1975–76 Los Angeles Lakers season

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 >

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

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

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 Injured

Roster
Last transaction: February 9, 1976

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division
 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
#
Western Conference
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

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

References

  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.