1975–76 Los Angeles Lakers season

The 1975–76 NBA season was the Lakers' 28th season in the NBA and 16th season in Los Angeles.[1]

1975–76 Los Angeles Lakers season
Head coachBill Sharman
General managerPete Newell
Owner(s)Jack Kent Cooke
ArenaThe Forum
Results
Record40–42 (.488)
PlaceDivision: 4th (Pacific)
Conference: 6th (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify

Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionKTLA
RadioKABC
< 1974–75 1976–77 >

On June 16, 1975, the Lakers had traded Elmore Smith, Brian Winters, David Meyers, and Junior Bridgeman to the Milwaukee Bucks, in exchange for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.[2] The Lakers raced to a 21–13 start before slumping back to .500 and failing to make the playoffs. Despite the Lakers' losing regular-season record (40–42), Abdul-Jabbar won MVP honors in a narrow vote over Bob McAdoo of the Buffalo Braves and Dave Cowens of the Boston Celtics.[3]

Roster

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1975–76 Los Angeles Lakers roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From
C 33 Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1947-04-16 UCLA
PG 40 Allen, Lucius 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1947-09-26 UCLA
SF 10 Calhoun, Corky 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1950-11-01 Penn
SF 35 Ford, Don 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1952-12-31 UC Santa Barbara
SG 20 Freeman, Donnie 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1944-07-18 Illinois
SG 25 Goodrich, Gail 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1943-04-23 UCLA
SF 41 Kupec, C. J. 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1953-01-26 Michigan
PG 23 Lantz, Stu 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1946-07-13 Nebraska
C 11 McDaniels, Jim 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 228 lb (103 kg) 1948-04-02 Western Kentucky
PF 21 Meely, Cliff 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1947-07-10 Colorado
SG 12 Riley, Pat 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1945-03-20 Kentucky
SG 15 Roche, John 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1949-09-26 South Carolina
SF 32 Russell, Cazzie 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 1944-06-07 Michigan
PF 30 Warner, Cornell 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1948-08-12 Jackson State
PF 24 Washington, Kermit 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1951-09-17 American
C 21 Wesley, Walt 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1945-01-25 Kansas
PG 15 Williams, Ron 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 1944-09-24 West Virginia
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Larry Creger

Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  •   Injured

Roster
Last transaction: February 9, 1976

Regular season

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Season standings

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W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Golden State Warriors 59 23 .720 36–5 23–18 17–9
x-Seattle SuperSonics 43 39 .524 16 31–10 12–29 12–14
x-Phoenix Suns 42 40 .512 17 27–14 15–26 15–11
Los Angeles Lakers 40 42 .488 19 31–11 9–31 10–16
Portland Trail Blazers 37 45 .451 22 25–15 12–30 11–15
#
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Golden State Warriors 59 23 .720
2 x-Seattle SuperSonics 43 39 .524 16
3 x-Phoenix Suns 42 40 .512 17
4 y-Milwaukee Bucks 38 44 .463 21
5 x-Detroit Pistons 36 46 .439 23
6 Los Angeles Lakers 40 42 .488 19
7 Portland Trail Blazers 37 45 .451 22
8 Kansas City Kings 31 51 .378 28
9 Chicago Bulls 24 58 .293 35
z – clinched division title
y – clinched division title
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

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1975–76 NBA Records
Team ATL BOS BUF CHI CLE DET GSW HOU KCK LAL MIL NOJ NYK PHI PHO POR SEA WAS
Atlanta 2–3 2–3 2–2 2–5 1–3 2–2 2–5 2–2 1–3 2–2 2–4 3–2 2–3 0–4 2–2 1–3 1–5
Boston 3–2 4–3 2–2 3–2 4–0 2–2 4–1 2–2 4–0 2–2 4–1 5–2 4–3 4–0 2–2 2–2 3–2
Buffalo 3–2 3–4 3–1 3–2 1–3 1–3 3–2 4–0 2–2 3–1 4–1 4–3 3–4 3–1 2–2 2–2 2–3
Chicago 2–2 2–2 1–3 0–4 3–4 1–4 1–3 1–6 3–2 3–4 2–2 0–4 0–4 2–3 1–4 2–3 0–4
Cleveland 5–2 2–3 2–3 4–0 2–2 1–3 2–4 1–3 2–2 4–0 4–3 3–2 3–2 3–1 4–0 3–1 4–2
Detroit 3–1 0–4 3–1 4–3 2–2 0–5 2–2 5–2 1–4 3–4 1–3 3–1 1–3 1–4 2–3 3–2 2–2
Golden State 2–2 2–2 3–1 4–1 3–1 5–0 2–2 4–1 5–2 5–0 2–2 4–0 3–1 4–2 4–2 4–3 3–1
Houston 5–2 1–4 2–3 3–1 4–2 2–2 2–2 2–2 1–3 2–2 2–4 3–2 3–2 0–4 3–1 2–2 3–4
Kansas City 2–2 2–2 0–4 6–1 3–1 2–5 1–4 2–2 2–3 2–5 1–3 1–3 1–3 3–2 0–5 2–3 1–3
Los Angeles 3–1 0–4 2–2 2–3 2–2 4–1 2–5 3–1 3–2 2–3 3–1 3–1 2–2 2–4 3–4 3–3 1–3
Milwaukee 2–2 2–2 1–3 4–3 0–4 4–3 0–5 2–2 5–2 3–2 2–2 2–2 2–2 3–2 2–3 2–3 2–2
New Orleans 4–2 1–4 1–4 2–2 3–4 3–1 2–2 4–2 3–1 1–3 2–2 2–3 1–4 1–3 3–1 1–3 4–3
New York 2–3 2–5 3–4 4–0 2–3 1–3 0–4 2–3 3–1 1–3 2–2 3–2 5–2 2–2 3–1 0–4 3–2
Philadelphia 3–2 3–4 4–3 4–0 2–3 3–1 1–3 2–3 3–1 2–2 2–2 4–1 2–5 3–1 4–0 2–2 2–3
Phoenix 4–0 0–4 1–3 3–2 1–3 4–1 2–4 4–0 2–3 4–2 2–3 3–1 2–2 1–3 5–2 4–3 0–4
Portland 2–2 2–2 2–2 4–1 0–4 3–2 2–4 1–3 5–0 4–3 3–2 1–3 1–3 0–4 2–5 3–3 2–2
Seattle 3–1 2–2 2–2 3–2 1–3 2–3 3–4 2–2 3–2 3–3 3–2 3–1 4–0 2–2 3–4 3–3 1–3
Washington 5–1 2–3 3–2 4–0 2–4 2–2 1–3 4–3 3–1 3–1 2–2 3–4 2–3 3–2 4–0 2–2 3–1

Awards and records

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References

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  1. ^ 1975–76 Los Angeles Lakers
  2. ^ "Abdul-Jabbar Traded by Bucks for Four Lakers". The New York Times. June 17, 1975.
  3. ^ "Abdul-Jabbar Is Voted Most Valuable". The New York Times. April 2, 1976.