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1996–97 Los Angeles Lakers season

NBA professional basketball team season

Fox Sports West (lost to Jazz 1–4)

The 1996–97 Los Angeles Lakers season was the 49th season for the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association, and their 37th season in Los Angeles, California. This season was mostly remembered for the Lakers signing free agent All-Star center Shaquille O'Neal to a seven-year, $120 million deal, and acquiring shooting guard, and high school basketball star Kobe Bryant from the Charlotte Hornets, who selected him with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft during the off-season; in the draft, the Lakers selected point guard Derek Fisher from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with the 24th overall pick.

The team also signed former Lakers guard Byron Scott from the "Showtime" era, signed free agents Jerome Kersey, and Sean Rooks, and acquired rookie center Travis Knight from the Chicago Bulls. In January, they traded Cedric Ceballos back to his former team, the Phoenix Suns, in exchange for Robert Horry, who won two NBA championships with the Houston Rockets.

With the addition of O'Neal, the Lakers won 8 of their first 11 games of the regular season, then posted two six-game winning streaks, one between December and January, and another between January and February, as they had the best record in the Western Conference at the All-Star break with a 35–13 record. However, the team soon slipped out of first-place, by finishing in second place in the Pacific Division with a 56–26 record, and earning the fourth seed in the Western Conference. The Lakers had the eighth best team defensive rating in the NBA.

O'Neal averaged 26.2 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game, but only played 51 games due to a knee injury, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team, while Eddie Jones averaged 17.2 points and 2.4 steals per game, along with 152 three-point field goals, and Nick Van Exel provided the team with 15.3 points and 8.5 assists per game, and led the Lakers with 177 three-point field goals. In addition, Elden Campbell provided with 14.9 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, while Horry averaged 9.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.3 blocks per game in 22 games after the trade, and Kersey contributed 6.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. Off the bench, Bryant averaged 7.6 points per game, while Scott contributed 6.7 points per game, Knight averaged 4.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, Corie Blount provided with 4.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, and Fisher contributed 3.9 points and 1.5 assists per game. Bryant and Knight were both named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, O'Neal and Jones were both selected for the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team; it was Jones's first ever All-Star appearance. However, O'Neal did not participate due to injury. Meanwhile, Bryant won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. In addition, Bryant, Knight and Fisher were all selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as members of the Western Conference Rookie team; Bryant scored 31 points along with 8 rebounds and 2 steals, despite the Western Conference losing to the Eastern Conference, 96–91. O'Neal also finished tied in ninth place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Jones finished tied in twelfth place in Most Improved Player voting.

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1997 NBA playoffs, the Lakers faced off against the 5th–seeded Portland Trail Blazers, a team that featured Kenny Anderson, Isaiah Rider and Clifford Robinson. The Lakers won the first two games at home at the Great Western Forum, before losing Game 3 to the Trail Blazers on the road, 98–90 at the Rose Garden Arena. The Lakers then defeated the Trail Blazers in Game 4 on the road, 95–91 to win the series in four games.

In the Western Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the top–seeded, and Midwest Division champion Utah Jazz, who were led by the trio of All-Star forward, and Most Valuable Player of the Year, Karl Malone, All-Star guard John Stockton, and Jeff Hornacek. The Lakers lost the first two games to the Jazz on the road at the Delta Center, but managed to win Game 3 at the Forum, 104–84. However, after losing Game 4 at home, 110–95, the Lakers then lost Game 5 to the Jazz on the road, 98–93, thus losing the series in five games. The Jazz would reach the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, but would lose to the defending NBA champion Chicago Bulls in six games in the 1997 NBA Finals.

The Lakers finished 15th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 697,159 at the Great Western Forum during the regular season. Following the season, Scott went overseas and signed with the Greek Basket League giants Panathinaikos for the 1997–98 season, while Kersey signed as a free agent with the Seattle SuperSonics, and Knight signed with the Boston Celtics.

One notable highlight of the regular season was the Lakers holding the Dallas Mavericks to just two points in the third quarter, in an 87–80 home win on April 6, 1997. It was the fewest points scored in a quarter of a game in NBA history.

Draft picks

Main article: 1996 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	24	Derek Fisher	Guard	United States	Arkansas–Little Rock

Before he was chosen as the 13th overall draft pick by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996, the 17-year-old Bryant had made a lasting impression on then-Lakers general manager Jerry West, who immediately foresaw potential in Bryant's basketball ability during pre-draft workouts. He went on to state that Bryant's workouts against former Lakers players and then assistant coaches Michael Cooper, and Larry Drew were the best he had ever seen. Immediately after the draft, Bryant expressed that he did not wish to play for the Hornets and wanted to play for the Lakers instead. Fifteen days later, West traded his starting center, Vlade Divac to the Hornets for the young Kobe Bryant.

Roster

Del Harris
Bill Bertka
Larry Drew
Kurt Rambis

Regular season

Kobe's rookie season

During his first season, Bryant mostly came off the bench behind guards Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel. Initially, he played limited minutes, but as the season continued, he began to see some more playing time. He earned himself a reputation as a high-flyer and a fan-favorite by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest during the All-Star Weekend in Cleveland. He averaged 7.6 points and 15.5 minutes per game in 71 games, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.

Season standings

Game log

Pre-season

Regular season

Playoffs

3–1
- style="background:#fcc;"
1
May 4
@ Utah
L 77–93
Nick Van Exel (23)
Shaquille O'Neal (12)
Nick Van Exel (4)
Delta Center
19,911
0–1
- style="background:#fcc;"
2
May 6
@ Utah
L 101–103
Shaquille O'Neal (25)
Shaquille O'Neal (12)
Nick Van Exel (12)
Delta Center
19,911
0–2
- style="background:#cfc;"
3
May 8
Utah
W 104–84
Kobe Bryant (19)
Shaquille O'Neal (10)
Nick Van Exel (5)
Great Western Forum
17,505
1–2
- style="background:#fcc;"
4
May 10
Utah
L 95–110
Shaquille O'Neal (34)
Shaquille O'Neal (11)
Nick Van Exel (7)
Great Western Forum
17,505
1–3
- style="background:#fcc;"
5
May 12
@ Utah
L 93–98 (OT)
Nick Van Exel (26)
Shaquille O'Neal (13)
Shaquille O'Neal (5)
Delta Center
19,911
1–4
-

Player statistics

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Shaquille O'Neal	51	51	38.1	.557	.000	.484	12.5	3.1	0.9	2.9	26.2
Eddie Jones	80	80	37.5	.438	.391	.819	4.1	3.4	2.4	0.6	17.2
Nick Van Exel	79	79	37.2	.402	.378	.825	2.9	8.5	0.9	0.1	15.3
Cedric Ceballos	8	8	34.9	.410	.238	.867	6.6	1.9	0.6	0.8	10.8
Elden Campbell	77	77	32.7	.469	.250	.711	8.0	1.6	0.6	1.5	14.9
Robert Horry	22	14	30.7	.455	.329	.700	5.4	2.5	1.7	1.3	9.2
Jerome Kersey	70	44	25.2	.432	.262	.602	5.2	1.3	1.7	0.7	6.8
Byron Scott	79	8	18.2	.430	.388	.841	1.5	1.3	0.6	0.2	6.7
Corie Blount	58	18	17.4	.514	.333	.675	4.8	0.6	0.4	0.4	4.2
Travis Knight	71	14	16.3	.509	-	.620	4.5	0.5	0.4	0.8	4.8
Kobe Bryant	71	6	15.5	.417	.375	.819	1.9	1.3	0.7	0.3	7.6
George McCloud	23	2	12.4	.354	.429	.667	1.6	0.7	0.4	0.0	4.1
Derek Fisher	80	3	11.5	.397	.301	.658	1.2	1.5	0.5	0.1	3.9
Sean Rooks	69	3	10.7	.470	.000	.700	2.4	0.6	0.2	0.6	3.8

Playoffs

GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
3	0	2.7	1.000		.500	.7	.3	.0	.0	1.0
9	0	14.8	.382	.261	.867	1.2	1.2	.3	.2	8.2
9	9	30.9	.398	1.000	.816	4.3	1.0	.8	1.4	11.8
6	0	5.7	.273	.000	.667	.5	1.0	.2	.0	1.3
9	9	31.0	.447	.429	.778	5.3	1.4	1.1	.8	6.7
9	9	31.4	.458	.375	.743	3.4	3.2	1.0	.4	11.2
9	0	23.3	.486	.000	.789	5.3	1.6	1.0	.7	5.4
9	0	10.3	.800		.750	2.0	.3	.3	.3	2.1
9	9	36.2	.514		.610	10.6	3.2	.6	1.9	26.9
8	0	6.8	.444		.750	1.5	.1	.4	.4	1.8
8	0	16.8	.455	.364	.895	1.5	1.4	.1	.0	6.4
9	9	39.2	.378	.273	.824	3.4	6.4	1.1	.0	14.4

Player statistics citation:

Awards and records

Shaquille O'Neal, 1997 Kids' Choice Awards Favorite Male Athlete
Shaquille O'Neal, All-NBA Third Team
Kobe Bryant, NBA All-Rookie Team 2nd Team
Travis Knight, NBA All-Rookie Team 2nd Team

References

Lakers on Basketball Reference

References

[https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAL/1997.html 1996-97 Los Angeles Lakers]
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Adande, J.A.. (November 29, 1996). "Big Man in La-La Land". The Washington Post.
(July 2, 1996). "SPORTS PEOPLE: BASKETBALL; Divac Agrees to a Trade with Charlotte". The New York Times.
Howard-Cooper, Scott. (July 12, 1996). "Divac-for-Bryant Deal Done, Freeing Money for O'Neal". Los Angeles Times.
(July 12, 1996). "Lakers Trade Divac for Bryant". The Washington Post.
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(August 13, 1996). "Lakers Pick Up Kersey for Their Bench". Los Angeles Times.
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