2024–25 Los Angeles Lakers season

The 2024–25 Los Angeles Lakers season was the 78th season of the franchise, its 77th season in the National Basketball Association (NBA), its 65th season in Los Angeles, and its 26th season playing home games at Crypto.com Arena. On May 3, 2024, the Lakers fired head coach Darvin Ham and all of their assistant coaches, including Phil Handy, who had been with the team since their 2020 championship season. On June 24, 2024, the Lakers hired JJ Redick as their new head coach. They entered the season as the defending NBA Cup champions.

Prior to the start of the season, the Lakers announced that jersey No. 21 would be retired in honor of Michael Cooper during their game against the San Antonio Spurs on January 13, 2025, after he was announced as a finalist for the 2024 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In their season-opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves, LeBron James and his son Bronny made NBA history by becoming the first father-son duo to play together in the league. LeBron James would also become the first player in NBA history to play in the NBA both as a teenager and as a 40 year old on New Year's Eve.

For the first time since 2016–17, the Lakers won on opening night and started 3–0 for the first time since 2010–11. With their victory over the Utah Jazz on November 19, 2024, the Lakers posted their first six game winning streak in five seasons. During this season, the Lakers would see two games of theirs postponed for later into the season due to the January 2025 Southern California wildfires, which also saw the loss of coach JJ Redick's home in the area of the Palisades Fire.

On February 2, 2025, the Lakers were involved in a blockbuster three-team trade with the Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz, acquiring superstar Luka Dončić alongside Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris while trading Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 1st round pick to the Mavericks, and Jalen Hood-Schifino and two 2nd round picks to the Jazz. This trade is widely considered to be one of the most shocking in NBA history, with it being the first time ever that two reigning All-NBA players were traded for each other during the season.

On April 9, the Lakers clinched a playoff berth for a third consecutive year and the first berth since 2020 not to involve the play-in tournament following their win against the Dallas Mavericks. On April 11, the Lakers won their first Pacific Division title since 2020 following their victory over the Houston Rockets. On April 30, the Lakers were upset in the first round by the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in five games. This marks the first time since 2005–06 and 2006–07 the Lakers were eliminated in the first round in back-to-back seasons, and the third time in five seasons that the Lakers were eliminated in the first round. It was also the first time they were eliminated in the first round as the 3rd seed or higher.