The Los Angeles Lakers are a National Basketball Association team based in Los Angeles, CA. They play their home games at he Staples Center. They are owned by Jerry Buss and managed by his daughter, Jeannie Buss. The Lakers have a long and noteworthy history in the NBA. We have written about them because they are Kareem's team even though he played his first few years with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Lakers are the team where he spent most of his NBA career and earned all but one of his Championship rings.

About the Lakers
The Lakers franchise was originally founded in Detroit, Michigan as the Detroit Gems. They were later purchased by Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen and were moved to Minneapolis in 1947 where the team took it's name from the state's nickname Land of 10,000 Lakes, and became known as the Lakers. The Lakers are synonymous with NBA big men as they the first pick in the draft to take celebrated big man George Mikan, who would be remembered as the greatest center of his day. The Lakers won 5 league championships in Minnesota before they headed for the lights of Los Angeles.

The Lakers are one of the storied teams in NBA history and have established performance records at the end of the 2005–06 season with the most wins (2,806) in NBA history, the highest NBA winning percentage (61.5%), the most appearances in the finals (28) of any NBA franchise, and the second most championships (14), trailing only the Boston Celtics with 16. They are regarded as one of the most successful franchises in the NBA. They hold the record for the longest consecutive winning streak of 33 wins in any USA professional team sports. The franchise has only missed the NBA playoffs 5 times. According to Forbes magazine, which ranks professional sport team values, the Lakers are the second most valuable basketball franchise in the USA, and are valued at approximately $568 million. They are surpassed only by the New York Knicks.

After their move to Los Angeles in 1960, the team would go on to feature Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Gail Goodrich and another heralded big man, Wilt Chamberlain! They won their first NBA Championship in 1972 under coach Bill Sharman. They went onto win NBA Championships in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000,2001, and 2002.

The current coach of the Lakers is Phil Jackson who has guided the Lakers to championship seasons in 2000, 2001, and 2002. The General Manager is former Lakers player, Mitch Kupchak.

The current star of the Lakers is Kobe Bryant, a perennial all-star and game dominating guard. The Lakers' roster for the 2007-08 season is: