The1987–88 Los Angeles Lakers season was the 42nd season for theLos Angeles Lakers as a franchise, their 40th season in theNational Basketball Association, and their 28th season inLos Angeles, California.^[1] The Lakers entered the regular season as the defending NBA champion, having defeated theBoston Celtics in six games in the1987 NBA Finals; following their championship win, Lakers head coachPat Riley promised the team would repeat as champions.^[2]

The Lakers got off to a fast start by winning their first eight games of the regular season, then later on posting a 15-game winning streak between December and January, and holding a 35–8 record at the All-Star break.^[3] The Lakers then posted a 10-game winning streak in February, and won thePacific Division title with a league-best 62–20 record, which earned them the first seed in theWestern Conference.^[4]

Byron Scott led the Lakers in scoring averaging 21.7 points, 4.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game, whileJames Worthy averaged 19.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game, andMagic Johnson provided the team with 19.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 11.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game, and was named to theAll-NBA First Team. In addition,Kareem Abdul-Jabbar contributed 14.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, whileA.C. Green provided with 11.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Off the bench,Mychal Thompson averaged 11.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, while defensive guardMichael Cooper contributed 8.7 points and 4.7 assists per game, and was named to theNBA All-Defensive First Team,Wes Matthews provided with 5.7 points and 2.7 assists per game, andKurt Rambis averaged 4.0 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.^[5]

During theNBA All-Star weekend at theChicago Stadium inChicago, Illinois, Johnson, Worthy and Abdul-Jabbar were all selected for the1988 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team, while Riley was selected to coach the Western Conference; Johnson scored 17 points along with 19 assists and 2 steals, despite the Western Conference losing to the Eastern Conference, 138–133.^[6][7][8] Meanwhile, Scott participated in theNBA Three-Point Shootout for the second consecutive year.^[9][10]

Johnson also finished in third place inMost Valuable Player voting, behindMichael Jordan of theChicago Bulls, andLarry Bird of theBoston Celtics;^[11][12] Scott finished tied in eighth place inMost Improved Player voting,^[12] while Cooper finished tied in fifth place inDefensive Player of the Year voting,^[12] and Riley finished in second place inCoach of the Year voting, behindDoug Moe of theDenver Nuggets.^[13][12]

Before the Lakers could make good on Riley's guarantee in the1988 NBA playoffs, they swept theSan Antonio Spurs in three straight games in the Western Conference First Round.^[14] However, the following two rounds would not be as easy for the Lakers, as they trailed 2–1 to the 5th-seededUtah Jazz in the Western Conference Semi-finals, but managed to defeat them in seven games,^[15] and then defeated theDallas Mavericks in another tough seven-game series in the Western Conference Finals.^[16]

In the1988 NBA Finals, the Lakers defeated theDetroit Pistons in a hard-fought seven game series, winning their eleventh NBA championship; Worthy, who had a triple-double of 36 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in a 108–105 Game 7 win, was named theNBA Finals Most Valuable Player. The Lakers also became the NBA's first repeat champions since theBoston Celtics did it in the1968–69 NBA season.^[17][18][19] Following the season, Rambis signed as a free agent with theCharlotte Hornets expansion team.^[20][21][22]

By the time the Lakers had finished their season, they had played an NBA record of 106 games, including another record of 24 playoff games, winning 77 and losing 29; the team went 62–20 in the regular season and 15–9 in the playoffs, en route to their sixth NBA championship in Los Angeles, and their 11th overall in franchise history.HoopsHype would later rank this squad as the team with the 13th easiest route to theNBA Finals championship (in terms of team records of their opponents), primarily due to the record that the Spurs had this season.^[23]

The 1988 NBA Finals was the last time theShowtime-era Lakers won an NBA championship; it was also the final time that the franchise won a championship at theGreat Western Forum. The Lakers did not win another championship until2000, when they were playing at the Staples Center (now known as theCrypto.com Arena).

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
3	69	Willie Glass	Forward	United States	St. John's
4	92	Ralph Tally	Point Guard	United States	Norfolk State
6	115	Kenny Travis		United States	New Mexico State
6	138	Frank Ford	Guard-Forward	United States	Auburn University
7	161	Ron Vanderschaaf	Center	Netherlands	Central Washington University

z – clinched division title

y – clinched division title

x – clinched playoff spot

Player statistics citation:^[5]

• James Worthy,NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award
• Magic Johnson,All-NBA First Team
• Michael Cooper,NBA All-Defensive First Team

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was named to his 18th consecutiveNBA All-Star Game. He broke the All-Star scoring record during the game atChicago Stadium
• Magic Johnson was voted to his 6th consecutive NBA All-Star Game as a starter and 8th overall
• James Worthy was voted to his 3rd consecutive NBA All-Star Game
• Pat Riley was the NBA All-Star Games Western Conference coach for the 4th consecutive time and 6th overall

• "Back to Back" – Documentary on the 1987–88 Los Angeles Lakers onYouTube

• NBA championship seasons
• 1987–88 NBA season by team
• Los Angeles Lakers seasons
• Western Conference (NBA) championship seasons
• 1987 in sports in California
• 1988 in sports in California
• 1987 in Los Angeles
• 1988 in Los Angeles

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