It wasn’t supposed to be this bad. When the Lakers acquired Russell Westbrook a year ago, the team believed that the trio of Westbrook, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis would be a big three that could run the table in the Western Conference. Instead, it created a logjam for who was going to control the ball. The offense has not been fluid, and the team took a major hit defensively as well.
- 10. 2004-05 Los Angeles Lakers 34-48 (41.5% W/L)
- 9. 2021-22 Los Angeles Lakers 33-49 (40.2% W/L)
- 8. 1993-94 Los Angeles Lakers 33-49 (40.2% W/L)
- 7. 1974-75 Los Angeles Lakers 30-52 (36.6% W/L)
- 6. 1959-60 Minneapolis Lakers 25-50 (33.3% W/L)
- 5. 2013-14 Los Angeles Lakers 27-55 (31.7% W/L)
- 4. 2016-17 Los Angeles Lakers 26-56 (31.7% W/L)
- 3. 1957-58 Minneapolis Lakers 19-53 (26.4% W/L)
- 2. 2014-15 Los Angeles Lakers 21-61 (25.6% W/L)
- 1. 2015-16 Los Angeles Lakers 17-65 (20.7% W/L)
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With little outside shooting help, and the combination of age and injury, the Lakers are looking rough right now. The team is relying on veterans to carry this team, but the team does not have enough youth and athleticism. To make matters worse, the team is capped for the future by dealing away their first-round picks in the Davis deal with the Pelicans.
While the 2020 championship was nice and all, the Lakers were supposed to get more out of these LeBron years. Instead, the last two seasons have been shaken up with injuries and poor play. This season, the Lakers are one game away from being the worst team in the conference standings. Even if the team were to win their next two or three games, the team would still be off to one of their worst starts.
The season for the Lakers is just 11 games in, but the team is flirting with finishing with the worst winning percentage in team history. With a 2-9 mark on the season, the team’s 18.2% winning percentage is on pace to set a new record. The Lakers have plenty of games to go, but this trend cannot continue. The team was banking on using what was left of LeBron’s career to bring home another championship, but things are looking like they are in full reverse right now.
The team has some major decisions to make. The Lakers’ front office wanted to experiment with giving the trio of James, Davis, and Westbrook a full 25 games to work this out. If we doubled the team’s record, the Lakers would be 4-18 after the first 22 games, and that is a pretty steep hole to climb out of if the team wants to make the play-in tournament, let alone the playoffs. With rumors swirling about the destination of Westbrook, it might be time for the team to pull a trade because, right now, it’s just not working in Los Angeles.
10. 2004-05 Los Angeles Lakers 34-48 (41.5% W/L)
In the first season without Shaquille O’Neal, the Lakers missed the playoffs. It was the first time in 11 seasons that the Lakers did not qualify for the playoffs. O’Neal had played for the Lakers since 1995-96, but the feud with Bryant had gone long enough for him to want out. The Lakers owned the worst defensive rating in the league, and head coach Phil Jackson was fired at the end of the year.
The team replaced Jackson with former Houston Rockets head coach Rudy Tomjanovich, but he was forced to resign from the team after a 24-19 start with the team. He would be replaced by Jackson’s assistant, Frank Hamblen. By the end of the season, Hamblen was fired, and the Lakers finished 12th in the conference standings.
9. 2021-22 Los Angeles Lakers 33-49 (40.2% W/L)
Last season, the Lakers had one of their biggest disappointments in team history. After trading away Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and draft capital for Russell Westbrook, the Lakers formed a big three of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Westbrook. The oddsmakers pegged the Lakers as the favorite to win it all. Instead, the team used 41 different starting lineups due to injuries and missed the playoffs. James fell two games short of the qualifying standard for the scoring title. At 37, he would have broken Michael Jordan’s oldest scoring record of age 35.
Even with James averaging over 30 points per game, the Lakers were not cohesive. The trio of James, Davis, and Westbrook played only 21 games together. They were the only team in the league to not have a single five-man starting lineup that played 100 minutes together. The Lakers were 11-10 when the trio played together and 20-33 when only two of the three were on the court. The Lakers finished 11th in the conference standings.
8. 1993-94 Los Angeles Lakers 33-49 (40.2% W/L)
The Lakers lost nine of their first 12 games of the season, which led to head coach Randy Pfund getting fired after a 27-37 start to the season. That included an 18-29 record at the All-Star break. Magic Johnson was brought back to coach the team for the rest of the season. The Lakers lost their last 10 games of the season to miss the playoffs for the first time since 1976. Following the season, Johnson resigned as head coach, while James Worthy retired.
The team did not fare well on the road or against teams in the division. That included a 12-29 record on the road and a 7-23 record against divisional opponents. While the Lakers finished ninth in the conference, which was one spot out of the playoffs, it was not as close as it sounds. The Lakers finished with 33 wins that season but were still nine games out of a playoff spot.
7. 1974-75 Los Angeles Lakers 30-52 (36.6% W/L)
The Lakers failed to win the Pacific Division for the first time, and it was also the first time that the Lakers failed to make the playoffs since 1958. Brian Winters made the All-Rookie First Team, and Gail Goodrich made the All-Star team, which was the lone saving grace of the season. With that said, the team finished 22 games under .500.
As for the standings, the team was dead last and was 10 games out of a playoff spot. The team finished ninth in the conference standings, but at the time, there were only nine teams in the Western Conference. That included an abysmal road record where the team was 9-32. The team was also 10-20 against teams in the Pacific Division. The Lakers went a combined 0-12 against the Celtics, Braves, and Knicks.
6. 1959-60 Minneapolis Lakers 25-50 (33.3% W/L)
The team had five No. 1 overall picks in the league but still finished 25 games below .500. The roster featured Elgin Baylor, Hot Rod Hundley, Chuck Share, Ray Felix, and Frank Selvy as the former top picks of the draft. That was the most among NBA teams.
Talk about a Cinderella finish, though. The Lakers finished third in the division, 21 games behind the Hawks in the Pacific Division. That included a seventh-place finish in the league. In the playoffs, the Lakers defeated the Pistons in two games and then nearly upset the Hawks before St. Louis closed out the series in Game 7. This would be the final season of the Lakers playing in Minneapolis.
5. 2013-14 Los Angeles Lakers 27-55 (31.7% W/L)
After a failed Dwight Howard experiment, things progressively got worse. Kobe Bryant played just six games and was out with an Achilles injury. With 55 losses, the Lakers set a then-record for losses in a season. It was also the first time since 2005 that the team missed the playoffs. The team used 35 different starting lineups. Because of injuries, the team had just 10 healthy players on the roster in the later part of the season.
This all came after the Lakers began the year 13-13. However, a 14-42 record sank the team for the rest of the season. At one point, there was a three-game stretch where the Lakers allowed 136 points per game. The Lakers finished 14th in the Western Conference, and it was the third time in the last 38 years that the team missed the playoffs.
4. 2016-17 Los Angeles Lakers 26-56 (31.7% W/L)
The post-Kobe Bryant era did not start on the right foot. The Lakers entered a full rebuild. Magic Johnson replaced Jim Buss as team president, but the season saw a lot of disappointment. On the anniversary of Bryant’s 81-point game, the Lakers lost by 49 points. At the time, it was the worst loss ever in franchise history, which surpassed the record of 48 points against the Jazz on March 28, 2016.
While the team improved in their amount of wins from the previous season, the team finished 14th in the conference standings. The team was 9-32 on the road and won only two games in December, February, and March. After the season concluded, the team traded away D’Angelo Russell after a major distraction of Russell exposing an affair teammate Nick Young was having.
3. 1957-58 Minneapolis Lakers 19-53 (26.4% W/L)
For the longest time, this was the worst season the Lakers had ever had. The team started the season 2-15, and the tough year continued. Both Dick Garmaker and Larry Foust made the All-Star Game, but it would be the first time in franchise history that the team would not make the playoffs. The Celtics and Knicks owned the Lakers during the season. The Lakers went 0-9 against the Celtics and 1-8 against the Knicks.
Their regular season distress included a 4-8 record against the Royals, a 3-6 record against Philadelphia, a 3-9 record against the Hawks, and a 5-7 record against the Nationals. Their best record against a team in the league was a 6-6 mark against the Pistons. The Lakers were 4-21 on the road and finished with the worst record among the eight teams.
2. 2014-15 Los Angeles Lakers 21-61 (25.6% W/L)
The Lakers were coming off a tough two-year stretch. That included a failed experiment with Dwight Howard and Steve Nash. Mike D’Antoni resigned after two seasons as head coach, and former All-Star Pau Gasol left for the Chicago Bulls in the offseason. The Lakers tried to bring LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony to pair with Bryant but failed due to contract negotiations. The season was disappointing, to say the least, but Bryant passed Michael Jordan on the scoring list.
The team started a franchise-worst 1-9 in their first 10 games and lost 60 games for the first time in team history. Rookie lottery pick Julius Randle was injured on opening night and missed the remainder of the season. Bryant underwent season-ending surgery to repair a rotator cuff tear in his right shoulder. The team went 1-8 in April to finish a miserable season where the Lakers were 14th in the conference.
1. 2015-16 Los Angeles Lakers 17-65 (20.7% W/L)
The final season of Kobe Bryant was the farewell tour fans would have hoped for. The team finished with a franchise-record worst 17-65 mark. Watching Bryant make his final stops around the league was the lone saving grace. In his final game, Bryant had one of the best final nights of a career by scoring 60 points. At the end of the year, head coach Byron Scott was fired as the head coach.
The Lakers finished with an abysmal 5-36 record on the road, which included a 2-14 mark against Pacific Division opponents. Because the Warriors set a record for wins with 73, the Lakers were 56 games back of first place. The team’s 20.7% winning percentage remains a record for the worst winning percentage in a season for now.
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