The banners at Crypto.com Arena trace back to a single blueprint: find the transcendent player, build the roster to fit him, and let him carry the franchise forward. At 0-0 with the opener five weeks away, Luka Dončić is the newest name asked to fill that role.
A Franchise Built On Stars
Mikan's Lakers won five championships across two leagues before he retired in 1954, and Baylor and West lost six straight Finals to Boston in the 1960s before Wilt Chamberlain arrived by trade in 1968 and delivered a then-record 69 wins and an NBA-record 33-game streak in 1971-72, the franchise's sixth championship. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Anthony Davis each anchored a title run in turn. On February 1, 2025, the Lakers sent Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick to Dallas for Dončić, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris, opening the newest chapter in that same pattern.
The Rivalry That Grades Every Banner
Boston is the measuring stick built into that history: West and Baylor's generation lost all six Finals meetings with the Celtics before Los Angeles finally turned it around, beating them in 1985 and 1987, then again in 2009 and 2010 after a 2008 Finals loss. Los Angeles has since caught Boston at 17 championships each, the most in NBA history. Every banner the Lakers add now reopens that argument, and Dončić, 27 and entering his eighth season, is the player asked to tip it back their way.
What Dončić Inherits Now
Last season, under JJ Redick, the Lakers went 53-29 with Dončić posting those numbers across 64 games. The roster built around him carries a payroll of $201.3 million, already above the league's $200.4 million tax threshold, with Austin Reaves, Walker Kessler and Quentin Grimes signed alongside him long term. The record now reads 0-0, the opener is set for October 21 against the Warriors, and the question left from the lineage Dončić inherits is whether he becomes the next name added to that wall.
When did the Lakers trade for Luka Dončić?
On February 1, 2025, when the Lakers sent Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick to Dallas for Dončić, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris.
How many championships have the Lakers won?
Seventeen, tied with the Boston Celtics for the most in NBA history.
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