[1] The previous season had ended with a crushing defeat in five games to the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals, despite the Lakers being heavily favored.
It was also the Lakers first season since 1995-96 without either center Shaquille O'Neal, who was traded to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant, and future draft picks, or point guard Derek Fisher (who had signed a six-year free agent contract with the Golden State Warriors), two instrumental players to the Lakers' previous three championship victories.
However, in February 2005, Tomjanovich's struggle with bladder cancer that had been diagnosed since 2003 forced him to resign after a 24–19 start and be replaced by Jackson's assistant coach Frank Hamblen for the rest of the year.
In the offseason, Butler was traded to the Washington Wizards, Hamblen was fired as head coach and Vlade Divac retired.
This was the first team since the 1998–99 Chicago Bulls and last until the 2014–15 Miami Heat to miss the playoffs after making a Finals appearance the previous season.