The 1989–90 Los Angeles Lakers season was the 42nd season for the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association, and their 30th in Los Angeles, California.
Season summary
Off-season The Lakers had the 26th overall pick in the 1989 NBA draft, and selected Yugoslavian center Vlade Divac. During the off-season, the team signed free agent Larry Drew. The Lakers were coming off an NBA Finals defeat, in which they lost to the Detroit Pistons in a four-game sweep in the 1989 NBA Finals.
Regular season With the addition of Divac, and despite the retirement of All-Star center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Lakers got off to a fast start by winning ten of their first eleven games of the regular season, which included a nine-game winning streak in November, and later on held a 35–11 record at the All-Star break. The team posted a seven-game winning streak between March and April, and won 16 of their final 19 games of the season. The Lakers finished in first place in the Pacific Division with a league-best 63–19 record, and earned the first seed in the Western Conference; the team qualified for the NBA playoffs for the 14th consecutive year.
Magic Johnson averaged 22.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 11.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game, led the Lakers with 106 three-point field goals, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, while James Worthy averaged 21.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team, and Byron Scott contributed 15.5 points and 3.6 assists per game. In addition, A.C. Green provided the team with 12.9 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, while sixth man Orlando Woolridge contributed 12.7 points per game, and Mychal Thompson provided with 10.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Off the bench, Divac averaged 8.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, while defensive guard Michael Cooper contributed 6.4 points and 2.7 assists per game, and Drew provided with 5.2 points and 2.7 assists per game.
During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Miami Arena in Miami, Florida, Johnson, Worthy and Green were all selected for the 1990 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team, while head coach Pat Riley was selected to coach the Western Conference; it was Green's first and only All-Star appearance. Johnson scored 22 points along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists, and was named the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, despite the Western Conference losing to the Eastern Conference, 130–113. Johnson was also named the NBA Most Valuable Player of the Year for the third time in four years, in a controversial voting over Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers; Johnson received fewer first-place votes (27 of the 92 cast) than Barkley (38), but totaled 636 points in the ballot compared to Barkley's 614. Meanwhile, Riley was named the NBA Coach of the Year for the first time, and Woolridge finished tied in third place in Sixth Man of the Year voting.
The Lakers finished sixth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 712,498 at the Great Western Forum during the regular season.
NBA playoffs In the Western Conference First Round of the 1990 NBA playoffs, the Lakers faced off against the 8th–seeded Houston Rockets, a team that featured All-Star center Akeem Olajuwon, Otis Thorpe and Sleepy Floyd. The Lakers won the first two games over the Rockets at home at the Great Western Forum, before losing Game 3 on the road, 114–108 at The Summit. The Lakers won Game 4 over the Rockets on the road, 109–88 to win the series in four games.
In the Western Conference Semi-finals, and for the second consecutive year, the team faced off against the 5th–seeded Phoenix Suns, who were led by the quartet of All-Star forward Tom Chambers, All-Star guard Kevin Johnson, Jeff Hornacek, and sixth man Eddie Johnson. The Lakers lost Game 1 to the Suns at the Great Western Forum, 104–102, but managed to win Game 2 at home, 124–100 to even the series. However, the Lakers lost the next two games on the road at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, before losing Game 5 to the Suns at the Great Western Forum by a score of 106–103, despite a 43-point performance from Magic Johnson, thus losing the series in five games; it was the first time in nine years that the Lakers did not reach the Western Conference Finals, ending a run that started in 1982, the longest series of consecutive NBA Conference Finals appearances since Bill Russell's Boston Celtics in 1969.
Aftermath Following the season, Riley resigned as head coach after nine seasons with the Lakers; he would later on return to coach the New York Knicks for the 1991–92 season. Meanwhile, Woolridge was traded to the Denver Nuggets, and Cooper was released to free agency, and left to play overseas in Italy.
Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College/Club 1 26 Vlade Divac C KK Partizan
Roster
Regular season
Season standings
z – clinched division title y – clinched division title x – clinched playoff spot
Game log Regular season
|- style="background:#cfc;" | 1 | November 3 | @ Dallas | W 102-94 | James Worthy (22) | A.C. Green (14) | Magic Johnson (12) | Reunion Arena17,007 | 1–0 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 2 | November 4 | @ San Antonio | L 98-106 | James Worthy (25) | Magic Johnson (10) | Magic Johnson (9) | HemisFair Arena15,868 | 1-1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 3 | November 7 | Phoenix | W 111-107 | James Worthy (35) | Byron Scott (10) | Michael Cooper (8) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 2–1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 4 | November 9 | @ Golden State | W 106-95 | A.C. Green (24) | A.C. Green (16) | Magic Johnson (10) | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena15,025 | 3–1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 5 | November 10 | Charlotte | W 106-100 | Byron Scott (33) | Vlade Divac (9) | Magic Johnson (9) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 4–1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 6 | November 12 | Dallas | W 107-98 | Johnson & Worthy (22) | Mychal Thompson (11) | Magic Johnson (7) | Great Western Forum16,927 | 5–1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 7 | November 15 | Indiana | W 117-94 | A.C. Green (24) | A.C. Green (16) | Magic Johnson (11) | Great Western Forum16,226 | 6–1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 8 | November 17 | Denver | W 119-105 | A.C. Green (27) | A.C. Green (13) | Magic Johnson (24) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 7–1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 9 | November 19 | Washington | W 120-115 | Magic Johnson (25) | 3 players tied (10) | Magic Johnson (14) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 8–1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 10 | November 25 | @ Utah | W 92-86 | Magic Johnson (25) | Green & Thompson (11) | Magic Johnson (11) | Salt Palace12,616 | 9–1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 11 | November 26 | San Antonio | W 132-112 | Johnson & Scott (24) | A.C. Green (8) | Magic Johnson (10) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 10–1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 12 | November 28 | @ Houston | L 104-110 | Magic Johnson (24) | Magic Johnson (13) | Magic Johnson (9) | The Summit16,611 | 10–2 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 13 | November 30 | @ Sacramento | W 109-93 | James Worthy (22) | Divac & Green (10) | Magic Johnson (15) | ARCO Arena17,014 | 11–2
|- style="background:#fcc;" | 14 | December 1 | Detroit | L 97-108 (OT) | Magic Johnson (28) | James Worthy (13) | Magic Johnson (10) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 11–3 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 15 | December 3 | New York | W 115-104 | James Worthy (22) | Divac & Thompson (8) | Magic Johnson (11) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 12–3 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 16 | December 5 | L.A. Clippers | W 111-103 | Magic Johnson (34) | A.C. Green (10) | Magic Johnson (10) | Great Western Forum16,035 | 13–3 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 17 | December 7 | Phoenix | W 100-96 | James Worthy (27) | Johnson & Worthy (11) | Magic Johnson (12) | Great Western Forum17,257 | 14–3 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 18 | December 9 | @ Washington | L 101-103 | James Worthy (26) | James Worthy (10) | Magic Johnson (14) | Capital Centre18,756 | 14–4 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 19 | December 10 | @ Orlando | L 103-108 | James Worthy (31) | Vlade Divac (13) | Magic Johnson (8) | Orlando Arena15,077 | 14–5 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 20 | December 12 | @ Charlotte | W 103-89 | Magic Johnson (27) | Vlade Divac (13) | Magic Johnson (10) | Charlotte Coliseum23,901 | 15–5 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 21 | December 13 | @ Miami | W 102-75 | James Worthy (21) | Magic Johnson (10) | Magic Johnson (8) | Miami Arena15,008 | 16–5 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 22 | December 15 | @ Boston | W 119-110 | James Worthy (28) | A.C. Green (11) | Magic Johnson (21) | Boston Garden14,890 | 17–5 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 23 | December 16 | @ New Jersey | W 99-92 | Magic Johnson (28) | A.C. Green (9) | Magic Johnson (8) | Brendan Byrne Arena20,049 | 18–5 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 24 | December 19 | @ Chicago | L 83-93 | James Worthy (19) | Magic Johnson (12) | Magic Johnson (10) | Chicago Stadium18,676 | 18–6 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 25 | December 20 | @ Minnesota | W 106-97 (OT) | Magic Johnson (26) | A.C. Green (15) | Magic Johnson (9) | Target Center25,689 | 19–6 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 26 | December 26 | Sacramento | W 104-102 | Magic Johnson (27) | A.C. Green (11) | Magic Johnson (14) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 20–6 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 27 | December 29 | Golden State | W 130-111 | James Worthy (34) | James Worthy (12) | Magic Johnson (17) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 21–6
|- style="background:#cfc;" | 28 | January 3 | Denver | W 114-98 | Magic Johnson (27) | James Worthy (13) | Larry Drew (8) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 22–6 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 29 | January 6 | @ Golden State | L 131-133 | James Worthy (30) | A.C. Green (18) | Magic Johnson (16) | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena15,025 | 22–7 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 30 | January 7 | Miami | W 132-93 | Divac & Johnson (21) | Vlade Divac (14) | Magic Johnson (9) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 23–7 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 31 | January 9 | @ Phoenix | L 118-121 (OT) | James Worthy (25) | A.C. Green (15) | Magic Johnson (24) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum14,487 | 23–8 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 32 | January 10 | Orlando | W 121-106 | Byron Scott (20) | A.C. Green (9) | Magic Johnson (13) | Great Western Forum16,534 | 24–8 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 33 | January 12 | Houston | W 107-98 | Magic Johnson (31) | Johnson & Thompson (11) | Magic Johnson (11) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 25–8 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 34 | January 15 | Sacramento | W 111-91 | Divac & Green (25) | Mychal Thompson (12) | Magic Johnson (10) | Great Western Forum16,844 | 26–8 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 35 | January 17 | Seattle | W 100-90 | James Worthy (24) | James Worthy (13) | Magic Johnson (9) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 27–8 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 36 | January 19 | @ Milwaukee | L 102-103 | Magic Johnson (26) | A.C. Green (9) | Magic Johnson (10) | Bradley Center18,633 | 27–9 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 37 | January 21 | @ Detroit | W 107-97 | James Worthy (31) | Green & Thompson (9) | Magic Johnson (16) | The Palace of Auburn Hills21,454 | 28–9 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 38 | January 23 | @ New York | W 118-97 | Byron Scott (19) | A.C. Green (14) | Magic Johnson (13) | Madison Square Garden18,212 | 29–9 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 39 | January 24 | @ Indiana | W 120-111 | Magic Johnson (32) | A.C. Green (11) | James Worthy (12) | Market Square Arena16,912 | 30–9 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 40 | January 26 | Milwaukee | W 100-91 | James Worthy (21) | Vlade Divac (11) | Magic Johnson (17) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 31–9 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 41 | January 29 | San Antonio | L 84-86 | James Worthy (32) | 3 players tied (9) | Larry Drew (8) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 31–10 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 42 | January 30 | @ L.A. Clippers | L 104-121 | Byron Scott (24) | Vlade Divac (10) | Magic Johnson (7)