Led by Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, Los Angeles made the NBA Finals six times in the 1960s, but lost each series to the Boston Celtics, beginning their long and storied rivalry. In 1968, the Lakers acquired four - time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Wilt Chamberlain to play center, and after losing in the Finals in 1969 and 1970, they won their sixth NBA title -- and first in Los Angeles -- in 1972, led by new head coach Bill Sharman. After the retirement of West and Chamberlain, the team acquired another center, Kareem Abdul - Jabbar, who had won multiple MVP awards, but was unable to make the Finals in the late 1970s. The 1980s Lakers were nicknamed "Showtime '' due to their Magic Johnson - led fast break - offense, and won five championships in a 9 - year span, including their first ever Finals championship against the Celtics in 1985. This team featured Hall of Famers in Johnson, Abdul - Jabbar, and James Worthy, and a Hall of Fame coach, Pat Riley. After Abdul - Jabbar and Johnson 's retirement, the team struggled in the early 1990s before acquiring Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in 1996. Led by O'Neal, Bryant, and another Hall of Fame coach, Phil Jackson, Los Angeles won three consecutive titles between 2000 to 2002, securing the franchise its second "three - peat ''. After losing both the 2004 and 2008 NBA Finals, the Lakers won two more championships by defeating the Orlando Magic in 2009 and Boston in 2010.
where did the lakers play in the 80s
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