From 2011-12 to 2025-26, the Lakers' only title came on the 17th-highest payroll of 30
In 2011-12 the Los Angeles Lakers carried the highest Effective Payroll of 30 teams, $101M with luxury tax inside it. The record shows 41 wins, the 6th-most in the league, and an exit in the conference semifinals.
In 2012-13 the Lakers spent more and still led the league, with $29.3M of luxury tax inside the bill. The wins came to 45, the 11th-most, and the run ended in the first round.
Then the record falls away. In 2013-14 the Lakers still carried the 4th-highest payroll of 30, and they won 27 games, the 25th-most.
The spending came down after that, and the wins kept falling with it. By 2015-16 the Lakers' payroll sat 20th of 30, and the team won 17 games, the 29th-most in the league.
The Lakers missed the playoffs every season from 2013-14 through 2018-19. Late in that stretch the record turns: 35 wins in 2017-18, then 37 in 2018-19, when the payroll ranked 27th of 30.
In 2019-20 the Lakers spent $125M, the 17th-highest payroll in the league, a bill in the middle of the pack. They won 52 games, the 3rd-most, and finished the season as NBA champions.
That title is the only one in these records. The record now shows it came in the season the Lakers' payroll ranked lowest in the league of any of their playoff years here.
The bill climbed from there. In 2020-21 the payroll rose to the 5th-highest of 30, the wins fell to 42, and the run ended in the first round.
In 2021-22 the Lakers carried an Effective Payroll of $209M, the largest the record had yet shown for them, with $45.1M of luxury tax inside it. They won 33 games, the 23rd-most, and missed the playoffs.
The Lakers kept the payroll near the top and the wins came back. In 2022-23 a bill of $203M bought 43 wins and a run to the conference finals, the deepest of any season after the title.
In 2023-24 the spending eased to the 8th-highest of 30 and the team won 47 games, the 12th-most. The run ended in the first round.
In 2024-25 the Lakers paid the biggest luxury tax in the record, $53.5M, inside the 4th-highest payroll in the league. They won 50 games, the 6th-most, and lost in the first round.
In 2025-26 the Lakers again carried the 4th-highest payroll of 30, $217M, and won 53 games, the 6th-most, their highest win total in these records.
That season's WAGE Score was 60, inside the Going Rate tier. The run to the conference semifinals lifted the Lakers' WAGE Run to 65 that season.
The last season in the record ended where the first one did, in the conference semifinals, on a payroll near the top of the league once more.