The 1959–60 Minneapolis Lakers season was the 12th season for the franchise in the

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

and final season in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

.1959–60 Minneapolis Lakers
/ref> The Lakers finished in third-place in the NBA Western Division with a record of 25–50, 21 games behind the

St. Louis Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at S ...

. In their final season in the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

, the Lakers made 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 ...

and defeated the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

two games to none in the Western Division semifinals, before losing the West Finals to the Hawks, four games to three. The Lakers roster had 5 1st overall picks,

Elgin Baylor Elgin Gay Baylor ( ; September 16, 1934 – March 22, 2021) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and executive. He played 14 seasons as a forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lak ...

, Hot Rod Hundley, Chuck Share,

Ray Felix Raymond Darlington Felix Sr. (December 10, 1930 – July 28, 1991) was an American professional basketball player. He was born in New York City. He played high school basketball at Metropolitan High School in New York and college basketball at Lo ...

, and Frank Selvy, the most among any NBA teams in a season. On January 18, the team had a harrowing flight in a snowstorm, returning to

from

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. The team's

DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

had electrical problems and made an

emergency landing An emergency landing is a premature landing made by an aircraft in response to an emergency involving an imminent or ongoing threat to the safety and operation of the aircraft, or involving a sudden need for a passenger or crew on board to term ...

in a cornfield near

Carroll, Iowa Carroll is a city in, and the county seat of, Carroll County, Iowa, United States, along the Middle Raccoon River. The population was 10,321 in the 2020 census. History Carroll was laid out in 1867. It took its name from Carroll County, wh ...

. On April 27, 1960, The NBA approved the relocation of the Lakers to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

and they became the

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 Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

for the 1960–61 season.

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

:x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , March 12 , @

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

W 113–112
,

(40) , Grosse Pointe High School , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , March 13 ,

W 114–99
, Frank Selvy (30) , Minneapolis Armory , 2–0 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 1 , March 16 , @

L 99–112
,

(19) , Baylor, Hundley (9) ,

Kiel Auditorium Kiel Auditorium was an indoor arena located in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the home of the Saint Louis University basketball team, and hosted the NBA's St. Louis Hawks from 1955 to 1968. From 1913 to 1930, the site was home to Charles H. Tu ...

8,377 , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , March 17 , @

W 120–113
,

(40) ,

(14) ,

8,614 , 1–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , March 19 ,

L 89–93
,

(27) , — , Minneapolis Armory , 1–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 4 , March 20 ,

W 103–101
,

(39) ,

(16) , Minneapolis Armory
6,852 , 2–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 5 , March 22 , @

W 117–110 (OT)
,

(40) ,

(18) ,

10,043 , 3–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 6 , March 24 ,

L 96–117
,

(38) , Frank Selvy (12) , Minneapolis Armory , 3–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 7 , March 26 , @

L 86–97
,

(33) ,

(13) ,

6,195 , 3–4 , -

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 sel ...

* Elgin Baylor,

NBA All-Star Game The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is the annual all-star game hosted each February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's All-star, star players. Since 2022, it was held on the third Sunday of ...

Dick Garmaker Richard Eugene Garmaker (October 29, 1932 – June 13, 2020) was an American basketball player who played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1955 to 1961. College career Garmaker was a 6'3" guard/forward from the ...

, NBA All-Star Game *

Rod Hundley Rodney Clark "Hot Rod" Hundley (October 26, 1934 – March 27, 2015) was an American professional basketball player and television broadcaster. Hundley played college basketball for the West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball, West Virginia ...

, NBA All-Star Game

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1959-60 Minneapolis Lakers Season Los Angeles Lakers seasons

Minnesota Lakers Minnesota Lakers