2020–21 Los Angeles Lakers season

The 2020–21 Los Angeles Lakers season was the franchise's 74th season, its 73rd season in the National Basketball Association (NBA), its 61st season in Los Angeles, and their 22nd season playing home games at Staples Center. The Lakers were coached by Frank Vogel in his second year as head coach. The Lakers played their home games at Staples Center as members of the Western Conference's Pacific Division. The Lakers entered the season as the defending Pacific Division, Western Conference, and NBA champions.

On November 10, 2020, the NBA announced that the 2020–21 season would begin on December 22, 2020, following the delayed finish to the 2019–20 season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Each team was to play a shortened 72-game schedule. A week later, the NBA announced the format for the season which would include a play-in tournament to determine the seventh and eighth seeds in each conference. The second half of the schedule would not be announced until a later date to allow for the makeup of any games postponed due to COVID-19 issues.

The season began just 72 days after the completion of the 2020 finals, giving the Lakers and the Miami Heat the shortest off-season in league history. In February 2021, the Lakers had the second best record in the West at 21–7, two games behind the Utah Jazz, when Anthony Davis suffered a strained calf that sidelined him for 30 games. One game after Davis was injured, Dennis Schröder missed a span of four games, in which the Lakers were winless, due to the league's health and safety protocols. LeBron James missed 26 of the team's final 30 games with a sprained ankle. After Davis returned from his nine-week absence, the Lakers were 35–23, going 14–16 without him, including 6–10 with James out as well. Schröder also missed seven games in the final weeks of the season, again due to health and safety protocols.

In an injury-laden season, the Lakers finished with a 42–30 record (roughly the equivalent of 48–34), the same as the No. 5 Mavericks and No. 6 Trail Blazers; they fell to 7th place due to tiebreakers, resulting in the Lakers having to face the No. 8 Warriors in the play-in tournament, whom they defeated to secure the No. 7 seed in the playoffs. This was the first time in James's career that he did not have home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Against the second-seeded Phoenix Suns in the opening round, they were up 2–1 when Davis suffered a strained groin in Game 4. The Lakers were eliminated in six games, the first time in James's career that his team exited in the first round of the playoffs and the first defending NBA champion that was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs since the 2014–15 San Antonio Spurs. The Lakers would return to the playoffs in 2023.