The 2009–10 Los Angeles Lakers season was the 62nd season of the franchise, 61st in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 50th in Los Angeles. During the offseason, the Lakers signed free agent and former defensive player of the year forward Ron Artest. Coming off from winning their fifteenth championship in the NBA Finals defeating the Orlando Magic in five games, the Lakers successfully defended their title. They spent the most money of any team on player salaries that season, totaling $112.7 million ($91.3 million on player salaries and $21.4 million on luxury tax). The Lakers once again sold out all 41 home games for the season at Staples Center.
The Lakers clinched the Pacific Division for the 21st time in franchise history. Despite winning eight games less than the previous season, they still held the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs and made it to the NBA Finals for the third straight season in which they defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in six games in the first round, swept the Utah Jazz in four games in semifinals and the Phoenix Suns in six games in the Western Conference Finals in which the Lakers were favored to beat the Suns en route to advancing to the NBA Finals where they defeated the Boston Celtics in a rematch of the 2008 NBA Finals won by the Celtics 4 games to 2. This time, the Lakers won the series 4 games to 3 for their 16th NBA title and handed Boston its first Game 7 loss in an NBA Finals in team history. Kobe Bryant won his second consecutive NBA Finals MVP as well as his fifth and final NBA Championship. After the Finals, Bryant underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in July.
On July 14, 2010, Phil Jackson won the 2010 ESPY Awards for Best Coach/Manager while Kobe Bryant won for Best NBA Player.
This was the last time the Lakers won an NBA championship until 2020.
Key dates June 25 – The 2009 NBA draft took place in New York City. July 8 – The free agency period started. October 7 – The Lakers played their first preseason game of the season against the Golden State Warriors. October 27 – The Lakers' regular season began with a home game versus the Los Angeles Clippers. The previous year's players received their championship rings and the team raised their 15th championship banner into the Staples Center rafters. January 25 – The previous year's players and staff visited the White House to meet President Barack Obama. February 12–14 – The 2010 NBA All-Star Weekend took place. March 19 – The Lakers clinched a post-season berth for the 29th time in 31 years. They are the first Western Conference team this season to clinch a playoff berth. April 5 – The Lakers clinched their third consecutive and 21st overall Pacific Division title Saturday night with the Phoenix Suns' loss at the Milwaukee Bucks. April 9 – The Lakers clinched the top seed in the Western Conference with a win against the Minnesota Timberwolves.Kobe-less Lakers lock up No. 1 seed in Western Conference CBSSports.com wire report, April 6, 2010 April 14 – The Lakers played their final game of the regular season in a road game against the Los Angeles Clippers. April 18 – The Lakers played the Oklahoma City Thunder in their first game of the 2010 NBA Playoffs. June 17 – The Lakers beat the Celtics in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals to win their 16th NBA title.
Offseason
Injuries The Lakers came into training camp with no serious injuries. All players were expected to be healthy enough to play in the season opener. After having surgery on his knee last season, Andrew Bynum was told that he has ligamentous laxity, which required him to wear a knee brace for the entire season.
During training camp, D. J. Mbenga was not able to participate fully in practice due to a "malalignment of his hips/hip flexors". The imbalance was causing him pain in his abdominal, groin and hip flexor areas. He made a full recovery and played on opening night. Pau Gasol injured his hamstring during a preseason game and missed the first 12 games of the season. In December, Ron Artest revealed that he suffered a shoulder injury during the Lakers' opening exhibition game. He kept the injury quiet so it wouldn't seem like he was making excuses, telling neither the media nor his coaches.
Departures Trevor Ariza chose not to sign when the Los Angeles Lakers offered the Mid-Level Exception (approximately $6 million per year). When the Lakers looked towards other free agents, Ariza agreed to sign with the Houston Rockets for slightly more money. The Lakers had a team option on Sun Yue to pick up his contract for one year paying him $736,000. But the Lakers decided to release him to keep the roster to 13 players. Sun eventually signed with the New York Knicks.
Assistant coach Kurt Rambis left the Lakers to pursue a head-coaching position with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Rambis was believed to be the potential replacement to Phil Jackson if Jackson was to leave in the offseason.
Signings The Lakers had team options to exercise contracts on Josh Powell and D. J. Mbenga. The Lakers decided to bring both Powell and Mbenga back, paying them $959,000 each. Kobe Bryant also had an option to terminate his contract this offseason, which would pay him approximately $23,000,000 for the season and $24,800,000 for the season after. He chose not to opt out of his contract and signed a 3-year contract extension.
Ron Artest was the first player from another team to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason. On July 2, Artest told CBSSports.com that he has agreed to a contract with the Lakers. He decided not to pursue a more lucrative contract from his former team (the Rockets) and signed a 5-year deal worth $33 million on July 8. The Lakers used their Mid-Level Exception to sign Artest. Artest has long wanted to play for the Lakers and was looking forward to playing with Kobe Bryant and childhood friend Lamar Odom. Artest changed his jersey number from 96 to 37 in honor of Michael Jackson's album Thriller which was the #1 selling album for 37 weeks. Jackson had died 13 days earlier.
Shannon Brown agreed to a contract with the Lakers on July 6. Brown turned down a more expensive offer from the Indiana Pacers and agreed to a 2-year $4.2 million deal. The Lakers used the Bi-annual exception to sign Brown. He has a player option to terminate his contract after the 2009–10 season.
Lamar Odom was the last Lakers free agent to resign with the team. Before the previous season ended, Odom said he was willing to take a pay cut from the $11.4 million he made in his final year of his contract (which was $14.1 million under the Lakers salary cap because the difference was paid upfront as a "trade-kicker" when he joined the Lakers). Early in July, the Lakers presented two offers to Odom: A four-year deal for $9 million a season, worth up to $36 million, but only three years and $27 million was guaranteed, with the Lakers' buyout in the fourth year worth $3 million. A three-year, $30-million deal that would have paid Odom $10 million a season.
When Odom and his agent did not respond quickly enough, owner Jerry Buss pulled both deals off the table. At the same time, the Miami Heat actively pursue Odom. Heat President Pat Riley and Dwyane Wade met with Odom in Los Angeles in an attempt to get Odom to return to Miami. Afterwards, Odom spoke with Jerry Buss, and Odom's agent and Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak kept an open dialogue. On July 30, Lamar Odom agreed to a four-year deal, reportedly for $33 million, with a team option for the final year. Odom said he did not want to leave Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Derek Fisher and the rest of the Lakers, especially Kobe Bryant.
On September 28, the Lakers signed four players to non-guaranteed contracts: Tony Gaffney, Srdjan Pejicic, David Monds, Mickaël Gelabale and Michael Fey. On September 30, the Lakers also signed Thomas Kelati to a non-guaranteed contract, bring their total player roster to 18 players. By the beginning of the season, they had to reduce their roster to a maximum of 15 players. On October 10, the Lakers cut Mickaël Gelabale, David Monds, and Michael Fey, bringing the roster to 15 players. On October 21, Thomas Kelati was cut from the team. On October 24, the Lakers cut Gaffney.
Trades The Lakers traded their first-round draft pick (#29) to the New York Knicks for $3,000,000 and the Knicks 2011 second-round draft pick. The Lakers traded their second pick (originally from the Charlotte Bobcats for the Kareem Rush trade) for cash.
Draft
The Lakers originally had three picks entering the Draft. Their 29th pick was used to pick Toney Douglas from Florida State, and chose Patrick Beverley from Arkansas with their 42nd pick, a pick which they got from a previous trade with Charlotte. The Lakers traded both each for a 2011 second-round draft pick and cash. They kept their final pick and selected Chinemelu Elonu. The Texas A&M center earned All-Big 12 honors last season after averaging 9.8 points and a team-best 7.3 rebounds and 53 blocked shots. He set a school record by making 66.5 percent from the field and was named the Big 12's most improved player.
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club team 1 29 Toney Douglas Guard Florida State 2 42 Patrick Beverley Guard Arkansas 2 59 Chinemelu Elonu Power Forward / Texas A&M
Roster
Season summary
The Los Angeles Lakers opened the season at home against their intra-city rival the Los Angeles Clippers. Before the game, the remaining Lakers on the team from last year received their 2009 NBA championship rings. Pau Gasol missed the first 11 games due to his hamstring injury, so Lamar Odom moved to power forward and was placed in the starting lineup. The season opened with the starting lineup being: PG – Derek Fisher SG – Kobe Bryant SF – Ron Artest PF – Lamar Odom C – Andrew Bynum
The Lakers started off 7–1, then lost two in a row. Luke Walton was another player who was injured, suffering a pinched nerve in his back on November 16. He was out for approximately six weeks. However, Gasol came back soon after and the Lakers returned to their normal lineup (with Odom coming off the bench): PG – Derek Fisher SG – Kobe Bryant SF – Ron Artest PF – Pau Gasol C – Andrew Bynum