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The 2022–23 Los Angeles Lakers season was the 76th season of the franchise, its 75th season in the National Basketball Association (NBA), its 63rd season in Los Angeles, and its 24th season playing home games at Crypto.com Arena. On April 11, 2022, the Los Angeles Lakers fired Frank Vogel as head coach. On June 3, 2022, the Lakers hired Darvin Ham as their new head coach.

The Lakers began the season 0–5 and were the last winless team in the league. It was the first time that LeBron James started a season 0–5 since his rookie season with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003. The Lakers earned their first win in the following game against the Denver Nuggets, after Anthony Davis returned from a one-game absence due to lower back tightness. He scored 23 points and had 15 rebounds, and James added 26 points. In his second game off the bench as the Lakers' sixth man, Russell Westbrook had 18 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. After winning their next game against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Lakers lost 130–116 to the Utah Jazz, failing to secure their first three-game winning streak since January 7, 2022.

On November 18, 2022, the Lakers won their second straight game for the second time this season and they also won their third straight game for the first time since January 2022. The Lakers retired No. 99 in honor of George Mikan on October 30, 2022. Pau Gasol's No. 16 was retired on March 7, 2023, against his former team the Memphis Grizzlies. On February 7, 2023, James broke the NBA scoring record against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

With a 128–117 win over the Jazz, the Lakers qualified for the Play-In-Tournament for the first time since 2021. The Lakers defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 108–102 in overtime to return to the playoffs after a one-year absence. Additionally, the Lakers became the sixth team to advance to the playoffs after starting the season 2–10. The Lakers won 8 of their last 10 games. In the 2023 NBA playoffs, the Lakers defeated the two-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in six games despite being underdogs to win a playoff series for the first time since their championship run in 2020 and on their home court for the first time since 2012. In the conference semifinals, they defeated the defending champion Golden State Warriors also in six games, becoming the first 7th-seed to reach the Western Conference finals since the 1986–87 Seattle SuperSonics.

However, the Lakers were swept by the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference finals in 4 straight games. This was the first time that the Nuggets have won a playoff series over Los Angeles in their franchise history. Beforehand, the Lakers had won 7 straight playoff matchups against Denver dating back from 1979 to 2020. It was also the first time that the Lakers were swept in a playoff round since the San Antonio Spurs did it in the first round of the 2013 NBA playoffs, and the first time that they were swept by a top seeded team since the Utah Jazz did it in the 1997–98 NBA season. This also marked the first time for James of experiencing a defeat in the conference finals since 2009, when he also was then part of the Cleveland Cavaliers team, who were under his leadership that he also led and lost to the Dwight Howard-led Orlando Magic in a six-game series.

Draft

The Lakers did not hold any pick in the 2022 NBA draft; however, they got the 35th pick, Max Christie, in a trade with the Orlando Magic in exchange for a 2028 second-round pick and cash considerations.

Standings

Division

Conference

Roster

Game log

Preseason

Regular season

Play-in

Playoffs

Game log

Player statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

• Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Lakers only.

Transactions

Trades

Free agency

Additions

Subtractions

Date	Player	Reason	New team	Ref.
July 6	Malik Monk	2-year $19M	Sacramento Kings
April 9	Davon Reed	Waived	Prometey Slobozhanske

Notes

1. The worse of the picks originally belonging to the Lakers and Wizards. Washington traded its 2028 pick to the Lakers in 2021. The Lakers traded the better of their pick and Washington's to Orlando before the 2022 draft and then the Lakers traded the remaining pick to Washington in this trade. It's a pick swap without technically being considered a pick swap.
2. The worse of the picks originally belonging to Memphis and Washington.
3. Utah will receive the pick if it's No. 5–30, otherwise they receive the Lakers' 2027 second-round pick.
4. The pick was later traded to the Phoenix Suns, who later had to forfeit said pick due to a tampering violation.

References

1. "Team Directory" (PDF). 2020–21 Los Angeles Lakers Media Guide. NBA Properties. December 20, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
2. ^ "James, Davis help Lakers win for first time this season". ESPN.com. AP. October 30, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
3. Greer, Jordan (October 27, 2022). "LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers are in big trouble: Los Angeles' 0-4 start explained in four terrible stats". Sporting News. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
4. Woike, Dan (October 30, 2022). "Russell Westbrook injects life into Lakers as they defeat Nuggets for first win". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
5. Buha, Jovan (November 5, 2022). "Lakers take 'a huge step backward': Why defense and effort stopped L.A.'s momentum vs. Jazz". The Athletic. Retrieved November 13, 2022. With back-to-back impressive wins over the Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans, the Lakers sought to generate further momentum with their first three-game win streak since Jan. 7.
6. Hanna, Jason; Close, David (February 8, 2023). "LeBron James breaks NBA's all-time scoring record, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar". CNN. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
7. "2022 NBA Draft Order". NBA.com. May 19, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
8. ^ "Lakers Acquire 35th Pick in 2022 NBA Drafts". NBA.com. June 23, 2022. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
9. Savage, Dan (June 23, 2022). "Orlando Magic Acquire Future Second Round Pick, Cash Considerations From L.A. Lakers". NBA.com. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
10. "Lakers Acquire Patrick Beverley". NBA.com. August 25, 2022. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
11. "Los Angeles Lakers Acquire Rui Hachimura". NBA.com. January 23, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
12. "Wizards acquire Kendrick Nunn and three second round picks". NBA.com. January 23, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
13. "Lakers Acquire D'Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, and Jarred Vanderbilt". NBA.com. February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
14. "Timberwolves send D'Angelo Russell to the Los Angeles Lakers in three-team deal". NBA.com. February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
15. ^ "Future Traded Pick Details". RealGM. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
16. "DENVER NUGGETS ACQUIRE CENTER THOMAS BRYANT". NBA.com. February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
17. "LA Clippers Acquire Hyland from Denver Nuggets". NBA.com. February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
18. "Lakers Acquire Mo Bamba and Davon Reed". NBA.com. February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
19. "Magic Acquire Patrick Beverley, Future Second Round Draft Pick and Cash Considerations as Part of a Four-Team Trade". NBA.com. February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
20. "Suns lose 2024 second-round pick for tampering violation on free-agent center Drew Eubanks". cbssports.com. October 25, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
21. ^ "Lakers Sign Troy Brown Jr., Damian Jones and Juan Toscano-Anderson". NBA.com. July 1, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
22. ^ "Lakers Sign Scotty Pippen Jr. and Cole Swider to Two-Way Contracts". NBA.com. July 1, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
23. "Lakers Sign Thomas Bryant". NBA.com. July 6, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
24. "Lakers Sign Lonnie Walker IV". NBA.com. July 6, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
25. "Lakers Sign Dennis Schröder". NBA.com.
26. "Lakers Sign Dwayne Bacon and Matt Ryan". NBA.com. September 26, 2022. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
27. "Kings Sign Malik Monk". NBA.com. July 6, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022.

External links

• 2022–23 Los Angeles Lakers at Basketball-Reference.com

• Sports

• Los Angeles Lakers seasons
• 2022–23 NBA season by team
• 2022 in sports in Los Angeles
• 2023 in sports in Los Angeles