Before the Banners, Lakers History Had an October Like This…

By the Lakers Nightly Desk · Saturday, October 17

The Lakers have lost on Oct. 17 before and still raised a banner by June. Forty-seven years after Jerry Buss took over the franchise, the preseason-ending loss to Denver sits four days from an opener that again starts at zero.

Luka Doncic of the Lakers — Luka Doncic. Photo: Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

An October Before the Banner

The schedule says the Lakers have been here before. On Oct. 17, 1979, Jerry Buss's first season as owner, Los Angeles lost at Seattle 110-112 with rookie Magic Johnson aboard; that team won the franchise's first Los Angeles championship the following June. A year later, on the same date in 1980, the Lakers beat Phoenix 116-109. Earlier incarnations split the date too, wins at New York in 1964 and at Chicago in 1967, losses at Philadelphia in 1969 and Baltimore in 1970, the Jerry West and Elgin Baylor years that lost six Finals to Boston before Wilt Chamberlain's arrival turned one into a title in 1972.

Money Has Moved This Team Before

The Lakers left Minneapolis for Los Angeles in 1960 because owner Bob Short couldn't keep the franchise solvent there. The ledger now runs the other direction: Mark Walter agreed in August to sell his controlling interest to Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner for $12.5 billion, even as a Buss family dispute over that sale surfaced in reporting this week, tied to Doncic's and JJ Redick's names without detail attached. Sixty-six years after a money problem moved the team, a money deal is changing who owns it.

Four Days From the Real Thing

Oct. 16 closed preseason the way it often does, a 106-121 loss to Denver, Jamal Murray scoring 21 and Nikola Jokic adding 17 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists. Doncic played 19 minutes, scored 15 on 4-of-10 shooting, and has since been cleared off the injury report entirely. The roster kept turning behind him: Hoopsrumors reported Oct. 17 that the Lakers cut two players as the Grizzlies waived Zach Cleveland, ahead of an opener against the Warriors on Oct. 21, the first game that will count.

Have the Lakers played on Oct. 17 before?

Yes, with mixed results: wins over Phoenix (1980), at New York (1964) and at Chicago (1967), and losses at Seattle (1979), Philadelphia (1969) and Baltimore (1970). The 1979 game came in Magic Johnson's rookie season, the year the franchise won its first Los Angeles title.

When do the Lakers open the 2026-27 regular season?

Oct. 21 at home against the Warriors on ESPN, four days after a 106-121 preseason-ending loss to Denver.

By the Lakers Nightly Desk, written from the club's data and the reports on file, with every name and number checked against them. How the desks work.