The 2008–09 Los Angeles Lakers season was the franchise's 61st season, 60th in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 49th in Los Angeles. Coming off an appearance in the 2008 NBA Finals, the Lakers won their division for the 31st time and appeared in the NBA Finals for the 30th time. With 65 wins, they tied the 1986–87 team for the third most wins in franchise history, the most since 1999–2000, and improved on their 2007–08 record by eight wins. The Lakers sold out all 41 home games for the season, led the NBA in money earned from overall ticket sales, and had the 5th highest increase in gate receipts from the previous season. The Lakers had the third best team offensive rating in the NBA.
Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol were both selected for the 2009 NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix, with head coach Phil Jackson coaching the Western Conference, and with Bryant winning his third All-Star Game MVP award. Bryant finished second in league MVP voting, averaging 26.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game. In addition, Gasol averaged 18.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1 block per game. Bryant was named both First Team All-NBA and First Team All-Defense, while Gasol was both named to the All-NBA Third Team. Phil Jackson reached 1,000 career wins on December 25, 2008, against the Boston Celtics. With 1,423 games coached, he became the fastest coach in NBA history to reach 1,000 wins, surpassing former Lakers coach Pat Riley.
In the playoffs, the Lakers defeated the Utah Jazz in five games in the First Round, then defeated the Houston Rockets in a hard-fought seven games in the Semifinals, and on May 29, the Lakers defeated the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals to advance to the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year and 30th time in franchise history, extending their NBA record for most Finals appearances. On June 14, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Dwight Howard-led Orlando Magic 4–1 in the best of seven series to become the 2009 NBA champions, winning their first championship in seven years, their tenth title in Los Angeles, and the 15th overall in franchise history. Kobe Bryant was awarded the 2009 NBA Finals MVP. Following the season, Trevor Ariza signed as a free agent with the Houston Rockets.
On July 15, 2009, the Los Angeles Lakers won the 2009 ESPY Awards for Best Team and Best Coach/Manager for Phil Jackson.
Key dates June 26: The 2008 NBA draft took place in New York City. July 1: The free agency period started. October 7: The Lakers pre-season started with a game against the Utah Jazz. October 28: The Lakers won their season opener against the Portland Trail Blazers at Staples Center. December 8: With a 17–2 season start, the Lakers tied their record for best opening in franchise history. December 25: The Lakers avenged their 2008 NBA Finals loss with a 92–83 win over the Boston Celtics, ending Boston's 19-game winning streak. February 2: Kobe Bryant scored 61 points, the most ever scored at Madison Square Garden. February 8: The Lakers ended the Cavaliers 23-game home winning streak. The Lakers also became the first team in NBA history to win back-to-back games on the road (Boston and Cleveland), against teams with .800-plus win percentage at least 40 games into the season. Cleveland's loss to L.A. was one of only three games they lost at home all season, including the playoffs. February 14–15: 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend took place. March 12: The Lakers clinched the Pacific Division title with a win over the San Antonio Spurs. March 26: The Lakers matched last season's win total (57) with 11 games remaining with a win over the Detroit Pistons. March 27: The Lakers clinched the top record in the Western Conference with a win against the New Jersey Nets for their 58th win. April 14: The Lakers ended their regular season with a 125–112 victory over the Utah Jazz, becoming the third-winningest team in franchise history with 65 wins. April 19: The Lakers played their first playoff game of the season against the Utah Jazz. April 27: The Lakers won their Western Conference First Round series 4–1 over the Utah Jazz, advancing to the Conference Semi-Finals. May 17: The Lakers defeated the Houston Rockets in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals and advance to the Western Conference Finals. May 29: The Lakers defeated the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals and advance to the 2009 NBA Finals. June 14: The Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic in Game 5 of 2009 NBA Finals, winning their 15th championship in franchise history.
Offseason
Injuries Following the 2007–08 NBA season, the Lakers faced two key injuries in the offseason. Andrew Bynum, who missed the second half of the season and playoffs was rehabilitating and working on conditioning. Trevor Ariza, who also missed the second half of the season, but later returned in the playoffs also had to work back into shape. Both players played on opening day. During the 2007–08 season, Kobe Bryant suffered a tear in his right pinkie finger. At the time, Bryant decided to forgo surgery and play out the rest of the season and participate in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He eventually chose not to have surgery and let the hand heal naturally.Bryant: No surgery on pinkie finger , September 9, 2008
Departures The most notable departure was last year's backup power forward Ronny Turiaf to the Golden State Warriors. As a restricted free agent, the Lakers were allowed to match any offer that another team gave Turiaf. The Lakers chose not to match the 4 year $17 million offer the Warriors gave.
Ira Newble, who the Lakers picked up midway through the 2007–08 season, was not re-signed and remained a free agent for the rest of the season. Coby Karl was also cut from the roster with Sun Yue replacing him.
Signings Sasha Vujacic was the first member of the Lakers to sign a contract with the team in the offseason. Still, contract negotiations dragged on longer than usual because he wasn't signed to a tender offer from another team as a restricted free agent. Vujacic considered playing in Europe, but ultimately signed a 3-year contract worth $15 million with the Lakers.
Andrew Bynum, who is signed for the 2008–09 season, signed a 4-year contract extension for $57.4 million.
DJ Mbenga re-signed with the team for one year for approximately $850,000. Josh Powell was also signed to a one-year contract to replace the departed Ronny Turiaf The Lakers 2007 NBA draft pick Sun Yue, spent the entire 07–08 season playing for the Beijing Olympians in the ABA. He also played for China in the 2008 Summer Olympics. In the offseason the Lakers signed him to a 2-year deal.
Joe Crawford, C.J. Giles, Brandon Heath, and Dwayne Mitchell signed to the Lakers roster during the offseason but were all released before the season began.
Draft picks
Due to the midseason trade for Pau Gasol in February 2008, the Lakers only had a second-round draft pick in 2008. With it they selected Joe Crawford from Kentucky. He signed with the Lakers on August 27, 2008, but was waived October 22, during the 2008–09 pre-season.
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 2 58 Joe Crawford Shooting guard Kentucky
Trades On February 7, Vladimir Radmanović was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats in return for Adam Morrison and Shannon Brown. The deal was made largely to save money to be able to resign players during the off-season, notably Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza.
On February 18, backup center Chris Mihm was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies for a conditional second-round draft pick in 2013. The trade saves the Lakers approximately $2 million in salary and luxury tax money.
Roster
Season summary When the Lakers made it all the way to the 2008 NBA Finals without starter Andrew Bynum, they were seen as the favorites from the Western Conference to return there in 2009. The team's original starting lineup was:
C – Andrew Bynum PF – Pau Gasol SF – Vladimir Radmanović SG – Kobe Bryant PG – Derek Fisher
Having Radmanović start at SF instead of Lamar Odom was seen as a way to space out the offense since two 7-footers, Bynum and Gasol, were in the starting lineup.
With Bynum starting and swingman Trevor Ariza healthy, the team started off the season with a 7–0 record. A week later they tied the record for best start in franchise history. They were unable to break the record the next game, losing to the Sacramento Kings on the road. After peaking at a 21–3 record the Lakers played 4 games in 5 days on the road. They finished the road trip with a sub-par 2–2 record and were facing a rematch of last year's finals against the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day. Under the national spotlight the two teams kept the game close well into the fourth quarter, where the Lakers finally pulled away in the last 2:48 of the game. Phil Jackson earned his 1,000th career win in the game. The Lakers went to win 10 of 11 games, before losing back to back against the San Antonio Spurs and the Orlando Magic.
The losses revealed how injuries to role players Luke Walton and Jordan Farmar could affect the Lakers. Jackson eventually benched the under-performing Radmanović and was replaced by Walton in the starting lineup. Walton was chosen as starter because of his good passing skills and Jackson wanted to emphasize ball movement in the offense. Andrew Bynum was also criticized for his poor play, including a one rebound performance against the Houston Rockets on January 13. Bynum responded by going five straight games with a double-double including a career best 42 points against the Los Angeles Clippers. Around the same time Kobe Bryant also recorded two triple-doubles for the first and second time in his career since 2005.
On January 31, against the Memphis Grizzlies, Bynum left the game with an injured right knee after he was hit by Bryant driving to the basket. An MRI scan revealed he had a tear of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee and was expected to miss 8–12 weeks. To adjust to the injury Pau Gasol moved from power forward to center to replace Bynum and Lamar Odom was put into the starting lineup as power forward to replace Gasol. On February 7 the Lakers traded Vladimir Radmanović to the Charlotte Bobcats for Adam Morrison and Shannon Brown. Radmanović saw his role decrease drastically with the Lakers when he was taken out of the starting lineup, often coming in behind Walton and Trevor Ariza.
In a road game against the New York Knicks on February 2, Bryant scored 61 points on 61% shooting in a 126–117 win. Bryant's scoring outburst set a record for the most points ever scored at the historic Madison Square Garden, breaking Bernard King's record he remained for nearly five years until Carmelo Anthony broke his own record at this arena scored 62 points in 2014. Bryant's performance was also the highest single game point total of the 2008–2009 season in the NBA.
Aside from the team record, another result of the team's success was Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Phil Jackson being selected to play and coach in the 2009 NBA All-Star Game. Bryant was named the All-Star MVP along with former teammate Shaquille O'Neal. After the All-Star break, the Lakers won 17 of 19 games.