The Los Angeles Lakers are a National Basketball Association (NBA) team based in Los Angeles, California. The Lakers play their home games at Staples Center, which they share with the Los Angeles Clippers, their sister team the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA, the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League, the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League and the NBA Development League's Los Angeles D-Fenders.
The Laker franchise was founded in Detroit before moving to Minneapolis, where the team got its official title from the state's nickname, and won 5 league championships within the various leagues before locating to Los Angeles. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Lakers popularity soared,which made them become one of the most successful franchises in the NBA with superstar players Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and coach Pat Riley winning five titles in the that span, with 3 championship series against their arch-rivals, the Boston Celtics.
The Lakers are notable for having (at the end of the 2005-06 season) the most wins (2,806), the highest winning percentage (61.5%), the most finals appearances (28) of any NBA franchise, and the second most championships (14, behind the Boston Celtics' 16). blank">http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/ They are generally regarded as one of the NBA's most successful franchises. They hold the record for the longest consecutive win streak (33) in _U.S. professional team sports. The franchise has only missed the NBA playoffs 5 times. According to Forbes magazine, the Lakers are the second most valuable basketball franchise in the United States, valued at approximately $568 million, surpassed only by the New York Knicks.
