The 2024–25 Los Angeles Lakers season was the 78th season of the franchise, its 77th season in the National Basketball Association (NBA), its 65th season in Los Angeles, and its 26th season playing home games at Crypto.com Arena. On May 3, 2024, the Lakers fired head coach Darvin Ham and all of their assistant coaches, including Phil Handy, who had been with the team since their 2020 championship season. On June 24, 2024, the Lakers hired JJ Redick as their new head coach. They entered the season as the defending NBA Cup champions; however, they failed to defend the tournament title or qualify for the 2024 NBA Cup knockout stage. They finished the group stage with a 2–2 record, placing third in West Group B.
Prior to the start of the season, the Lakers announced that jersey No. 21 would be retired in honor of Michael Cooper during their game against the San Antonio Spurs on January 13, 2025, after he was announced as a finalist for the 2024 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In their season-opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves, LeBron James and his son Bronny made NBA history by becoming the first father-son duo to play together in the league. LeBron James would also become the first player in NBA history to play in the NBA both as a teenager and as a 40 year old on New Year's Eve.
For the first time since 2016–17, the Lakers won on opening night and started 3–0 for the first time since 2010–11. With their victory over the Utah Jazz on November 19, 2024, the Lakers posted their first six game winning streak in five seasons. During this season, the Lakers would see two games of theirs postponed for later into the season due to the January 2025 Southern California wildfires, which also saw the loss of coach JJ Redick's home in the area of the Palisades Fire.
On February 2, 2025, the Lakers were involved in a blockbuster three-team trade with the Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz, acquiring superstar Luka Dončić alongside Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris while trading Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 1st round pick to the Mavericks, and Jalen Hood-Schifino and two 2nd round picks to the Jazz. This trade is widely considered to be one of the most shocking in NBA history, with it being the first time ever that two reigning All-NBA players were traded for each other during the season.
Very notable this season, on March 26, 2025, LeBron James scored a game winning, buzzer-beating tip-in to stun the Indiana Pacers on the road in a 120–119 victory. This was his first game-winning buzzer beater as a Laker, and his eighth such shot in his career. Only Michael Jordan has more, with nine. The very next day, the Lakers lost to the Chicago Bulls on Josh Giddey's game-winning, buzzer-beating half-court shot over LeBron James, making them the fifth team in NBA history to win and lose on a buzzer-beater on consecutive days.
On April 9, the Lakers clinched a playoff berth for a third consecutive year and the first berth since 2020 not to involve the play-in tournament following their win against the Dallas Mavericks. On April 11, the Lakers won their first Pacific Division title since 2020 following their victory over the Houston Rockets. Entering the playoffs as favorites, the Lakers were upset in the first round by the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in five games. This marks the first time since 2005–06 and 2006–07 the Lakers were eliminated in the first round in back-to-back seasons, and the third time in five seasons that the Lakers were eliminated in the first round. It was also the first time they were eliminated in the first round as the 3rd seed or higher.
The Los Angeles Lakers drew an average home attendance of 18,724, the 12th-highest of all NBA teams.https://www.espn.com/nba/attendance/_/year/2025/sort/homeTotal
Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College / team 1 17 Dalton Knecht SF United States Tennessee 2 55 Bronny James Jr. PG United States USC
The Lakers entered this draft (which was two days long instead of one day long like it had been since 1989) with a first-round pick and a second-round pick. On the first night of the draft, the Lakers selected small forward Dalton Knecht from the University of Tennessee with the first round pick that was conveyed to the Lakers after the New Orleans Pelicans decided to defer it back to the Lakers in exchange for the Lakers' 2025 first-round pick through a previous trade they made. Then, on the second day of the draft, the Lakers selected University of Southern California guard Bronny James, the son of current Lakers player LeBron James, with the 55th pick of the draft. It would famously become the first time in NBA history that a father-son duo would play together in the NBA.
Roster
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Standings Division
Conference
Game log
Preseason Due to renovations at Crypto.com Arena, the Lakers did not play any preseason games at their regular home arena.
|- style="background:#fcc" | 1 | October 4 | Minnesota | | Knecht, Reaves (16) | Max Christie (7) | Austin Reaves (7) | Acrisure Arena9,235 | 0–1 |- style="background:#fcc" | 2 | October 6 | Phoenix | | LeBron James (19) | Davis, Hachimura, Hayes (8) | Austin Reaves (7) | Acrisure Arena9,494 | 0–2 |- style="background:#cfc" | 3 | October 10 | @ Milwaukee | | Rui Hachimura (14) | Davis, Knecht (8) | D'Angelo Russell (6) | Fiserv Forum15,526 | 1–2 |- style="background:#fcc | 4 | October 15 | Golden State | | Anthony Davis (24) | Anthony Davis (12) | LeBron James (4) | T-Mobile Arena16,907 | 1–3 |- style="background:#cfc" | 5 | October 17 | @ Phoenix | | Davis, Knecht (35) | Anthony Davis (10) | D'Angelo Russell (10) | Footprint Center17,071 | 2–3 |- style="background:#fcc" | 6 | October 18 | @ Golden State | | Quincy Olivari (22) | Hayes, Olivari, Traoré (7) | Jalen Hood-Schifino (7) | Chase Center18,064 | 2–4
Regular season
|- style="background:#cfc | 1 | October 22 | Minnesota | | Anthony Davis (36) | Anthony Davis (16) | D'Angelo Russell (5) | Crypto.com Arena18,997 | 1–0 |- style="background:#cfc" | 2 | October 25 | Phoenix | | Anthony Davis (35) | Anthony Davis (8) | L. James, Reaves (8) | Crypto.com Arena18,997 | 2–0 |- style="background:#cfc" | 3 | October 26 | Sacramento | | LeBron James (32) | LeBron James (14) | LeBron James (10) | Crypto.com Arena18,997 | 3–0 |- style="background:#fcc" | 4 | October 28 | @ Phoenix | | Anthony Davis (29) | Anthony Davis (15) | L. James, Russell (8) | Footprint Center17,071 | 3–1 |- style="background:#fcc" | 5 | October 30 | @ Cleveland | | LeBron James (26) | Anthony Davis (13) | D'Angelo Russell (5) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse19,432 | 3–2
|- style="background:#cfc" | 6 | November 1 | @ Toronto | | Anthony Davis (38) | Anthony Davis (11) | LeBron James (10) | Scotiabank Arena19,800 | 4–2 |- style="background:#fcc" | 7 | November 4 | @ Detroit | | Anthony Davis (37) | Anthony Davis (9) | LeBron James (11) | Little Caesars Arena20,062 | 4–3 |- style="background:#fcc" | 8 | November 6 | @ Memphis | | LeBron James (39) | Jaxson Hayes (10) | LeBron James (6) | FedExForum17,794 | 4–4 |- style="background:#cfc" | 9 | November 8 | Philadelphia | | Anthony Davis (31) | LeBron James (12) | LeBron James (13) | Crypto.com Arena18,485 | 5–4 |- style="background:#cfc" | 10 | November 10 | Toronto | | Austin Reaves (27) | LeBron James (10) | LeBron James (16) | Crypto.com Arena18,997 | 6–4 |- style="background:#cfc" | 11 | November 13 | Memphis | | LeBron James (35) | Anthony Davis (14) | LeBron James (14) | Crypto.com Arena18,997 | 7–4 |- style="background:#cfc" | 12 | November 15 | @ San Antonio | | Anthony Davis (40) | LeBron James (16) | LeBron James (12) | Frost Bank Center18,916 | 8–4 |- style="background:#cfc | 13 | November 16 | @ New Orleans | | Anthony Davis (31) | Anthony Davis (14) | Austin Reaves (7) | Smoothie King Center18,761 | 9–4 |- style="background:#cfc | 14 | November 19 | Utah | | Dalton Knecht (37) | Anthony Davis (14) | LeBron James (12) | Crypto.com Arena18,997 | 10–4 |- style="background:#fcc | 15 | November 21 | Orlando | | Anthony Davis (39) | LeBron James (10) | LeBron James (7) | Crypto.com Arena18,997 | 10–5 |- style="background:#fcc | 16 | November 23 | Denver | | Austin Reaves (19) | Anthony Davis (10) | LeBron James (7) | Crypto.com Arena18,997 | 10–6 |- style="background:#fcc | 17 | November 26 | @ Phoenix | | Anthony Davis (25) | Anthony Davis (15) | LeBron James (10) | Footprint Center17,071 | 10–7 |- style="background:#cfc | 18 | November 27 | @ San Antonio | | Dalton Knecht (20) | Anthony Davis (14) | LeBron James (11) | Frost Bank Center19,120 | 11–7 |- style="background:#fcc | 19 | November 29 | Oklahoma City | | Dalton Knecht (20) | Anthony Davis (12) | Anthony Davis (7) | Crypto.com Arena18,997 | 11–8
|- style="background:#cfc | 20 | December 1 | @ Utah | | Anthony Davis (33) | Anthony Davis (11) | LeBron James (14) | Delta Center18,175 | 12–8 |- style="background:#fcc | 21 | December 2 | @ Minnesota | | D'Angelo Russell (20) | Anthony Davis (11) | Davis, Russell (5) | Target Center18,978 | 12–9 |- style="background:#fcc | 22 | December 4 | @ Miami | | LeBron James (29) | Christie, Davis (7) | LeBron James (8) | Kaseya Center19,657 | 12–10 |- style="background:#fcc | 23 | December 6 | @ Atlanta | | LeBron James (39) | Davis, L. James (10) | LeBron James (11) | State Farm Arena18,040 | 12–11 |- style="background:#cfc | 24 | December 8 | Portland | | Anthony Davis (30) | Anthony Davis (11) | D'Angelo Russell (14) | Crypto.com Arena18,997 | 13–11 |- style="background:#fcc | 25 | December 13 | @ Minnesota | | Anthony Davis (23) | Anthony Davis (11) | Austin Reaves (5) | Target Center18,978 | 13–12 |- style="background:#cfc | 26 | December 15 | Memphis | | Anthony Davis (40) | Anthony Davis (16) | L. James, Reaves (8) | Crypto.com Arena15,106 | 14–12 |- style="background:#cfc | 27 | December 19 | @ Sacramento | | Austin Reaves (25) | Anthony Davis (19) | LeBron James (7) | Golden 1 Center17,832 | 15–12 |- style="background:#cfc | 28 | December 21 | @ Sacramento | | LeBron James (32) | Anthony Davis (15) | LeBron James (6) | Golden 1 Center17,832 | 16–12 |- style="background:#fcc | 29 | December 23 | Detroit | | LeBron James (28) | LeBron James (11) | LeBron James (11) | Crypto.com Arena18,997 | 16–13 |- style="background:#cfc | 30 | December 25 | @ Golden State | | LeBron James (31) | Austin Reaves (10) | L. James, Reaves (10) | Chase Center18,064 | 17–13 |- style="background:#cfc | 31 | December 28 | Sacramento | | Anthony Davis (36) | Anthony Davis (15) | Austin Reaves (16) | Crypto.com Arena18,997 | 18–13 |- style="background:#fcc | 32 | December 31 | Cleveland | | Austin Reaves (35) | Anthony Davis (13) | Austin Reaves (10) | Crypto.com Arena18,997 | 18–14
|- style="background:#cfc | 33 | January 2 | Portland | | LeBron James (38) | Koloko, Reaves (8) | Austin Reaves (11) | Crypto.com Arena17,812 | 19–14 |- style="background:#cfc | 34 | January 3 | Atlanta | | LeBron James (30) | Anthony Davis (19) | LeBron James (8) | Crypto.com Arena18,997 | 20–14 |- style="background:#fcc | 35 | January 5 | @ Houston | | Anthony Davis (30) | Davis, L. James (13) | Austin Reaves (10) | Toyota Center18,055 | 20–15 |- style="background:#fcc | 36 | January 7 | @ Dallas | | Anthony Davis (21) | Anthony Davis (12) | LeBron James (8) | American Airlines Center20,126 | 20–16 |- style="background:#ccc | — | January 9 | Charlotte | colspan="6" | Postponed due to the January 2025 Southern California wildfires. Makeup date February 19. |- style="background:#ccc; | — | January 11 | San Antonio | colspan="6" | Postponed due to the January 2025 Southern California wildfires. Makeup date March 17. |- style="background:#fcc | 37 | January 13 | San Antonio | | Anthony Davis (30) | Anthony Davis (13) | James, Reaves (8) | Crypto.com Arena18,737 | 20–17 |- style="background:#cfc | 38 | January 15 | Miami | | Rui Hachimura (23) | Anthony Davis (11)