Attendance at Lakers games fell after Mikan's retirement in 1956, and the team moved to Los Angeles before the 1960–61 season. The Lakers advanced to the NBA finals six times in the 1960s but lost to the Celtics in each appearance despite the presence of future Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor (Baylor, Elgin) and Jerry West. During the 1971–72 season, however, the Lakers—led by West, Gail Goodrich, and Wilt Chamberlain (Chamberlain, Wilt)—set NBA records for longest winning streak (33 games) and best regular season record (69–13; broken in 1996 by the Chicago Bulls) on their way to the NBA championship, the team's first title since relocating to Los Angeles.

The Lakers entered the most dominant period in their franchise history when they selected Magic Johnson (Johnson, Magic) in the first overall pick of the 1979 NBA draft. Johnson teamed with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem) and (from 1982) James Worthy to take the Lakers to eight appearances in the NBA finals over the following decade, resulting in five NBA championships (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988). This era became known as ‘‘Showtime,'' not only for the flamboyant, often spectacular playing style orchestrated by Johnson and polished head coach Pat Riley but also for the courtside presence of Hollywood stars, most notably Jack Nicholson (Nicholson, Jack). Additionally, the renewed Lakers-Celtics rivalry—the two teams facing off for the NBA title in 1984, 1985, and 1987 and, more specifically, Johnson's battles with Boston's Larry Bird (Bird, Larry)—propelled the NBA to new levels of popularity in the 1980s.