1995–96 Los Angeles Lakers season

1995–96 Los Angeles Lakers season
Magic Johnson's comeback season
Head coach Del Harris
Owner(s) Jerry Buss
Arena Great Western Forum
Results
Record 53–29 (.646)
Place Division: 2nd (Pacific)
Conference: 4th (Western)
Playoff finish West First Round
(eliminated 1–3)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television Prime Sports West, KCAL
Radio AM 570 KLAC
Los Angeles Lakers seasons
< 1994–95 1996–97 >

The highlight of the Los Angeles Lakers was Magic Johnson making a comeback.

Contents

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
2 37 Frankie King Guard  United States Western Carolina

Regular season

Magic’s Comeback

In the 1995-96 NBA season, Johnson made a short-lived second comeback as a player from January 1996 to May 1996. In this time, he had bulked up from his self-reported weight of 235 lb in 1992[1] to 255 lb in order to play power forward, a much more physical position than his usual point guard role. At age 36, Johnson played the last 32 games of the season, averaging 14.6 points, 6.9 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game. The Lakers lost to the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs, and Johnson retired for good. Johnson explained his comeback with the words: "I am going out on my terms, something I couldn't say when I aborted a comeback in 1992." [2]

Season standings

Pacific Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Seattle SuperSonics 64 18 .780 – 38–3 26–15 21–3
x-Los Angeles Lakers 53 29 .646 11.0 30–11 23–18 17–7
x-Portland Trail Blazers 44 38 .537 20.0 26–15 18–23 11–13
x-Phoenix Suns 41 41 .500 23.0 25–16 16–25 9–15
x-Sacramento Kings 39 43 .476 25.0 26–15 13–28 11–13
Golden State Warriors 36 46 .439 28.0 23–18 13–28 7–17
Los Angeles Clippers 29 53 .354 35.0 19–22 10–31 7–17

Playoffs

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; MPG= Minutes per Game; SPG= Steals per Game; RPG = Rebounds per Game; APG. = Assists per Game; BPG = Blocks per Game; PPG = Points per Game

Player GP MPG SPG RPG APG BPG PPG

Award winners

References

  1. ^ NY Times, Johnson, Unbowed by H.I.V., Will Return to Pro Basketball , accessed June 1, 2007.
  2. ^ Schwartz, Larry. "Magic made Showtime a show". ESPN.com. http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016111.html. Retrieved 2007-09-13. 
Eastern
Boston • Miami • New Jersey • New York • Orlando • Philadelphia • Washington
Atlanta • Charlotte • Chicago • Cleveland • Detroit • Indiana • Milwaukee • Toronto
Western
Dallas • Denver • Houston • Minnesota • San Antonio • Utah • Vancouver
Golden State • L.A. Clippers • L.A. Lakers • Phoenix • Portland • Sacramento • Seattle
Franchise • History • Seasons
1940s 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49
1950s 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59
1960s 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69
1970s 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79
1980s 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89
1990s 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99
2000s 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09
2010s 2009-10 2010–11 2011–12