The

1973–74 NBA season The 1973–74 NBA season was the 28th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. Notable occurrences * The ...

was the Lakers' 26th season 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 14th season in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

.1973–74 Los Angeles Lakers
/ref> Having lost to the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

in the previous season's

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

, the Lakers would make it to the NBA Playoffs, posting a 47–35 record, only to lose to 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

in five games. For the first time since 1967-68 Wilt Chamberlain was not on the team as he retired. Following the season,

Jerry West Jerry Alan West (May 28, 1938 – June 12, 2024) was an American basketball player and executive. He played professionally for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...

retired after 14 seasons with the Lakers. He would later return to the Lakers as the head coach from

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, then served as general manager from

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Offseason

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

:z – clinched division title :y – clinched division title :x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

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Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

L 95–99
,

Gail Goodrich Gail Charles Goodrich Jr. (born April 23, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is best known for scoring a then record 42 points for UCLA in the 1965 NCAA championship game vs ...

(31) ,

Connie Hawkins Cornelius Lance "Connie" Hawkins (July 17, 1942 – October 6, 2017) was an American professional basketball player. A New York City playground legend, "the Hawk" was to play basketball for the Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball, Iowa Hawkeyes but wa ...

(14) ,

(6) , Milwaukee Arena
10,938 , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , March 31 , @

L 90–109
,

(21) , Happy Hairston (10) , Happy Hairston (7) , Milwaukee Arena
10,938 , 0–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 3 , April 2 ,

W 98–96
,

Elmore Smith Elmore Smith (born May 9, 1949) is an American former professional basketball player born in Macon, Georgia. A center from Kentucky State University, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1971 to 1979. He was a member ...

(30) ,

(17) ,

(12) , The Forum
17,505 , 1–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , April 4 ,

L 90–112
,

(20) ,

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L 92–114
,

(22) , Happy Hairston (11) ,

(6) , Milwaukee Arena
10,938 , 1–4 , -

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 ...

* Gail Goodrich,

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 ...

, NBA All-Star Game

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1973-74 Los Angeles Lakers Season

Los Angeles Lakers seasons Los Angle Los Angle