The 2005–06

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

season was the 58th of the franchise in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) and the 60th overall. The Lakers finished in third place of the Pacific Division and as the seventh seed of the Western Conference. The season ended with the team being eliminated in seven games against the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

in the First Round of the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

after holding a 3-1 series lead. After a year absence, the Lakers rehired

Phil Jackson Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive. A power forward, Jackson played 12 seasons in the NBA, winning NBA championships with the New York Knicks in 1970 and ...

as their head coach. It was the final season that

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely r ...

wore jersey number 8 before changing it to 24 the following season. Also memorable from this season was during a January 22, 2006 game vs. the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

where Bryant dropped a record 81 points, only the 2nd highest total in NBA history behind

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a Center (basketball), center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 yea ...

's 100-point game in 1962. After the playoffs, Bryant underwent

arthroscopic surgery Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an endoscope that is inserted into the jo ...

on his right knee in July. This led to him missing the

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised by ...

Draft picks

The Lakers had 3 picks going into the 2005 NBA draft. The Lakers picked seven footer

Andrew Bynum Andrew Bynum (born October 27, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player. He played the majority of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After they selected him in the first roun ...

as the 10th pick of the draft. Los Angeles also picked

Ronny Turiaf Ronny Turiaf ( , ; born 13 January 1983) is a French former professional basketball player who played 10 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Turiaf grew up in France and played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the U ...

and

Von Wafer Vakeaton Quamar "Von" Wafer (born July 21, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Florida State Seminoles. Wafer has previously played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the ...

as the 37th and 39th picks respectively.

Roster

Injuries

* Wednesday November 16, 2005: Slava Medvedenko was sidelined for the rest of the season after he suffered a herniated disc. * Friday November 18, 2005: Kwame Brown strained his right hamstring and was sidelined for two weeks. * Tuesday December 20, 2005: Laron Profit ruptured his Achilles' tendon during a game against the Dallas Mavericks. He underwent surgery on December 23, 2005. He was unable to play for the rest of the season after the surgery.

Player salaries

Regular season

The Lakers opened the season with an overtime victory against the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

.
2005-2006 Los Angeles Lakers Schedule and Results Despite dipping below .500 during the November, the team recovered and finished 2005 with a 15-14 record. The team went into the All Star Break with a 26-26 record The Lakers did not maintain any long winning streaks nor were they in long losing slumps; their longest winning streak of the season equalled their longest losing streak of 5 games.
Los Angeles Lakers games in the 2005-2006 NBA season and playoffs The team finished the season with a 5-game winning streak, the longest of the season, and an overall 45-37 record. The Lakers finished third in the Pacific Division and qualified for the playoffs as the 7th seed in the Western Conference. In a January home game against the

, Kobe Bryant scored 81 points, the second most in a single game in NBA history, behind

's 100.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

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Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

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Lamar Odom Lamar Joseph Odom (born November 6, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. As a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he won championships in 2009 and 2010 and was named the NBA Sixt ...

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US Airways Center The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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Smush Parker William Henry "Smush" Parker (born June 1, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA), the NBA D-League and several leagues overseas. Parker played shooting guard in college ...

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Staples Center Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it was ...

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Kwame Brown Kwame Hasani Brown (born March 10, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player who spent 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Selected by the Washington Wizards in the 2001 NBA draft, Brown was the first No. ...

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Sasha Vujačić Aleksander "Sasha" Vujačić ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Саша Вујачић; sl, Aleksander Saša Vujačič; often rendered in English as without diacritics; born March 8, 1984) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player. He ...

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Player statistics

Regular season

*Total for entire season including previous team(s)

Playoffs

Awards and records

All-NBA First Team The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sele ...

NBA All-Defensive First Team The NBA All-Defensive Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1968–69 NBA season to the best defensive players during the regular season. The All-Defensive Team is generally composed of ten players in two ...

Transactions

*On June 14, 2005, the Lakers re-hired head coach

. *On August 2, 2005, the Lakers traded guard/forward

Caron Butler James Caron Butler (born March 13, 1980) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). During a 14-year career he played for the Miami Hea ...

and guard

Chucky Atkins Kenneth Lavon "Chucky" Atkins (born August 14, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player who played for nine different NBA teams throughout his career. Basketball career Atkins played college basketball at the University of South ...

to the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

in exchange for forward

and guard

Laron Profit Bronta Laron Profit (born August 5, 1977) is an American professional basketball coach and former professional basketball player. Early life and college Profit was born in Charleston, South Carolina. Because his stepfather James Truiett served in ...

. *The Lakers traded guard

Kareem Rush Kareem Lamar Rush (born October 30, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player. Rush's younger brother, Brandon, last played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, while older brother JaRon played college basketball for UCLA. College ca ...

to the Charlotte Bobcats for two future second round draft picks (Ronny Turiaf and TBA). The Bobcats have acquired a second round pick (Ronny Turiaf) in the 2005 NBA draft from Atlanta in exchange for forward/center

Predrag Drobnjak Peja Drobnjak (born 27 October 1975) is a Montenegrin professional basketball scout and former player. At , he played at the power forward and center positions. Throughout his nineteen-year career, Drobnjak has spent three full seasons playing in ...

. Atlanta Hawks acquired centers

Michael Doleac Michael Scott Doleac (born June 15, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. Doleac was selected 12th overall in the 1998 NBA draft by the Orlando Magic. He graduated from Central Catholic High School in Portland, Oregon in 1 ...

(from the New York Knicks) and

Joel Przybilla Joel Przybilla (; born October 10, 1979) is an American retired professional basketball player who played the center position for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professiona ...

(from the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

), along with a 2005 second-round pick from the Knicks (Ronny Turiaf), while sending center

Nazr Mohammed Nazr Tahiru Mohammed ( ; born September 5, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who had a journeyman career in the National Basketball Association (NBA), playing for eight different teams over 18 seasons. He is the current ...

to the Knicks in the three-way trade. The 2005 selection will be the better of the two-second-rounders the Knicks currently own. *On October 26, 2005, The Lakers traded

Jumaine Jones Jumaine Lanard Jones (born February 10, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. An NBA player from 1999 to 2007 drafted from the University of Georgia, he played the small forward and power forward positions. Amateur career ...

to the Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for a 2007 2nd round pick ( Sun Yue).
2005-2006 Los Angeles Lakers Transactions *Laron Profit was waived on January 16, 2006. *On March 6, 2006 Jim Jackson was signed as a free agent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2005-06 Los Angeles Lakers season Los Angeles Lakers seasons Los Angle Los Angle Los Angle