Lakers History

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Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers have commissioned a statue of legendary head coach Phil Jackson, set to be unveiled Friday, April 9, 2027 outside Crypto.com Arena.

“Phil Jackson defines championship basketball for a reason,” said Los Angeles Lakers Governor Jeanie Buss. “His masterful approach to coaching brought out the best in some of the greatest athletes to ever play the game. After he accepted my dad’s invitation to join the Lakers, Phil’s unmatched creativity and commitment to excellence restored our championship legacy, bringing five titles and setting a standard of excellence for generations to come. It is a great joy to be able to mark that achievement with the statue he so richly deserves.”

Across 11 seasons as head coach (1999-2004, 2005-11), Jackson guided the Lakers through one of the most storied eras in franchise history. He led the Purple and Gold to seven NBA Finals appearances and five championships, including three consecutive titles from 2000-02 and back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010. Jackson tallied a franchise-record 610 wins, finishing with a 610-292 (.676) regular season record and a 118-63 (.652) mark in the playoffs. The Lakers reached the postseason every year under Jackson, winning 50-plus games nine times, including two 60-win campaigns.

While leading the Lakers, Jackson twice served as Western Conference head coach at NBA All-Star Weekend in 2000 and 2009. The Montana native was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007 and was named one of the 15 greatest coaches in NBA history as part of the league’s 75th anniversary celebration.

Jackson will become the ninth member of the Los Angeles Lakers to be commemorated at Star Plaza, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, Chick Hearn, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Pat Riley and Jerry West. The statue will be designed and created by Julie Rotblatt Amrany and Omri Amrany of Rotblatt Amrany Studio.

Tickets to&nbsp;the&nbsp;April 9&nbsp;contest&nbsp;against the Minnesota Timberwolves&nbsp;are&nbsp;available at&nbsp;Ticketmaster.com.&nbsp;

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Los Angeles Lakers Announce Phil Jackson Statue

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The high-flying big man had many highlight dunks throughout his career, and as part of NBA Dunk Week, we take a look back at 10 of his top dunks as a Laker.

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Dwight Howard's TOP 10 Dunks As a Laker

Taylor Geas

 On one particular afternoon in the eighties, Jack Nicholson invited Pat Riley and his wife, Chris, over for lunch.“There was this big bowl on his coffee table,” Riley explained. “And Jack said, ‘do you have a $100 bill?’ I said ‘No.’ I wasn’t in the habit of carrying $100 bills around with me then. Jack pulls out a $100 bill; he gives it to me and tells me to sign it. Jack takes it, and he rips it in half and then rips it in half again and he keeps ripping it up and ripping it up and then drops it in this bowl. And in that bowl, there must’ve been a hundred peoples’ autographed $100 bills. He had a list of the names somewhere–and I was one of them.”That bowl was more than a party trick. Symbolically it said: You are part of something bigger than yourself. Perhaps, Nicholson’s way of declaring, “You belong.” That’s iconic. That’s what icons do; they create belonging.Icons don’t just stand apart from culture, they gather it around them, pulling others into their orbit to create a lasting presence; it’s a mythology made up of parts that are entirely real.People have been remembered. They have been immortalized in statues, passed down through stories, celebrated as anointed icons. At first, icons were gods and figures of spiritual devotion whose presence and power defined cultures. Over time, rulers and political leaders joined the ranks, followed by athletes, artists, and celebrities. Today, brands themselves can become icons, shaping culture as much as any person could.Few sports franchises occupy the rarefied air that the Los Angeles Lakers do. They are not merely a team that wins games; they are a global brand, a cultural reference point, a living mythos. Whether you’re traveling through the Village of Dernau, in the Ahr valley of Germany with a population of 1,000 people, vacationing in Maslinica, Croatia, population 208 people, or a fisherman living on the coast of Ketchikan, Alaska, you will find a Lakers fan.To understand how the Lakers became iconic, one must examine their uncanny ability to merge sport with spectacle. The Lakers are not just basketball; they are about being seen, felt, heard and understood—about belonging to a narrative bigger than the game itself.Because the Lakers answer a human need. They endure. They help us locate ourselves in the world, encouraging us to look up, aspire, and imagine more. They’ve become a symbol that holds meaning long after a moment has passed.This is the effect of the Purple and Gold, not only 17 titles, but their ability to weave basketball into the fabric of identity. Whether courtside, watching from halfway across the globe, or simply wearing purple and gold, people participate perpetually in a shared story about endless ambition and style. In Laker land, you won’t see stars in the sky, instead it’s a place where stars  land. Elgin. Jerry. Kareem. Magic. Shaq. Kobe. LeBron. Luka.“I’m living my dream,” said Luka Dončić. “Since I was kid, I have wanted to play in the NBA. So, I’m living my dream, basketball has given me everything I want. Everything I desire.”When asked if Luka knew he’d be a professional basketball player he said, “Noooooo,” emphatically. “I didn’t expect to be here. I wanted to be here, but you never know.”We watched these one-named legends and now watching Luka, the Lakers repeatedly remind us of what’s possible when mastery meets meaning. And long after the game or story has ended, they continue to shape how we dream. But their impact is not built from fame, style and the extraordinary.Lakers Head Coach, JJ Redick, who spent his offseason talking to coaches, athletes and observing the inner workings of professional teams, reflected after talking to Bill Belichick and Tom Brady on what it takes to reach the highest level of success. Redick summarized the essence of greatness succinctly: “It’s actually very simple: a daily commitment.”That’s what separates the merely good from the truly iconic, ritualized excellence. When your absolute relentless commit to the ordinary becomes nothing short of historic.“I hope it’s a great feeling. You know when you think of me, and you think about what I’ve been able to accomplish,” said LeBron James in his 23rd season. “And I hope the basketball point is not the biggest part of it.”The Lakers held the game, Riley embraced the game, Luka’s changing the game, and LeBron continues to transcend it. Icon status goes beyond results, championships and dynasties; it’s measured by permanence.True icons don’t just win; they last. The bowl is always on the table, the hundred-dollar bills are waiting to be signed.  

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Becoming Iconic

The work that made Kobe, Kobe. BTS of the Mamba in the lab.

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Kobe Bryant IN THE GYM: Practice Footage

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Kobe 8 vs Kobe 24

The first time Kobe Bryant walked into STAPLES Center after retiring, it was with his daughter Gianna. This time, he wasn't the Black Mamba locked in fierce competition. He was a dad, "seeing the game through her eyes." Years earlier, in 2004, Kobe had watched Kill Bill, Quentin Tarantino’s film about a deadly assassin known as the Black Mamba. The character, played by Uma Thurman, would leave a lasting impression.Just like the highly venomous snake, she was known for her agility and aggressiveness. The violence she inflicted was rapid and severe. If her sword didn’t kill you, her venom would cause blurred vision, neurological symptoms and difficulty speaking. She was shy and elusive by nature and would only strike when threatened.In a 2014 New Yorker article, "The Fourth Quarter," Bryant disclosed that after watching the film he did some research. "I read up on the animal and said, 'Wow, this is pretty awesome,' he shared. "This is a perfect description of how I would want my game to be."They call this technique the Alter Ego Method. It’s when one consciously steps into an alternate identity that embodies the qualities they need in a moment. We don’t become our alter egos. We shift in and out of the mindset. But Kobe did. His game became faster. More lethal. And deliberate. Just like the deadly African snake. But maybe more than he realized, he shared a deep connection with the deadly female assassin too.

If you strip away the basketball courts and Japanese sword fights, both embody the archetype of the relentless warrior: trained to the peak of human skill, fueled by an unshakable will, and utterly unwilling to quit until the mission is done.Both Mambas understood that victory meant filtering out noise and tension until only the target remained. Both faced a seemingly endless stream of opponents and decimated them through not just skill but sheer willpower. Both could become a single-person wrecking crew in a moment’s notice, leaving no doubt who controlled their fate. And for both, the waking before sunrise, mastering difficult techniques, the purpose of torturous, voluntary training was the same: when the critical moment arrived, their bodies would react without hesitation.But what the Black Mambas had most in common—the trait that made them devastatingly powerful—was their vulnerability.The word often carries a connotation of softness, even weakness. But linking vulnerability to fragility, especially because it’s associated with femininity, is misguided. Kobe understood that. He recognized the falsehood in those assumptions. He knew the strength of women; it was something he deeply admired and actively nurtured by coaching and mentoring female players, from his daughter Gianna to Sabrina Ionescu. As a passionate supporter and ally of the WNBA, Kobe valued women’s sports and the athletes who shaped it.By understanding the magnitude to which these killer assassins expressed their vulnerability, that was the root of their sheer strength, their brutality. They were never too scared. Intimidated. Or quiet. They said exactly what they wanted and stopped at nothing until they got it.In hindsight, his choice of this alter ego after watching Kill Bill seems even more fitting. Destined. The Black Mamba’s fierce skill and unwavering resolve mirrored the very ideals Kobe lived and the values Kobe championed as a father to four daughters and a committed advocate for women’s sports.

He set so many standards. He set so many examples. He literally wrote the book on how to be better every day. He was vulnerable in his every pursuit. What he wanted most was to inspire the next generation. He still does this in so many ways, but one of the most powerful is through fathers raising their daughters to be fearless. To be strong. And to be themselves.At one point, the Black Mamba was just a character in a movie, and you can't believe everything you see in the movies. So Kobe made everything she was and everything she stood for entirely real.

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The Real Black Mamba

Celebrating Nick Van Exel’s elite handles with the Lakers for NBA Handles Week.