2004–05 Los Angeles Lakers season

2004–05 Los Angeles Lakers season
Head coach	Rudy Tomjanovich Frank Hamblen
General manager	Mitch Kupchak
Owner(s)	Jerry Buss
Arena	Staples Center
Results
Record	34–48 (.415)
Place	Division: 5th (Pacific) Conference: 12th (Western)
Playoff finish	DNQ
Local media
Television	FSN West, KCAL
Radio	AM 570 KLAC

The 2004–05 Los Angeles Lakers season was the 56th in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 59th overall. The Los Angeles Lakers finished fifth in the Pacific Division. The season is best remembered as a tough one for the Lakers, winning only 34 games, missing the playoffs for the first time in 11 years. The off-season marked changes for the Lakers, who lost several members from the famed 2004 team: Rick Fox and Gary Payton were traded to the Boston Celtics, but Fox would retire before the season instead of suiting up for Boston, Shaquille O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat in exchange for Brian Grant, Caron Butler, and Lamar Odom after bad blood between himself and teammate Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher left for the Golden State Warriors, though he would return to the Lakers in 2007 and would eventually win two more championships, and Karl Malone retired in February 2005 after spending half of the season unsigned. The team hired Rudy Tomjanovich, who was well known for his tenure with the Houston Rockets, to be their new head coach for the upcoming season. But midseason, Tomjanovich once again resigned and Frank Hamblen took over for the rest of the season.

Draft picks

Main article: 2004 NBA Draft

Draft	Round	Pick	Player	Nat	Pos	College/High School/Club
2004	1	27	Sašha Vujačić	Slovenia	G	Pallalcesto Amatori Udine (Italy)
2004	2	56	Marcus Douthit	United States/Philippines	PF/C	Providence

Roster

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Reserve
C	Chris Mihm	Brian Grant	Vlade Divac
PF	Lamar Odom	Brian Cook	Stanislav Medvedenko
SF	Caron Butler	Jumaine Jones	Luke Walton	Devean George
SG	Kobe Bryant	Sasha Vujacic	Kareem Rush
PG	Chucky Atkins	Tierre Brown	Tony Bobbitt

Player Salaries

Rank	Player	Salary
1	Kobe Bryant	$14,175,000
2	Brian Grant	$13,233,434
3	Lamar Odom	$10,548,596
4	Vlade Divac	$4,903,000
5	Devean George	$4,546,000
6	Chucky Atkins	$4,200,000
7	Chris Mihm	$3,371,393
8	Stanislav Medvedenko	$3,000,000
9	Caron Butler	$1,930,680
10	Jumaine Jones	$1,687,500
11	Brian Cook	$971,160
12	Sasha Vujacic	$846,840
13	Tierre Brown	$720,046
14	Luke Walton	$620,046
15	Tony Bobbitt	$305,403

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division

Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
Phoenix Suns	62	20	.756	-
Sacramento Kings	50	32	.610	12
Los Angeles Clippers	37	45	.451	25
Los Angeles Lakers	34	48	.415	28
Golden State Warriors	34	48	.415	28

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Awards and records

• Kobe Bryant, All-NBA Third Team

Transactions

• Kareem Rush was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats on December 6, 2004 for a 2005 2nd round draft pick and a 2009 2nd round draft pick.