Rob Pelinka
President:	Jeanie Buss
Owners:	Jerry Buss family trust (majority)^[1] Jeanie Buss (controlling owner) Philip Anschutz, Edward P. Roski, and Patrick Soon-Shiong (minority)
Arena:	Crypto.com Arena (Capacity: 18,997)
Playoffs:	Western Conference Finals (lost to Nuggets 0–4)
Bbr Team:	LAL
Television:	Spectrum SportsNet
Radio:	ESPN LA 710 (English) 1020 Radio AM (Spanish)

The 2022–23 Los Angeles Lakers season was the 76th season of the franchise, its 75th season in the National Basketball Association (NBA), its 63rd season in Los Angeles, and its 24th season playing home games at Crypto.com Arena. On April 11, 2022, the Los Angeles Lakers fired Frank Vogel as head coach. On June 3, 2022, the Lakers hired Darvin Ham as their new head coach.

The Lakers began the season 0–5 and were the last winless team in the league. It was the first time that LeBron James started a season 0–5 since his rookie season with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003.^[2] The Lakers earned their first win in the following game against the Denver Nuggets, after Anthony Davis returned from a one-game absence due to lower back tightness.^[3] He scored 23 points and had 15 rebounds, and James added 26 points. In his second game off the bench as the Lakers' sixth man, Russell Westbrook had 18 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists.^[4] After winning their next game against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Lakers lost 130–116 to the Utah Jazz, failing to secure their first three-game winning streak since January 7, 2022.^[5]

On November 18, 2022, the Lakers won their second straight game for the second time this season and they also won their third straight game for the first time since January 2022. The Lakers retired No. 99 in honor of George Mikan on October 30, 2022. Pau Gasol's No. 16 was retired on March 7, 2023, against his former team the Memphis Grizzlies. On February 7, 2023, James broke the NBA scoring record against the Oklahoma City Thunder.^[6]

With a 128–117 win over the Jazz, the Lakers qualified for the Play-In-Tournament for the first time since 2021. The Lakers defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 108–102 in overtime to return to the playoffs after a one-year absence. Additionally, the Lakers became the sixth team to advance to the playoffs after starting the season 2–10. The Lakers won 8 of their last 10 games. In the 2023 NBA playoffs, the Lakers defeated the two-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in six games despite being underdogs to win a playoff series for the first time since their championship run in 2020 and on their home court for the first time since 2012. In the conference semifinals, they defeated the defending champion Golden State Warriors also in six games, becoming the first 7th-seed to reach the Western Conference finals since the 1986–87 Seattle SuperSonics.

However, the Lakers were swept by the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference finals in 4 straight games. This was the first time that the Nuggets have won a playoff series over Los Angeles in their franchise history. Beforehand, the Lakers had won 7 straight playoff matchups against Denver dating back from 1979 to 2020. It was also the first time that the Lakers were swept in a playoff round since the San Antonio Spurs did it in the first round of the 2013 NBA playoffs, and the first time that they were swept by a top seeded team since the Utah Jazz did it in the 1997–98 NBA season. This also marked the first time for James of experiencing a defeat in the conference finals since 2009, when he also was then part of the Cleveland Cavaliers team, who were under his leadership that he also led and lost to the Dwight Howard-led Orlando Magic in a six-game series.

Draft

See main article: 2022 NBA draft. The Lakers did not hold any pick in the 2022 NBA draft;^[7] however, they got the 35th pick, Max Christie, in a trade with the Orlando Magic in exchange for a 2028 second-round pick and cash considerations.^[8] ^[9]

Standings

Conference

Game log

Preseason

Regular season

Play-in

Playoffs

Game log

Player statistics

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 76 || 45 || 24.5 || .430 || .381 || .872 || 4.1 || 1.3 || .8 || .2 || 7.1|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 68 || 2 || 15.1 || .596 || .278 || .619 || 4.2 || .5 || .4 || .5 || 5.5|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 66 || 50 || 30.1 || .415 || .329 || .857 || 2.5 || 4.5 || .8 || .2 || 12.6|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 64 || 22 || 28.8 || .529 || .398 || .864 || 3.0 || 3.4 || .5 || .3 || 13.0|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 56 || 54 || 34.0 || .563 || .257 || .784 || 12.5 || 2.6 || 1.1 || 2.0 || 25.9|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 56 || 32 || 23.2 || .448 || .365 || .858 || 1.9 || 1.1 || .5 || .3 || 11.7|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 55 || 54 || 35.5 || .500 || .321 || .768 || 8.3 || 6.8 || .9 || .6 || 28.9|- | style="text-align:left;"|^†| 52 || 3 || 28.7 || .417 || .296 || .655 || 6.2 || 7.5 || 1.0 || .4 || 15.9|- | style="text-align:left;"|^†| 45 || 45 || 26.9 || .402 || .348 || .780 || 3.1 || 2.6 || .9 || .6 || 6.4|- | style="text-align:left;"|^†| 41 || 25 || 21.4 || .654 || .440 || .741 || 6.8 || .7 || .3 || .6 || 12.1|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 41 || 3 || 12.5 || .415 || .419 || .875 || 1.8 || .5 || .2 || .2 || 3.1|- | style="text-align:left;"|^†| 39 || 2 || 13.5 || .406 || .325 || .810 || 1.4 || .9 || .3 || .1 || 6.7|- | style="text-align:left;"|^†| 33 || 9 || 22.4 || .485 || .296 || .721 || 4.7 || .7 || .2 || .4 || 9.6|- | style="text-align:left;"|^†| 30 || 7 || 12.2 || .500 || .200 || .733 || 2.0 || .8 || .3 || .2 || 2.7|- | style="text-align:left;"|^†| 26 || 24 || 24.0 || .529 || .303 || .784 || 6.7 || 1.6 || 1.2 || .2 || 7.2|- | style="text-align:left;"|^†| 26 || 14 || 23.9 || .392 || .353 || .619 || 3.3 || 1.2 || .8 || .0 || 11.1|- | style="text-align:left;"|^†| 22 || 1 || 8.0 || .541 || .000 || .750 || 2.5 || .2 || .1 || .5 || 2.5|- | style="text-align:left;"|^†| 17 || 17 || 30.9 || .484 || .414 || .735 || 2.9 || 6.1 || .6 || .5 || 17.4|- | style="text-align:left;"|^†| 12 || 0 || 10.8 || .306 || .371 || .800 || 1.2 || .3 || .2 || .0 || 3.9|- | style="text-align:left;"|^†| 9 || 1 || 9.8 || .407 || .313 || .545 || 4.6 || .4 || .1 || .6 || 3.7|- | style="text-align:left;"|^†| 8 || 0 || 3.4 || .750 || .500 || .250 || .5 || .5 || .3 || .0 || 1.0|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 7 || 0 || 5.9 || .333 || .375 || || 1.0 || .6 || .0 || .0 || 1.3|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 6 || 0 || 5.3 || .333 || .333 || .556 || .7 || .3 || .3 || .2 || 2.3|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 4 || 0 || 6.0 || .000 || .000 || || 2.0 || .5 || .8 || .0 || .0|}

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 16 || 16 || 38.7 || .498 || .264 || .761 || 9.9 || 6.5 || 1.1 || 1.1 || 24.5|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 16 || 16 || 38.0 || .520 || .333 || .852 || 14.1 || 2.6 || 1.4 || 3.1 || 22.6|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 16 || 16 || 36.2 || .464 || .443 || .895 || 4.4 || 4.6 || .6 || .2 || 16.9|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 16 || 15 || 29.6 || .426 || .310 || .769 || 2.9 || 4.6 || .7 || .3 || 13.3|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 16 || 3 || 26.1 || .398 || .333 || .821 || 1.9 || 2.9 || 1.0 || .2 || 7.4|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 16 || 1 || 24.3 || .557 || .487 || .882 || 3.6 || .6 || .5 || .3 || 12.2|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 15 || 13 || 16.5 || .400 || .241 || .700 || 3.2 || .8 || .7 || .8 || 4.6|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 13 || 0 || 13.8 || .483 || .382 || .750 || .9 || .8 || .5 || .1 || 6.2|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 12 || 0 || 10.3 || .357 || .133 || || 2.0 || .9 || .2 || .1 || 1.8|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 11 || 0 || 8.3 || .294 || .269 || 1.000 || .7 || .2 || .1 || .0 || 3.0|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 10 || 0 || 3.7 || .400 || || .667 || .9 || .0 || .2 || .3 || 1.0|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 9 || 0 || 3.7 || .500 || .250 || .500 || .8 || .3 || .0 || .1 || 1.4|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 8 || 0 || 3.5 || .571 || 1.000 || .500 || .4 || 1.1 || .3 || .0 || 1.3|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 6 || 0 || 5.3 || .455 || || .200 || 1.7 || .3 || .0 || .0 || 1.8|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 3 || 0 || 3.3 || .000 || .000 || || 1.0 || .3 || .0 || .3 || .0|}

Transactions

See main article: article and List of 2022–23 NBA season transactions.

Trades

June 23, 2022	NBA.com" />	To Los Angeles Lakers 2022 No. 35 pick (Max Christie)	To Orlando Magic 2028 second-round pick Cash considerations
August 25, 2022^[10]	To Los Angeles Lakers Patrick Beverley	To Utah Jazz Talen Horton-Tucker Stanley Johnson
January 23, 2023^[11] ^[12]	To Los Angeles Lakers Rui Hachimura	To Washington Wizards Kendrick Nunn 2023 CHI second-round pick 2028 second-round pick 2029 LAL second-round pick
February 9, 2023^[13] ^[14]	To Los Angeles Lakers Malik Beasley (from Utah) D'Angelo Russell (from Minnesota) Jarred Vanderbilt (from Utah)	To Minnesota Timberwolves Nickeil Alexander-Walker (from Utah) Mike Conley (from Utah) 2024 second-round pick (from Los Angeles) 2025 UTA second-round pick (from Utah) 2026 UTA second-round pick (from Utah)
February 9, 2023^[13] ^[14]	To Utah Jazz Damian Jones (from Los Angeles) Juan Toscano-Anderson (from Los Angeles) Russell Westbrook (from Los Angeles) 2027 LAL protected first-round pick (from Los Angeles)
February 9, 2023^[15] ^[16] ^[17] ^[18]	To Los Angeles Lakers Mo Bamba (from Orlando) Davon Reed (from Denver) 2024 LAC second-round pick (from Clippers) 2025 LAC second-round pick (from Clippers)	To Orlando Magic Patrick Beverley (from Lakers) ~~2024 DEN second-round pick (from Denver)~~ Cash considerations (from Lakers)
February 9, 2023^[15] ^[16] ^[17] ^[18]	To Denver Nuggets Thomas Bryant (from Lakers)	To Los Angeles Clippers Bones Hyland (from Denver)

Free agency

Additions

Date	Player	Contract terms	Former team	Ref.
July 1	Damian Jones	2 year minimum	Sacramento Kings	^[19]
	Troy Brown Jr.	1 year minimum	Chicago Bulls
	Juan Toscano-Anderson	1 year minimum	Golden State Warriors
	Scotty Pippen Jr.	Two-way contract	Vanderbilt Commodores	^[20]
	Cole Swider	Two-way contract	Syracuse Orange
July 6	Thomas Bryant	1 year minimum	Washington Wizards	^[21]
July 6	Lonnie Walker IV	1 year $6.5M	San Antonio Spurs	^[22]
September 16	Dennis Schröder	1-year minimum	Houston Rockets	^[23]
September 26	Matt Ryan	1-year minimum	Boston Celtics	^[24]

Subtractions

Date	Player	Reason	New team	Ref.
July 6	Malik Monk	2-year $19M	Sacramento Kings	^[25]
April 9	Davon Reed	Waived	Prometey Slobozhanske

External links

2022–23 Los Angeles Lakers at Basketball-Reference.com

Notes and References

Web site: Team Directory. 2020–21 Los Angeles Lakers Media Guide. NBA Properties. December 20, 2020. May 24, 2021.
Web site: Jordan. Greer. LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers are in big trouble: Los Angeles' 0-4 start explained in four terrible stats. October 27, 2022. Sporting News. November 13, 2022.
News: James, Davis help Lakers win for first time this season. October 30, 2022. ESPN.com. AP. October 31, 2022.
News: Dan. Woike. Russell Westbrook injects life into Lakers as they defeat Nuggets for first win. October 30, 2022. Los Angeles Times. October 31, 2022.
Web site: Jovan. Buha. Lakers take ‘a huge step backward’: Why defense and effort stopped L.A.’s momentum vs. Jazz. November 5, 2022. The Athletic. subscription. November 13, 2022. With back-to-back impressive wins over the Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans, the Lakers sought to generate further momentum with their first three-game win streak since Jan. 7..
News: LeBron James breaks NBA’s all-time scoring record, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 8 February 2023. 8 February 2023. CNN. Jason. Hanna. David. Close.
Web site: 2022 NBA Draft Order. NBA.com. June 1, 2022. May 19, 2022.
Web site: Lakers Acquire 35th Pick in 2022 NBA Drafts . NBA.com . June 23, 2022 . June 23, 2022.
Web site: Savage . Dan . Orlando Magic Acquire Future Second Round Pick, Cash Considerations From L.A. Lakers . NBA.com . June 23, 2022 . June 23, 2022.
Web site: Lakers Acquire Patrick Beverley. NBA.com. August 25, 2022. August 25, 2022.
Web site: Los Angeles Lakers Acquire Rui Hachimura . NBA.com . January 24, 2023 . January 23, 2023.
Web site: Wizards acquire Kendrick Nunn and three second round picks . NBA.com . January 24, 2023 . January 23, 2023.
Web site: Lakers Acquire D'Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, and Jarred Vanderbilt . NBA.com . February 9, 2023 . February 9, 2023.
Web site: Timberwolves send D'Angelo Russell to the Los Angeles Lakers in three-team deal . NBA.com . February 9, 2023 . February 9, 2023.
Web site: DENVER NUGGETS ACQUIRE CENTER THOMAS BRYANT . NBA.com . February 10, 2023 . February 9, 2023.
Web site: LA Clippers Acquire Hyland from Denver Nuggets . NBA.com . February 10, 2023 . February 9, 2023.
Web site: Lakers Acquire Mo Bamba and Davon Reed . NBA.com . February 10, 2023 . February 9, 2023.
Web site: Magic Acquire Patrick Beverley, Future Second Round Draft Pick and Cash Considerations as Part of a Four-Team Trade . NBA.com . February 10, 2023 . February 9, 2023.
Web site: Lakers Sign Troy Brown Jr., Damian Jones and Juan Toscano-Anderson . July 1, 2022 . July 2, 2022 . NBA.com.
Web site: Lakers Sign Scotty Pippen Jr. and Cole Swider to Two-Way Contracts . July 1, 2022 . July 3, 2022 . NBA.com.
Web site: Lakers Sign Thomas Bryant. NBA.com. July 6, 2022. July 7, 2022.
Web site: Lakers Sign Lonnie Walker IV. NBA.com. July 6, 2022. July 7, 2022.
Web site: Lakers Sign Dennis Schröder . .
Web site: Lakers Sign Dwayne Bacon and Matt Ryan. NBA.com. September 26, 2022. October 2, 2022.
Web site: Kings Sign Malik Monk. NBA.com. July 6, 2022. July 6, 2022.