1952–53 Minneapolis Lakers season

The 1952–53 Minneapolis Lakers season was the fifth season for the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Lakers continued to be the dominant force in the league as they won the Western Division with a 48–22 record. In the playoffs, the Lakers would sweep the Indianapolis Olympians in 2 straight. In the Western Finals, the Lakers would win the first 2 games at home. Against the Fort Wayne Pistons, the Lakers were pushed to a 5th game. The series returned to Minneapolis, where the Lakers won the 5th game 74–58. In the Finals, the Lakers vanquished the New York Knickerbockers for their 2nd straight Championship, and 4th Championship overall in the franchise's first five seasons in the NBA. HoopsHype later ranked this squad as the team with the fourth-easiest path to an NBA Finals championship, noting them as the team who had the easiest path while facing off against opponents who held mostly above-average records that season, with the only outlier being their first round opponent of the Indianapolis Olympians under their final season of existence.

Player stats
Note: GP= Games played; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average

Playoffs

 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 1
 * March 22
 * Indianapolis
 * W 85–69
 * Vern Mikkelsen (18)
 * Minneapolis Auditorium
 * 1–0
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 2
 * March 23
 * @ Indianapolis
 * W 81–79
 * Pollard, Mikkelsen (16)
 * Butler Fieldhouse
 * 2–0


 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 1
 * March 26
 * Fort Wayne
 * W 83–73
 * George Mikan (21)
 * Minneapolis Auditorium
 * 1–0
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 2
 * March 28
 * Fort Wayne
 * W 82–75
 * George Mikan (20)
 * Minneapolis Auditorium
 * 2–0
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 3
 * March 30
 * @ Fort Wayne
 * L 95–98
 * George Mikan (23)
 * War Memorial Coliseum
 * 2–1
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 4
 * April 1
 * @ Fort Wayne
 * L 82–85
 * George Mikan (25)
 * War Memorial Coliseum
 * 2–2
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 5
 * April 2
 * Fort Wayne
 * W 74–58
 * Mikan, Martin (18)
 * Minneapolis Auditorium
 * 3–2


 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 1
 * April 4
 * New York
 * L 88–96
 * George Mikan (25)
 * Minneapolis Auditorium 5,000
 * 0–1
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 2
 * April 5
 * New York
 * W 73–71
 * George Mikan (18)
 * Minneapolis Auditorium 4,848
 * 1–1
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 3
 * April 7
 * @ New York
 * W 90–75
 * George Mikan (20)
 * 69th Regiment Armory 5,100
 * 2–1
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 4
 * April 8
 * @ New York
 * W 71–69
 * George Mikan (27)
 * 69th Regiment Armory 5,200
 * 3–1
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 5
 * April 10
 * @ New York
 * W 91–84
 * Jim Pollard (17)
 * Vern Mikkelsen (6)
 * 69th Regiment Armory 5,200
 * 4–1
 * Jim Pollard (17)
 * Vern Mikkelsen (6)
 * 69th Regiment Armory 5,200
 * 4–1

Awards and honors

 * George Mikan, All-NBA First Team
 * Vern Mikkelsen, All-NBA Second Team
 * George Mikan, NBA All-Star Game
 * Vern Mikkelsen, NBA All-Star Game
 * Slater Martin, NBA All-Star Game
 * George Mikan, NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award