1975-79: The Captain: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Alcindor, now known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, wanted out of Milwaukee, and the Lakers acquired him in a trade. His first year in Los Angeles resulted in his fourth NBA Most Valuable Player Award, but the Lakers failed to make the playoffs again at 40-42 (meanwhile, Milwaukee went from last to first in their division despite finishing the season with a losing record). The Lakers returned to form in 1976-77, with the NBA's best record at 53-29. After beating the Warriors, they were swept 4-0 in the Western Conference Finals by Bill Walton's eventual NBA champion Portland Trail Blazers.
December 9, 1977 saw one of the ugliest moments in professional sports history. Future Laker coach Rudy Tomjanovich, then of the Houston Rockets, ran onto the court in an attempt to break up a fight between the Lakers' Kermit Washington and the Rockets' Kevin Kunnert. Washington, in the corner of his eye, saw that there was an opposing player rushing toward him. Instinctively thinking that he was going to be attacked, Washington turned and landed a devastating blow to Tomjanovich's face, with the unsuspecting Tomjanovich running headlong directly into the punch.
Tomjanovich was hit so hard that he has said that his first thought upon waking up was that the arena's scoreboard must have fallen from the ceiling onto him. The punch had cracked Tomjanovich's skull and nearly ended his career. He sat out the rest of the season, needing reconstructive surgery to repair his jaw, eye, and cheek. Some of those who witnessed the event said that the blow was so crushing that until they saw Tomjanovich moving as he lay on the floor, they feared that he might literally have been killed.
Washington received a punishment of 60-game suspension and a fine, and the incident remains a dark chapter in Laker history. The shocking scene became the defining moment of not only the Rockets' 1977-78 season (a conference finals team the previous year, they collapsed into last place with a 28-54 record), but also of two players' professional careers. Tomjanovich spent the next five months in rehab, eventually returning to play as an NBA all-star.
In 1977-78, the Lakers finished only 4th in their division at 45-37 and were sent home in the playoffs by the eventual champion Supersonics. The following season saw a 47-35 record and third in the division. They beat the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs and once again fell to the Supersonics.
Read more about this topic: History Of The Los Angeles Lakers