The 1986–87 Los Angeles Lakers season was the 41st season of the franchise, 39th in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 27th in Los Angeles. Coming from a shocking defeat to the Houston Rockets in the previous season's Western Conference Finals in five games, where they won the first game, but proceeded to drop the next four, the Lakers avenged their playoff upset by making the NBA Finals for the sixth time in the 1980s. Prior to reaching the NBA Finals, in the playoffs, the Lakers swept the Denver Nuggets in three games in the First Round, defeated the Golden State Warriors in five games in the Semi-finals, and swept the Seattle SuperSonics in four games in the Conference Finals. This team was named one of the 10 greatest teams in NBA history.
The highlight of the season saw the Lakers winning the NBA Finals, and their tenth NBA title (fifth in Los Angeles) over the defending NBA champions and rivals, the Boston Celtics, in six games. This marked the third and final time the Lakers and Celtics faced off against each other in the NBA Finals in the 1980s, as well as the last time the Lakers and Celtics faced off against each other in the NBA Finals until 2008, where the Celtics defeated the Lakers 4–2 to win their 17th NBA championship. The two teams would then meet again in 2010, where the Lakers defeated the Celtics 4–3 to win their 16th NBA championship.
Draft picks
Roster
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Game log
Regular season
|- style="background:#fcc;" | 1 | November 1 | @ Houston | L 102-112 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (27) | Kurt Rambis (13) | Magic Johnson (10) | The Summit16,016 | 0-1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2 | November 4 | @ Seattle | W 110-96 | James Worthy (26) | Kurt Rambis (17) | Magic Johnson (10) | Seattle Center Coliseum10,426 | 1-1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 3 | November 7 | Denver | W 138-116 | James Worthy (30) | Abdul-Jabbar & Brickowski (9) | Magic Johnson (18) | The Forum15,872 | 2-1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 4 | November 9 | New York | W 111-88 | James Worthy (22) | Abdul-Jabbar & B. Thompson (6) | Magic Johnson (15) | The Forum17,505 | 3-1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 5 | November 12 | Seattle | W 122-97 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (25) | Kurt Rambis (9) | Magic Johnson (10) | The Forum13,694 | 4-1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 6 | November 16 | Sacramento | W 113-111 | Magic Johnson (34) | Kurt Rambis (12) | Magic Johnson (12) | The Forum13,421 | 5-1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 7 | November 18 | @ Dallas | W 114-110 | Magic Johnson (29) | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (10) | Magic Johnson (9) | Reunion Arena17,007 | 6-1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 8 | November 19 | @ San Antonio | W 117-108 | Magic Johnson (25) | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (11) | Magic Johnson (13) | HemisFair Arena10,581 | 7-1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 9 | November 21 | New Jersey | W 111-95 | James Worthy (26) | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (10) | Magic Johnson (10) | The Forum14,918 | 8-1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 10 | November 23 | Milwaukee | W 127-117 | Magic Johnson (23) | Byron Scott (9) | Magic Johnson (10) | The Forum16,251 | 9-1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 11 | November 25 | Atlanta | L 107-113 | Magic Johnson (22) | A.C. Green (7) | Abdul-Jabbar & Johnson (8) | The Forum17,505 | 9-2 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 12 | November 26 | @ L.A. Clippers | W 126-92 | A.C. Green (19) | A.C. Green (7) | Magic Johnson (14) | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena12,110 | 10-2 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 13 | November 28 | Chicago | W 110-103 | Magic Johnson (30) | A.C. Green (12) | Magic Johnson (9) | The Forum17,505 | 11-2 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 14 | November 30 | L.A. Clippers | W 137-115 | Byron Scott (26) | Billy Thompson (13) | Magic Johnson (13) | The Forum13,099 | 12-2