Lakers vs. Spurs: NBA Rivalry Rundown

Long before the Lakers embodied the glitz and glamour of Tinseltown, they built a foundation in Minnesota. The franchise was founded in 1947 when entrepreneurs took the disbanded Detroit Gems of the National Basketball League (NBL) and moved them to the Midwest to become the Minneapolis Lakers. The Lakers played in the NBL and Basketball Association of America (BAA) before the leagues merged to create the NBA in 1949. The Lakers, who've won a record-tying 17 NBA championships, have become the gold standard of American sports franchises thanks to a litany of icons. Future Hall of Famer George Mikan led Minneapolis to four NBA championships in the first five years of the league. The franchise continued to thrive after moving to Los Angeles in 1960. Future Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor and Jerry West — who'd later become the model for the NBA logo — formed one of the greatest duos in league history and took the Lakers to six NBA Finals in the '60s. However, the Boston Celtics beat the Lakers in all six matchups. Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West helped the Lakers to a league-record 33-game winning streak in 1972 before beating the New York Knicks to win the NBA Finals. The Lakers started another glorious chapter in their history by trading for Milwaukee Bucks' All-Star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975. Abdul-Jabbar teamed with Earvin “Magic” Johnson to become the Team of the 1980s. The Lakers were virtually unstoppable with five NBA titles and eight Finals appearances in the '80s. Hollywood stars like Jack Nicholson flocked to the Great Western Forum to watch the “Showtime” Lakers. Johnson was the perfect ringleader with his no-look passes for assists. The Lakers finally beat the Celtics for the first two times in the NBA Finals during the decade. They toppled the Detroit Pistons in 1988 to win their fifth NBA title in nine years. Los Angeles had to contend with talented teams like the Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, and Golden State Warriors. They didn't enjoy nearly the same level of success in the 1990s with the rise of the Chicago Bulls. Everything changed when Phil Jackson, who won six titles with the Bulls, arrived. Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to three NBA championships from 2000 to 2002. The Pistons spoiled their bid for a fourth title in five years and set the stage for a breakup between O'Neal and Bryant. The Lakers went through a dry spell for a few years before Bryant and Pau Gasol led the Lakers to back-to-back NBA titles in 2009 and 2010. LeBron James and Anthony Davis snapped the Lakers' franchise-high six-year playoff drought by winning a 17th NBA Finals in 2020. The Lakers brought in Dennis Schroder for one season before cutting the cord after packaging Kyle Kuzma and others to land Russell Westbrook. They also moved on from Marc Gasol to re-shape the frontcourt. The Lakers aren't the only show in town anymore with the emergence of the Clippers, but there's hope that LeBron & Co. can make another championship run.

It took three decades for the Spurs to get to the mountaintop after they were founded in 1967 as the Dallas Chaparrals in the American Basketball Association (ABA). The franchise relocated to San Antonio a few years later as the Gunslingers before becoming the Spurs. George Gervin provided plenty of entertainment before the franchise joined the NBA as part of the 1976 merger, but San Antonio didn't break into the NBA elite until Gregg Popovich took over as coach early in the 1996-97 season. Popovich led the Spurs to the first NBA title in franchise history in 1999. The Spurs tied an NBA record with 22 consecutive playoff berths in Popovich's first full 22 seasons. San Antonio recorded an NBA-record 18 consecutive 50-win seasons during that stretch, including six seasons with at least 60 victories. The Spurs won five Finals and had six appearances in a 16-season span (1997-98 to 2013-14). San Antonio caught a franchise-changing break by winning the NBA draft lottery in 1997 and drafting Wake Forest's Tim Duncan with the No. 1 pick. David Robinson and Duncan won an NBA title in their second season together. The Spurs won their second championship in Robinson's final season in 2003. The Spurs beat the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers to win two more titles in the decade. Kawhi Leonard earned 2014 NBA Finals MVP honors to help the Spurs capture their fifth title. The Spurs later signed free-agent All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge to pair up with Leonard, but they didn't win another ring. A fallout between Leonard and the franchise prompted a trade with the Toronto Raptors. San Antonio got back All-Star DeMar DeRozan in 2018, while Leonard went on to lead the Raptors to their first NBA title. The Spurs missed the postseason in back-to-back years for the first time in franchise history in 2020 and 2021.

The Lakers and Spurs rivalry stretches back to the 1980s, but it's gone into overdrive over the past two decades. The franchises have a combined 22 NBA titles, but the Spurs' emergence in the new millennium stoked the flames of this battle. The Lakers have won eight of 12 playoff series against the Spurs, including all four matchups in the Western Conference finals. The Lakers or Spurs went to the NBA Finals for seven consecutive seasons from 1999 to 2005. We'll take a deeper look at the unforgettable moments that turned this into one of the best clashes in NBA history.

The seeds of the rivalry between the Lakers and Spurs were planted in the 1980s when Pat Riley's star-studded team ran roughshod over San Antonio. The Lakers repeatedly finished atop the Western Conference standings and won all four playoff matchups against the Spurs during the decade. The Lakers swept the Spurs in the 1982 Western Conference finals in their first postseason duel. Gervin, who was hailed for his patented finger-roll layup, was no match for the Lakers, who went on to win their second of five NBA Finals in the decade. The Spurs traded for All-Star Artis Gilmore the following season, but they still couldn't deal with all of the Lakers' firepower. San Antonio breezed past the Denver Nuggets before falling to Los Angeles again in the 1983 Western Conference finals. The Lakers dominated the regular seasons before sweeping the Spurs two more times in the decade. The rivalry recap through the '80s was simple: The Lakers owned the Spurs. Robinson helped the Spurs get past the Lakers in the playoffs for the first time in 1995. Robinson and rebounding star Dennis Rodman helped the best team in Texas edge the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals. The Spurs would lose to the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference finals, but they finally beat Los Angeles. The 1999 Western Conference semifinals took the rivalry to a different stratosphere. The Spurs' Twin Towers swept Shaq and Kobe en route to the first NBA championship in franchise history. The loss prompted the Lakers to hire Phil Jackson, who ratcheted up the animosity by claiming that the Spurs' championship during the NBA's lockout-shortened season should come with an asterisk. The start of the new millennium would be filled with fireworks that turned the Lakers' and Spurs' distaste for each other into the most heated rivalry in basketball.

The Spurs were riding high coming off their first NBA title, while the Lakers wondered whether Jackson would bring over the magic dust from the Chicago Bulls dynasty. Jackson held firm that San Antonio's first title should come with an asterisk due to the 50-game season during the NBA lockout. Jackson lived up to his reputation by returning the Lakers to prominence. Los Angeles beat the Indiana Pacers in the 2000 NBA Finals in Jackson's first season in charge. The Lakers avenged their loss to the Spurs in 1999 by sweeping them in the 2001 Western Conference finals. O'Neal and Bryant went on to win the second of their three championships together. Jackson's team steamrolled past Tim Duncan & Co. in the 2002 Western Conference semifinals en route to a three-peat. Popovich's club made sure that the Lakers didn't win a fourth consecutive ring by toppling them in the 2003 Western Conference semifinals. The Spurs then beat the Nets to capture their second title. The Spurs and Lakers collided in the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year in 2004. This time, Shaq and Kobe came out on top in the Western Conference semifinals. Los Angeles beat San Antonio again in the 2008 Western Conference semifinals to cap a decade of dominance for both teams. The Lakers and Spurs won a combined eight championships with 10 Finals appearances from 2000 to 2010. The 2006 Dallas Mavericks were the only other team to represent the Western Conference in the Finals during that stretch. The Spurs won three titles from 2003 to 2007, while the Lakers were champions from 2000 to 2010. The Spurs and Lakers rekindled their rivalry in the first round of the 2013 playoffs. San Antonio swept the Lakers before ultimately falling to the Miami Heat's Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh in the Finals.

The Lakers vs Spurs showdowns were sprinkled with high drama from people other than the best NBA players. Lakers guard Nick Van Exel's buzzer-beating three-pointer in Game 5 of the 1995 Western Conference semifinals gave hope that Los Angeles could rally from a 3-1 series deficit to advance. The Spurs slammed the door on that possibility in Game 6, but Van Exel's dramatics remain a fabric of the rivalry. Robert Horry earned the nickname “Big Shot Bob” for his penchant for making clutch baskets, but it was the shot that he couldn't make that burns bright in this rivalry. The Lakers were looking for a fourth consecutive NBA title in 2003 when they ran into the Spurs again in the Western Conference semifinals. With the series tied at 2-2, the Lakers rallied from a 25-point deficit before Bryant found a wide-open Horry for a potential game-winning three-pointer. Horry's jumper went in and out to give the Spurs a dramatic Game 5 win that ultimately propelled them to win the NBA Finals. The only thing more surprising than Horry missing a clutch shot was his decision to sign with the Spurs as a free agent after the season. One year after Horry's miss, Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals provided more drama. With the series tied once again at two apiece, the Lakers fell behind on Duncan's fadeaway jumper with 0.4 seconds left in the game. Then, Derek Fisher did what Horry couldn't do a year earlier by draining an almost impossible jumper at the buzzer to lift Los Angeles to the dramatic victory. The Lakers wrapped up the series in Game 6 on their way to the NBA Finals.

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