2023–24 Los Angeles Lakers season explained

Team:	Los Angeles Lakers
End Year:	2024
Cup Win:	yes
Wins:	47
Losses:	35
Division:	Pacific
Division Place:	3
Conf Place:	7
Playoffs:	First Round (lost to Nuggets 1–4)
Coach:	Darvin Ham
Gm:	Rob Pelinka
President:	Jeanie Buss Rob Pelinka (vice)
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
Bbr Team:	LAL
Television:	Spectrum SportsNet
Radio:	ESPN LA 710 (English) 1020 Radio AM (Spanish)

The 2023–24 Los Angeles Lakers season was the 77th season of the franchise, its 76th season in the National Basketball Association (NBA), its 64th season in Los Angeles, and its 25th season playing home games at Crypto.com Arena. This is the Lakers' second and final season with Darvin Ham as head coach, with Ham joining the team as the Lakers coach on June 3, 2022, before the end of the 2021–22 season.

Prior to the start of the season, LeBron James announced that he would switch his jersey number back to #23 after wearing #6 (which he also wore with the Miami Heat) the previous two seasons. On August 24, 2023, the Lakers announced that a statue of Kobe Bryant would be unveiled in front of Crypto.com Arena on February 8, 2024.

The Lakers held a perfect 7–0 record in the inaugural In-Season Tournament,^[2] winning the inaugural NBA Cup on December 9 by defeating the Indiana Pacers.^[3] The Lakers improved to the 4th seed in the Western Conference after their In-Season Tournament run, having a 14–9 record. However, they struggled immediately after the run, eventually falling to 17–19 in January and the 9th seed. Despite this, the Lakers finished the season 47–35, having a record of 23-10 since February 1. They moved up to the 8th seed in the Western Conference, which qualified them for the NBA Play-In Tournament for the second consecutive year. They defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 110–106 to go to the playoffs for a second consecutive year. The Lakers played the defending champion Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs, a rematch of the previous year's Western Conference Finals. However, the Nuggets won the series 4–1, which included two Jamal Murray game-winning shots in Games 2 and 5, respectively.This is the first time that the Lakers lost in the first round since 2021 when they lost to the eventual Conference champion Phoenix Suns in six games and the second time that James lost in the first round in his career, having also lost to the 2020–21 Suns.

On May 3, 2024, the Lakers fired their entire coaching staff, which includes head coach Darvin Ham, after serving for two seasons, and assistant coach Phil Handy, who had been with the team since their 2020 championship season.^[4]

Draft

See main article: 2023 NBA draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College / Team
1	17	Jalen Hood-Schifino	PG/SG	United States	Indiana
2	40	Maxwell Lewis	SF	United States	Pepperdine

The Lakers held the 17th overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft, along with the 47th pick entering the draft.^[5] On draft day, in a four-team trade, they traded their 47th pick (which became NBA G League Ignite player Mojave King) and cash considerations to the Indiana Pacers for the 40th pick.^[6]

Standings

Conference

Game log

Preseason

Regular season

Play-in

Playoffs

In-Season Tournament

See main article: 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament. During the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament, the Lakers defeated the Phoenix Suns 122–119. Later, the Lakers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies, the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Utah Jazz, with each of those victories being won by at least 12 points. The team advanced into the knockout tournament rounds of the in-season tournament with the best point differential of the entire event with a +74 in the Western Conference.^[7] They then entered the proper tournament with a rematch against the Suns at home before going to Las Vegas, Nevada's T-Mobile Arena for a semifinals match against the New Orleans Pelicans and a championship match against the Indiana Pacers.

Overall, the team held a perfect 7–0 record in the tournament.^[2] On December 9, the team won the inaugural NBA Cup, defeating Indiana Pacers.^[3]

West group A

Player statistics

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 16 || 0 || 3.7 || .563 || || 1.000 || .8 || .2 || .1 || .0 || 1.5|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 67 || 7 || 14.1 || .427 || .356 || .783 || 2.1 || .9 || .3 || .3 || 4.2|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 76 || 76 || 35.5 || .556 || .271 || .816 || 12.6 || 3.5 || 1.2 || 2.3 || 24.7|- | style="text-align:left;"|^†| 28 || 4 || 24.2 || .397 || .389 || .880 || 1.7 || 2.4 || .5 || .5 || 6.8|- | style="text-align:left;"|^†| 4 || 0 || 3.5 || .167 || .000 || 1.000 || .5 || .0 || .0 || .0 || 1.0|- | style="text-align:left;"|^†| 7 || 0 || 2.7 || .167 || .000 || || .6 || .0 || .1 || .0 || .3|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 68 || 39 || 26.9 || .537 || .422 || .739 || 4.3 || 1.2 || .6 || .4 || 13.6|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 70 || 5 || 12.5 || .720 || .000 || .622 || 3.0 || .5 || .5 || .4 || 4.3|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 7 || 0 || 5.9 || .333 || .250 || .500 || .0 || .7 || .1 || .1 || 2.0|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 21 || 0 || 5.2 || .222 || .133 || .600 || .6 || .4 || .1 || .1 || 1.6|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 71 || 71 || 35.3 || .540 || .410 || .750 || 7.3 || 8.3 || 1.3 || .5 || 25.7|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 34 || 0 || 3.0 || .190 || .111 || .667 || .1 || .2 || .1 || .0 || .3|- | style="text-align:left;"|^†| 17 || 0 || 4.5 || .476 || .400 || || .4 || .6 || .4 || .1 || 1.3|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 78 || 49 || 27.0 || .442 || .396 || .735 || 2.9 || 1.5 || .7 || .4 || 8.9|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 82 || 57 || 32.1 || .486 || .367 || .853 || 4.3 || 5.5 || .8 || .3 || 15.9|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 48 || 26 || 20.5 || .389 || .336 || .759 || 2.1 || 1.0 || 1.0 || .3 || 5.4|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 76 || 69 || 32.7 || .456 || .415 || .828 || 3.1 || 6.3 || .9 || .5 || 18.0|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 29 || 6 || 20.0 || .518 || .296 || .667 || 4.8 || 1.2 || 1.2 || .2 || 5.2|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 11 || 0 || 19.8 || .306 || .107 || .500 || .8 || 1.9 || .8 || .0 || 3.1|- | style="text-align:left;"|^†| 8 || 0 || 3.5 || .444 || .500 || || .4 || .8 || .0 || .0 || 1.5|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 50 || 1 || 17.4 || .466 || .307 || .702 || 5.1 || 1.0 || .3 || .7 || 6.9|}

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 5 || 5 || 41.6 || .634 || .000 || .808 || 15.6 || 4.0 || .4 || 1.6 || 27.8|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 5 || 0 || 14.6 || .357 || .250 || .500 || 1.4 || 1.6 || .4 || .2 || 3.0|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 5 || 5 || 30.4 || .395 || .357 || .500 || 3.8 || .8 || .0 || .0 || 7.8|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 4 || 0 || 6.0 || .000 || || .500 || 3.0 || .3 || .0 || .0 || .3|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 5 || 5 || 40.8 || .566 || .385 || .739 || 6.8 || 8.8 || 2.4 || 1.0 || 27.8|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 5 || 0 || 22.2 || .414 || .294 || 1.000 || 2.4 || .6 || .2 || .4 || 7.4|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 5 || 5 || 34.8 || .476 || .269 || .895 || 3.8 || 3.6 || 1.4 || .6 || 16.8|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 5 || 5 || 37.0 || .384 || .318 || .500 || 2.8 || 4.2 || .8 || .2 || 14.2|- | style="text-align:left;"|| 5 || 0 || 13.8 || .250 || .143 || || 1.6 || .6 || .4 || .0 || 1.4|}

Transactions

See main article: article and List of 2023–24 NBA season transactions.

Free agency

Re-signed

Date	Player	Contract terms	Ref.
July 1, 2023	Rui Hachimura	3 years $51M	^[8]
July 1, 2023	Austin Reaves	4 years $56M	^[9]
July 1, 2023	D'Angelo Russell	2 years $37M	^[10]
September 18, 2023	Jarred Vanderbilt	4 years $48M	^[11] ^[12]

Additions

Date	Player	Contract terms	Former team	Ref.
July 1, 2023	Gabe Vincent	3 years $33M	Miami Heat	^[13]
July 1, 2023	Taurean Prince	1 year $4.5M	Minnesota Timberwolves	^[14]
July 1, 2023	Cam Reddish	2 years $4.6M	Portland Trail Blazers	^[15]
July 1, 2023	Jaxson Hayes	2 years $4.6M	New Orleans Pelicans	^[16]
July 3, 2023	Colin Castleton	Two-way contract	Florida Gators	^[17]
September 5, 2023	Christian Wood	2 years $5.7M	Dallas Mavericks	^[18]
January 6, 2024	Dylan Windler	Two-way contract	Westchester Knicks	^[19]
January 8, 2024	Skylar Mays	Two-way contract	Portland Trail Blazers	^[20]
February 10, 2024	Spencer Dinwiddie	1 year $20M	Brooklyn Nets	^[21]
March 2, 2024	Harry Giles III	Two-way contract	Brooklyn Nets	^[22]

Subtractions

Date	Player	Reason	New team	Ref.
June 29, 2023	Mo Bamba	Waived	Philadelphia 76ers	^[23]
June 29, 2023	Shaquille Harrison	Waived	Memphis Grizzlies
June 30, 2023	Dennis Schröder	2 years $26M	Toronto Raptors	^[24]
July 3, 2023	Malik Beasley	1 year $2.7M	Milwaukee Bucks	^[25]
July 8, 2023	Troy Brown Jr.	2 years $8M	Minnesota Timberwolves	^[26] ^[27]
July 10, 2023	Lonnie Walker IV	1 year $2.3M	Brooklyn Nets	^[28] ^[29]
September 12, 2023	Tristan Thompson	1 year $3.2M	Cleveland Cavaliers	^[30] ^[31]
October 4, 2023	Wenyen Gabriel	1 year	Boston Celtics	^[32] ^[33]
January 6, 2024	Alex Fudge	Waived	South Bay Lakers	^[34]
January 6, 2024	D'Moi Hodge	Waived	Rip City Remix
March 2, 2024	Dylan Windler	Waived	College Park Skyhawks	^[35]

External links

2023–24 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: Lakers hang a modest banner to celebrate their victory in the NBA's first In-Season Tournament. December 19, 2023. AP News.
Indiana Pacers overpowered by Los Angeles Lakers in In-Season Tournament Finals. Tony. East. December 9, 2023. Sports Illustrated.
Web site: Lakers fire head coach Darvin Ham after 2 seasons. ESPN.com. May 3, 2024. May 3, 2024.
Web site: Camras . Noah . What Pick Do the Lakers Have in the 2023 NBA Draft? . All Lakers News, Rumors, Videos, Schedule, Roster, Salaries And More . 7 June 2023 . 16 May 2023.
Web site: Lakers Acquire Maxwell Lewis. NBA.com. June 23, 2023. Los Angeles received Lewis from the Denver Nuggets and traded Mojave King (47th overall pick) and cash considerations to the Indiana Pacers..
Web site: Notable stats from NBA's in-season tournament group stage. ESPN.com. November 30, 2023. July 2, 2024.
Web site: Los Angeles Lakers Re-Sign Rui Hachimura. www.nba.com. July 6, 2023. July 6, 2023.
Web site: Lakers Officially Re-Sign Austin Reaves To Four-Year Contract. www.lakernation.com. July 6, 2023. July 6, 2023.
Web site: Los Angeles Lakers Re-Sign D'Angelo Russell. www.nba.com. July 6, 2023. July 8, 2023.
Web site: Los Angeles Lakers 2023 Roster Transactions. ESPN.
Web site: Los Angeles Lakers Announce Significant Roster Move. Ben. Stinar. September 18, 2023. Fastbreak on FanNation.
Web site: Los Angeles Lakers Sign Gabe Vincent. www.nba.com. July 6, 2023. July 6, 2023.
Web site: Los Angeles Lakers Sign Taurean Prince. www.nba.com. July 6, 2023. July 6, 2023.
Web site: Los Angeles Lakers Sign Cam Reddish. www.nba.com. July 6, 2023. July 6, 2023.
Web site: Los Angeles Lakers Sign Jaxson Hayes. www.nba.com. July 6, 2023. July 8, 2023.
Web site: Lakers Sign Colin Castleton to Two-Way Contract. July 3, 2023. NBA.com.
Web site: Los Angeles Lakers Sign Christian Wood. NBA.com. September 6, 2023. September 6, 2023.
Web site: Los Angeles Lakers Sign Dylan Windler. NBA.com. January 6, 2024. January 6, 2024.
Web site: Los Angeles Lakers Sign Christian Wood. NBA.com. January 8, 2024. January 8, 2024.
Web site: Los Angeles Lakers Sign Spencer Dinwiddie. NBA.com. February 10, 2024. February 17, 2024.
Web site: Los Angeles Lakers Sign Harry Giles III to Two-Way Contract. NBA.com. March 2, 2024. March 28, 2024.
Web site: Lakers land four on first day of free agency, including Rui Hachimura. www.latimes.com. June 30, 2023. July 6, 2023.
Web site: Raptors sign guard Dennis Schroder to two-year, $26 million contract . July 1, 2023. www.sportingnews.com.
Web site: Sources: Malik Beasley agrees to 1-year, $2.7M deal with Bucks. www.espn.com. July 3, 2023. July 6, 2023.
Web site: Minnesota Timberwolves Transactions - RealGM. basketball.realgm.com.
Web site: The Troy Brown Jr. Game propels the Timberwolves in showdown with OKC. Jon. Krawczynski. The Athletic.
Web site: Recent Lakers Player Officially Signs With Nets. Ben. Stinar. July 11, 2023. Fastbreak on FanNation.
Web site: Lonnie Walker's Success is Years in the Making. Lucas. Kaplan. November 10, 2023. NetsDaily.
Web site: Cleveland Cavaliers Officially Sign NBA Champion. Ben. Stinar. September 12, 2023. Fastbreak on FanNation.
Web site: Cavs fans loved Tristan Thompson; Can he revive his career in Cleveland? . Pluto . Terry. September 14, 2023. cleveland.com.
Web site: Boston Celtics Officially Sign Recent Lakers Player. Ben. Stinar. October 4, 2023. Fastbreak on FanNation.
Web site: 5 things to know about reported Celtics signing Wenyen Gabriel. Trevor. Hass. www.boston.com. October 1, 2023.
Web site: Lakers Waive Alex Fudge and D'Moi Hodge. www.nba.com . January 6, 2024.
Web site: Lakers Waive Dylan Windler, Sign Harry Giles III. www.nba.com. March 2, 2024.