Minneapolis Lakers Year-by-Year

Minneapolis Lakers
Year-by-Year Finishes

Compiled by Stew Thornley
Author of Basketball’s Original Dynasty: The History of the Lakers

National Basketball League

Year Won Lost Place Coach

1947-48 43 17 1^st John Kundla

    Playoffs:
Minneapolis defeated Oshkosh, 3 games to 1
Minneapolis defeated Tri-Cities, 2 games to 0
Minneapolis defeated Rochester, 3 games to 1, to win the National Basketball League title

Basketball Association of America

Year Won Lost Place Coach

1948-49 44 16 2^nd John Kundla

    Playoffs:
Minneapolis defeated Chicago, 2 games to 0
Minneapolis defeated Rochester, 2 games to 0
Minneapolis defeated Washington, 4 games to 2, to win the Basketball Association of America title

National Basketball Association

Year Won Lost Place Coach

1949-50 51 17 1^st (tie) John Kundla

    Playoffs:
Minneapolis defeated Rochester, 78-76, in a tie-breaker game for first place.
Minneapolis defeated Chicago, 2 games to 0
Minneapolis defeated Fort Wayne, 2 games to 0
Minneapolis defeated Anderson, 2 games to 0
Minneapolis defeated Syracuse, 4 games to 2, to win the National Basketball Association title

1950-51 44 24 1^st John Kundla

    Playoffs:
Minneapolis defeated Indianapolis games to 1
Rochester defeated Minneapolis, 3 games to 1

1951-52 40 26 2^nd John Kundla

    Playoffs:
Minneapolis defeated Indianapolis, 2 games to 0
Minneapolis defeated Rochester, 3 games to 1
Minneapolis defeated New York, 4 games to 3, to win the National Basketball Association title

1952-53 48 22 1^st John Kundla

    Playoffs:
Minneapolis defeated Indianapolis, 2 games to 0
Minneapolis defeated Fort Wayne, 3 games to 2
Minneapolis defeated New York, 4 games to 1, to win the National Basketball Association title

1953-54 46 26 1^st John Kundla

    Playoffs:
Minneapolis defeated Rochester and Fort Wayne, 3 games to 0, in a round-robin opening to the playoffs
Minneapolis defeated Rochester, 2 games to 1
Minneapolis defeated Syracuse, 4 games to 3, to win the National Basketball Association title

1954-55 40 32 2^nd John Kundla

    Playoffs:
Minneapolis defeated Rochester, 2 games to 1
Fort Wayne defeated Minneapolis, 3 games to 1

1955-56 33 39 2^nd (tie) John Kundla

    Playoffs:
Minneapolis defeated St. Louis, 103-97, in a tie-breaker game for second place to determine home-court advantage.
St. Louis defeated Minneapolis, 2 games to 1

1956-57 34 38 1^st (tie) John Kundla

    Playoffs:
Minneapolis, which tied for first with St. Louis and Fort Wayne, lost to St. Louis, 114-111 in overtime, in a tie-breaker game.
Minneapolis defeated Fort Wayne, 2 games to 0
St. Louis defeated Minneapolis, 3 games to 0

1957-58 19 53 4^th George Mikan-John Kundla

1958-59 33 39 2^nd John Kundla

    Playoffs:
Minneapolis defeated Detroit, 2 games to 1
Minneapolis defeated St. Louis, 4 games to 2
Boston defeated Minneapolis, 4 games to 0, to win the National Basketball Association title

1959-60 25 50 3^rd John Castellani-Jim Pollard

    Playoffs:
Minneapolis defeated Detroit, 2 games to 0
St. Louis defeated Minneapolis, 4 games to 3

Year-by-Year Individual Statistics

1947-48, Coach: John Kundla, Record: 43-17, 1^st Place

Player Games Points Average

George Mikan 56 1,195 21.3

Jim Pollard 59 760 12.9

Don “Swede” Carlson 58 475 8.2

Jack Dwan 55 306 5.6

Herm Schaefer 54 288 5.3

Tony Jaros 58 273 4.7

Paul Napolitano 52 155 3.0

Johnny Jorgensen 38 101 2.7

Bill Durkee 23 41 1.8

Bob Gerber 15 36 2.4

Ken Exel 5 4 0.8

Joe Patanelli 5 4 0.8

Jack Rocker 5 4 0.8

Warren Ajax 3 1 0.3

Ted Cook 2 0 0.0

1948-49, Coach: John Kundla, Record: 44-16, 2^nd Place

Player Games Points Average

George Mikan 60 1,698 28.3

Jim Pollard 53 784 14.8

Herm Schaefer 58 602 10.4

Don “Swede” Carlson 55 508 9.2

Arnie Ferrin 47 345 7.3

Tony Jaros 59 343 5.8

Jack Dwan 60 276 4.6

Don Forman 44 179 4.1

Meyer “Mike” Bloom 45 126 2.8

Ed “Whitey” Kachan 52 112 2.2

Johnny Jorgensen 48 106 2.2

Earl Gardner 50 89 1.8

Don Smith 8 6 0.8

Jack Tingle 2 2 1.0

Ray Ellefson 3 2 0.7

1949-50, Coach: John Kundla, Record: 51-17, 1^st Place

Player Games Points Average

George Mikan 68 1,865 27.4

Jim Pollard 66 973 14.7

Vern Mikkelsen 68 791 11.6

Arnie Ferrin 63 340 5.4

Herm Schaefer 65 330 5.1

Bob Harrison 66 300 4.5

Paul Walther 53 291 5.5

Billy Hassett 60 272 4.5

Slater Martin 67 271 4.0

Don “Swede” Carlson 57 267 4.7

Tony Jaros 61 240 3.9

Gene Stump 49 163 3.3

Bud Grant 35 91 2.6

Norm Glick 1 2 2.0

1950-51, Coach: John Kundla, Record: 44-24, 1^st Place

Player Games Points Average

George Mikan 68 1,932 28.4

Vern Mikkelsen 64 904 14.1

Jim Pollard 54 629 11.6

Slater Martin 68 575 8.5

Bob Harrison 68 401 5.9

Arnie Ferrin 68 352 5.2

Kevin O’Shea 63 271 4.3

Tony Jaros 63 241 3.8

Bud Grant 61 159 2.6

Joe Hutton 60 155 2.6

Ed Beach 12 22 1.8

1951-52, Coach: John Kundla, Record: 40-26, 2^nd Place

Player Games Points Average

George Mikan 64 1,523 23.8

Vern Mikkelsen 66 1,009 15.3

Jim Pollard 65 1,005 15.5

Slater Martin 66 616 9.3

Frank “Pep” Saul 61 433 6.8

Bob Harrison 65 401 6.2

Howie Schultz 66 268 4.1

Myer “Whitey” Skoog 35 234 6.7

Lew Hitch 61 217 3.6

Joe Hutton 60 155 2.6

John Pilch 9 5 0.6

1952-53, Coach: John Kundla, Record: 48-22, 1^st Place

Player Games Points Average

George Mikan 70 1,442 20.6

Vern Mikkelsen 70 1,047 15.0

Jim Pollard 66 859 13.0

Slater Martin 70 774 10.6

Frank “Pep” Saul 70 516 7.4

Bob Harrison 70 497 7.1

Jim Holstein 66 266 4.0

Lew Hitch 70 261 3.7

Whitey Skoog 68 250 3.7

Howie Schultz 40 91 2.3

1953-54, Coach: John Kundla, Record: 46-26, 1^st Place

Player Games Points Average

George Mikan 72 1,306 18.1

Jim Pollard 71 831 11.7

Vern Mikkelsen 72 797 11.1

Slater Martin 69 684 9.9

Clyde Lovellette 72 588 8.2

Whitey Skoog 71 496 7.0

Frank “Pep” Saul 71 452 6.4

Bob Harrison 64 382 6.0

Dick Schnittker 71 330 4.6

Jim Fritsche 68 281 4.1

Jim Holstein 70 240 3.4

1954-55, Coach: John Kundla, Record: 40-32, 2SUP>nd Place

Player Games Points Average

Vern Mikkelsen 72 1,327 18.4

Clyde Lovellette 70 1,311 18.7

Slater Martin 72 976 13.6

Whitey Skoog 72 785 10.9

Dick Schnittker 72 750 10.4

Jim Pollard 63 681 10.8

Lew Hitch 74 449 6.1

Ed Kalafat 72 347 4.8

Jim Holstein 62 281 4.5

Don Sunderlage 45 114 2.5

Bob Carney 19 69 3.6

Bob Watson 3 18 6.0

1955-56, Coach: John Kundla, Record: 33-39, 2SUP>nd Place “tie”

Player Games Points Average

Clyde Lovellette 71 1,526 21.5

Vern Mikkelsen 72 962 13.4

Slater Martin 72 947 13.2

Whitey Skoog 72 835 11.6

Dick Schnittker 72 812 11.3

Ed Kalafat 72 574 8.0

George Mikan 37 390 10.5

Dick Garmaker 68 388 5.7

Chuck Mencel 69 318 4.6

Lew Hitch 69 288 4.2

Jim Holstein 27 72 2.7

Bob Williams 20 66 3.3

Ron Feiereisel 10 30 3.0

John Horan 19 34 1.8

1956-57, Coach: John Kundla, Record: 34-38, 2^nd Place “tie”

Player Games Points Average

Clyde Lovellette 69 1,434 20.8

Dick Garmaker 72 1,177 16.3

Bob “Slick” Leonard 72 792 11.0

Vern Mikkelsen 72 986 13.7

Walter Dukes 71 720 10.1

Chuck Mencel 72 665 9.2

Ed Kalafat 65 553 8.5

Jim Paxson 71 446 6.3

Lew Hitch 68 285 4.2

Whitey Skoog 23 200 8.7

Dick Schnittker 70 386 5.5

Bob Williams 4 4 1.0

1957-58, Coach: George Mikan-John Kundla, Record: 19-53, 4^th Place

Player Games Points Average

Vern Mikkelsen 72 1,248 17.3

Larry Foust 72 1,210 16.8

Dick Garmaker 68 1,094 16.1

Bob Leonard 66 737 11.2

Ed Fleming 72 633 8.8

Jim Krebs 68 533 7.8

Corky Devlin 70 473 6.8

Dick Schnittker 50 457 9.1

Hot Rod Hundley 65 452 7.0

Art Spoelstra 50 382 7.6

Baltico “Bo” Erias 18 148 8.2

Frank Selvy 38 135 3.6

McCoy Ingram 24 67 2.8

Bob Burrow 14 55 3.9

George Brown 1 1 1.0

1958-59, Coach: John Kundla, Record: 33-39, 2^nd Place

Player Games Points Average

Elgin Baylor 70 1,742 24.9

Vern Mikkelsen 72 992 13.8

Dick Garmaker 72 984 13.7

Larry Foust 72 882 12.3

Rod Hundley 71 682 9.6

Jim Krebs 72 634 8.8

Bob Leonard 58 532 9.2

Ed Fleming 71 461 6.5

Alex “Boo” Ellis 72 428 5.9

Steve Hamilton 67 292 4.4

1959-60, Coach: John Castellani-Jim Pollard, Record: 25-50, 3^rf Place

Player Games Points Average

Elgin Baylor 70 2,074 29.6

Rudy LaRusso 71 975 13.7

Rod Hundley 73 933 12.8

Larry Foust 72 877 15.6

Bob Leonard 73 598 8.2

Frank Selvy 62 563 9.1

Tom Hawkins 69 546 7.9

Jim Krebs 75 572 7.6

Dick Garmaker 43 513 11.9

Ray Felix 31 261 8.4

Boo Ellis 46 179 3.9

Ed Fleming 27 171 6.3

Steve Hamilton 15 76 5.1

Bob Smith 10 37 3.7

Nick Mantis 10 21 2.1

Charlie Share 3 7 2.3

Ron Sobiesczyk 1 2 2.0

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National Basketball League
Year	Won	Lost	Place	Coach
1947-48	43	17	1^st	John Kundla
Playoffs: Minneapolis defeated Oshkosh, 3 games to 1 Minneapolis defeated Tri-Cities, 2 games to 0 Minneapolis defeated Rochester, 3 games to 1, to win the National Basketball League title

Basketball Association of America
Year	Won	Lost	Place	Coach
1948-49	44	16	2^nd	John Kundla
Playoffs: Minneapolis defeated Chicago, 2 games to 0 Minneapolis defeated Rochester, 2 games to 0 Minneapolis defeated Washington, 4 games to 2, to win the Basketball Association of America title

National Basketball Association
Year	Won	Lost	Place	Coach
1949-50	51	17	1^st (tie)	John Kundla
Playoffs: Minneapolis defeated Rochester, 78-76, in a tie-breaker game for first place. Minneapolis defeated Chicago, 2 games to 0 Minneapolis defeated Fort Wayne, 2 games to 0 Minneapolis defeated Anderson, 2 games to 0 Minneapolis defeated Syracuse, 4 games to 2, to win the National Basketball Association title

1950-51	44	24	1^st	John Kundla
Playoffs: Minneapolis defeated Indianapolis games to 1 Rochester defeated Minneapolis, 3 games to 1

1951-52	40	26	2^nd	John Kundla
Playoffs: Minneapolis defeated Indianapolis, 2 games to 0 Minneapolis defeated Rochester, 3 games to 1 Minneapolis defeated New York, 4 games to 3, to win the National Basketball Association title

1952-53	48	22	1^st	John Kundla
Playoffs: Minneapolis defeated Indianapolis, 2 games to 0 Minneapolis defeated Fort Wayne, 3 games to 2 Minneapolis defeated New York, 4 games to 1, to win the National Basketball Association title

1953-54	46	26	1^st	John Kundla
Playoffs: Minneapolis defeated Rochester and Fort Wayne, 3 games to 0, in a round-robin opening to the playoffs Minneapolis defeated Rochester, 2 games to 1 Minneapolis defeated Syracuse, 4 games to 3, to win the National Basketball Association title

1954-55	40	32	2^nd	John Kundla
Playoffs: Minneapolis defeated Rochester, 2 games to 1 Fort Wayne defeated Minneapolis, 3 games to 1

1955-56	33	39	2^nd (tie)	John Kundla
Playoffs: Minneapolis defeated St. Louis, 103-97, in a tie-breaker game for second place to determine home-court advantage. St. Louis defeated Minneapolis, 2 games to 1

1956-57	34	38	1^st (tie)	John Kundla
Playoffs: Minneapolis, which tied for first with St. Louis and Fort Wayne, lost to St. Louis, 114-111 in overtime, in a tie-breaker game. Minneapolis defeated Fort Wayne, 2 games to 0 St. Louis defeated Minneapolis, 3 games to 0

1957-58	19	53	4^th	George Mikan-John Kundla

1958-59	33	39	2^nd	John Kundla
Playoffs: Minneapolis defeated Detroit, 2 games to 1 Minneapolis defeated St. Louis, 4 games to 2 Boston defeated Minneapolis, 4 games to 0, to win the National Basketball Association title

1959-60	25	50	3^rd	John Castellani-Jim Pollard
Playoffs: Minneapolis defeated Detroit, 2 games to 0 St. Louis defeated Minneapolis, 4 games to 3

Player	Games	Points	Average
George Mikan	56	1,195	21.3
Jim Pollard	59	760	12.9
Don “Swede” Carlson	58	475	8.2
Jack Dwan	55	306	5.6
Herm Schaefer	54	288	5.3
Tony Jaros	58	273	4.7
Paul Napolitano	52	155	3.0
Johnny Jorgensen	38	101	2.7
Bill Durkee	23	41	1.8
Bob Gerber	15	36	2.4
Ken Exel	5	4	0.8
Joe Patanelli	5	4	0.8
Jack Rocker	5	4	0.8
Warren Ajax	3	1	0.3
Ted Cook	2	0	0.0