1969–70 Los Angeles Lakers season

The 1969–70 NBA season was the Lakers' 22nd season in the NBA and tenth season in Los Angeles.[1]

1969–70 Los Angeles Lakers season
Head coachJoe Mullaney
ArenaThe Forum
Results
Record46–36 (.561)
PlaceDivision: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finishNBA Finals
(lost to Knicks 3–4)

Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
< 1968–69 1970–71 >

Offseason

After the tumultuous previous two seasons under the fiery head coach Butch Van Breda Kolff, the Lakers replaced him with the low key Joe Mullaney.[citation needed]

Draft picks

  • 1st round, 12th pick – Willie McCarter, G, Drake University
  • 1st round, 15th pick – Rick Roberson, C, University of Cincinnati
  • 2nd round, 27th pick – Dick Garrett, G, Southern Illinois University

Roster

1969–70 Los Angeles Lakers roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOBFrom
SF22Baylor, Elgin6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)225 lb (102 kg)1934-09-16Seattle
C13Chamberlain, Wilt7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)275 lb (125 kg)1936-08-21Kansas
C31Counts, Mel7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)230 lb (104 kg)1941-10-16Oregon State
PG21Egan, Johnny5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)180 lb (82 kg)1939-01-31Providence
SF24Erickson, Keith6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)195 lb (88 kg)1944-04-19UCLA
SG20Garrett, Dick6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)185 lb (84 kg)1947-01-31Southern Illinois
PF52Hairston, Happy6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)225 lb (102 kg)1942-05-31NYU
PF30Hewitt, Bill6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)210 lb (95 kg)1944-08-08USC
SF33Lynn, Mike6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)215 lb (98 kg)1945-11-25UCLA
SG15McCarter, Willie6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)175 lb (79 kg)1946-07-26Drake
C35Roberson, Rick6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)231 lb (105 kg)1947-07-07Cincinnati
PF14Tresvant, John6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)215 lb (98 kg)1939-11-06Seattle
PG44West, Jerry6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)175 lb (79 kg)1938-05-28West Virginia
Head coach

Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster
Last transaction: January 23, 1970

Regular season

After barely losing the NBA title the previous season, the veteran Lakers had high hopes coming into the 1969–70 season. However, 9 games into the season, Wilt Chamberlain suffered a severe knee injury and it was thought he would miss the next 10–12 months. Elgin Baylor also missed 28 games due to injury, and Jerry West missed 8. They traded Bill Hewitt for double-double machine Happy Hairston midway through the season. 1st round draft pick Willie McCarter also missed almost the entire season. But the Lakers received key contributions from rookies Rick Roberson and Dick Garrett, and managed to battle the Atlanta Hawks for 1st place in the Western Division for most of the season. Chamberlain returned for the final few games, and while the Lakersfinished 2nd in the division to Atlanta by 2 games, they were at full strength for the playoffs.

Season standings

W L PCT GB
x-Atlanta Hawks4834.585
x-Los Angeles Lakers4636.5612
x-Chicago Bulls3943.4769
x-Phoenix Suns3943.4769
Seattle SuperSonics3646.43912
San Francisco Warriors3052.36618
San Diego Rockets2755.32921
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1969–70 NBA Records
TeamATLBALBOSCHICINDETLALMILNYKPHIPHOSDRSFWSEA
Atlanta2–46–05–23–33–34–33–34–23–32–44–25–24–2
Baltimore4–25–25–14–35–24–23–31–53–43–36–02–45–1
Boston0–62–53–33–34–32–41–64–32–42–44–25–12–4
Chicago2–51–53–33–33–34–24–20–63–35–23–44–24–3
Cincinnati3–33–43–33–34–22–42–52–54–33–34–22–41–5
Detroit3–32–53–43–32–43–31–61–61–53–33–33–33–3
Los Angeles3–42–44–22–44–23–33–32–44–23–45–25–26–0
Milwaukee3–33–36–12–45–26–13–32–45–26–06–04–25–1
New York2–45–13–46–05–26–14–24–25–26–05–15–14–2
Philadelphia3–34–34–23–33–45–12–42–52–54–24–26–00–6
Phoenix4–23–34–22–53–33–34–30–60–62–47–03–34–3
San Diego2–40–62–44–32–43–32–50–61–52–40–75–24–2
San Francisco2–54–21–52–44–23–32–52–41–50–63–32–53–4
Seattle2–41–54–23–45–13–30–61–52–46–03–42–44–3

Game log

1969–70 game log
#DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsRecord
1October 17@ Philadelphia126–131Jerry West (39)0–1
2October 18@ New York96–99Jerry West (42)0–2
3October 21@ Baltimore142–137 (OT)Jerry West (39)1–2
4October 22@ Cincinnati116–109Wilt Chamberlain (43)2–2
5October 24Milwaukee112–123Elgin Baylor (26)3–2
6October 25@ Seattle130–106Wilt Chamberlain (42)4–2
7October 26Chicago125–129Wilt Chamberlain (37)5–2
8November 2Cincinnati124–116Jerry West (27)5–3
9November 7Phoenix122–120Wilt Chamberlain (33)5–4
10November 9New York112–102Jerry West (28)5–5
11November 11Detroit110–102Jerry West (24)5–6
12November 14Phoenix112–127Elgin Baylor (31)6–6
13November 15@ Phoenix111–114Elgin Baylor (30)6–7
14November 16Philadelphia125–138Jerry West (45)7–7
15November 18@ Detroit125–114 (OT)Elgin Baylor (32)8–7
16November 19@ Cincinnati116–103Jerry West (32)9–7
17November 21San Diego98–100Jerry West (37)10–7
18November 22@ San Francisco106–98Jerry West (40)11–7
19November 23Baltimore129–97Jerry West (38)11–8
20November 25@ New York96–103Jerry West (41)11–9
21November 26@ Milwaukee81–100Mel Counts (31)11–10
22November 28San Francisco114–108Jerry West (43)11–11
23November 30Chicago116–114 (OT)Jerry West (38)11–12
24December 4@ Phoenix109–119Happy Hairston (25)11–13
25December 5Detroit109–128Jerry West (26)12–13
26December 6@ San Diego128–115Jerry West (30)13–13
27December 7Atlanta104–103Elgin Baylor (36)13–14
28December 9@ Philadelphia99–123Willie McCarter (21)13–15
29December 10@ Boston99–111Elgin Baylor (29)13–16
30December 12@ Atlanta107–121Elgin Baylor (26)13–17
31December 14Seattle127–131Elgin Baylor (37)14–17
32December 19Cincinnati117–109Jerry West (30)14–18
33December 21Philadelphia117–133Jerry West (33)15–18
34December 23@ San Diego109–115Jerry West (30)15–19
35December 26New York106–114Jerry West (40)16–19
36December 28Boston99–109Jerry West (34)17–19
37December 30@ San Francisco100–105Jerry West (34)17–20
38January 2San Francisco95–125Jerry West (32)18–20
39January 3@ Seattle126–109Jerry West (45)19–20
40January 4Phoenix112–120Jerry West (35)20–20
41January 6N Chicago100–105Jerry West (37)20–21
42January 9@ Atlanta127–112Jerry West (26)21–21
43January 10@ Chicago112–116 (OT)Jerry West (36)21–22
44January 14@ Milwaukee113–115Jerry West (34)21–23
45January 16@ Boston108–103Jerry West (23)22–23
46January 18@ Detroit100–106Jerry West (30)22–24
47January 22N San Francisco108–122Jerry West (40)23–24
48January 23Seattle100–128Happy Hairston (34)24–24
49January 24@ Seattle122–121 (OT)Jerry West (39)25–24
50January 25Phoenix106–118Jerry West (38)26–24
51January 27San Diego109–124Jerry West (41)27–24
52January 28@ San Diego113–108Jerry West (36)28–24
53January 30Atlanta87–102Keith Erickson (23)29–24
54February 1@ Philadelphia113–112Elgin Baylor (33)30–24
55February 3N Cincinnati124–114Jerry West (38)31–24
56February 4@ Detroit109–125Happy Hairston (31)31–25
57February 6Milwaukee118–105Elgin Baylor (27)31–26
58February 7@ Phoenix117–121 (OT)Elgin Baylor (41)31–27
59February 8San Diego113–125Jerry West (34)32–27
60February 10Baltimore111–106Jerry West (29)32–28
61February 11@ San Francisco125–115Baylor, West (43)33–28
62February 12Atlanta114–136Jerry West (42)34–28
63February 14@ Chicago113–116Elgin Baylor (34)34–29
64February 15@ Milwaukee98–96Jerry West (28)35–29
65February 17@ New York93–114Elgin Baylor (18)35–30
66February 18@ Baltimore103–117Jerry West (25)35–31
67February 20Milwaukee114–119Jerry West (37)36–31
68February 21@ San Diego106–121Happy Hairston (30)36–32
69February 22Boston96–108Elgin Baylor (39)37–32
70February 24Atlanta118–106Happy Hairston (24)37–33
71February 27Chicago101–111Elgin Baylor (42)38–33
72March 1@ Boston120–114Jerry West (33)39–33
73March 3@ Atlanta93–101Elgin Baylor (21)39–34
74March 4@ Baltimore94–91Jerry West (32)40–34
75March 6Baltimore105–100Jerry West (35)40–35
76March 8Cincinnati116–144Jerry West (31)41–35
77March 10San Francisco104–106Jerry West (42)42–35
78March 13Philadelphia117–128Jerry West (43)43–35
79March 15New York101–106Jerry West (38)44–35
80March 18Boston137–122Jerry West (36)44–36
81March 20Detroit111–117Jerry West (34)45–36
82March 22Seattle118–121Wilt Chamberlain (21)46–36

Playoffs

1970 playoff game log
Division Semi-finals: 4–3 (home: 3–1; road: 1–2)
Division finals: 4–0 (home: 2–0; road: 2–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Series
1April 12@ AtlantaW 119–115Jerry West (38)Wilt Chamberlain (17)Wilt Chamberlain (8)Alexander Memorial Coliseum
7,197
1–0
2April 14@ AtlantaW 105–94Chamberlain, West (24)Wilt Chamberlain (24)Keith Erickson (7)Alexander Memorial Coliseum
7,197
2–0
3April 17AtlantaW 115–114 (OT)Jerry West (35)Wilt Chamberlain (26)Jerry West (13)The Forum
17,183
3–0
4April 19AtlantaW 133–114Jerry West (39)Wilt Chamberlain (21)Jerry West (12)The Forum
17,410
4–0
NBA Finals: 3–4 (home: 2–1; road: 1–3)
1970 schedule

Awards and records

References