Series of sports events
NBA professional basketball team season
The 2013–14 Los Angeles Lakers season was the 66th season of the franchise, its 65th season in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and its 54th season in Los Angeles. With Dwight Howard's departure to Houston during the offseason, Kobe Bryant playing only six games, and numerous injuries to many of the players, they finished 27–55, the sixth-worst record in the league; it was the most losses in the franchise's history which would change in the 2014–15 season and later the 2015–16 season. The Lakers missed the playoffs for the first time since 2004–05.[1]
The Lakers began the season 10–9.[2] However, they entered the NBA All-Star break with seven straight losses at home, the worst streak in team history. Despite a 13–13 start, they went 14–42 the rest of the way. They were 18–35 and 13 games behind for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, and only nine games behind the 9–43 Milwaukee Bucks for the worst record in the league and the best probability of the first overall pick in the NBA draft lottery.[3] On March 6, they lost to the Los Angeles Clippers, their crosstown rivals, 142–94, with the 48-point margin being the most one-sided defeat in Lakers history.[4] It was part of a three-game stretch during which the Lakers allowed an average of 136 points per game, the worst in their history;[5] it matched the most allowed by an NBA team in three games over the past 23 years.[6] Later that month, they were the first team in the league that was eliminated from playoff contention.[2] It was just the third time in 38 seasons that they missed the playoffs. Their .329 winning percentage was the worst since 1957–58, before they had even moved to Los Angeles and when they were still playing in Minneapolis.[1] Lakers players in 2013–14 missed 319 games due to injury, which led the NBA, and the team used 35 different starting lineups.[7] In the final months of the season, the team often dressed just 10 or fewer healthy players, refusing to replace injured players for a few extra wins in a lost season.[1] Following the season, Pau Gasol signed as a free agent with the Chicago Bulls.
Key dates
- June 27: The 2013 NBA draft took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
- July 1: 2013 NBA free agency began.
- December 8: Kobe Bryant plays in first game since tearing his Achilles.
- December 17: Kobe Bryant suffers a broken bone in his knee while playing against the Memphis Grizzlies, but Los Angeles goes on to defeat them 96–92.[8]
- February 4: Steve Blake, Jordan Hill, and Jodie Meeks get injured in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
- March 14: Following their loss to the San Antonio Spurs, the Lakers are eliminated from playoff contention. It was only the sixth time in history the Lakers did not make the playoffs.
- March 25: The Lakers hit a franchise record 51 points in one quarter against the New York Knicks, eventually winning 96–127.
Draft picks
Roster
Pre-season
Regular season
Standings
Game log
Player statistics
Regular season
Awards, records and milestones
Awards
Week/Month
All-Star
Kobe Bryant (Did not participate due to injury)
All-NBA
Records
Milestones
Transactions
Additions
Subtractions
See also
References
- ^ a b c Beacham, Greg (April 17, 2014). "LA Lakers wrap lousy season with uncertain future". yahoo.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on April 21, 2014.
- ^ a b McMenamin, Dave (March 17, 2014). "D'Antoni: Message still the same". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on March 18, 2014.
- ^ McMenamin, Dave (February 14, 2014). "Not much left to do this season". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on February 23, 2014.
- ^ Bresnahan, Mike (March 6, 2014). "Clippers turn rout of Lakers into a romper room". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 8, 2014. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
- ^ Bresnahan, Mike (March 7, 2014). "Lakers have firsts of the wrong type piling up". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
- ^ "Elias Says..." ESPN.com. March 8, 2014. Archived from the original on March 10, 2014.
- ^ McMenamin, Dave (April 17, 2014). "Lakers 2013-14 season: By the numbers". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on April 19, 2014.
- ^ "Bryant to doubters: Revenge 'sweet, quick'". ESPN.com. March 4, 2014. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
External links
- "How the Lakers fell from contention to ruin during Kobe Bryant's final seasons". SB Nation. September 6, 2019 – via YouTube.