The 1989–90 NBA season was the Lakers' 42nd season in the National Basketball Association, and 30th in the city of Los Angeles. Despite the retirement of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Lakers got off to a fast start winning ten of their first eleven games, on their way finishing the regular season with a league-best 63–19 record. However, after defeating the Houston Rockets in four games in the first round of the playoffs, the Lakers were upset in the Western Conference Semifinals by the 5th-seeded Phoenix Suns in five games. It was the first time in nine years that the Lakers did not reach the Western Conference Finals, ending a run that started in 1981—the longest series of consecutive NBA Conference Finals appearances since Bill Russell's Boston Celtics in 1969.

Ninth-year head coach Pat Riley resigned after the season and was replaced by Mike Dunleavy. He would return to coach the New York Knicks for the 1991–92 season. Following the season, Orlando Woolridge was traded to the Denver Nuggets.

Magic Johnson won the league's MVP trophy—his third in four years—in a controversial voting over Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers. Johnson received fewer first-place votes (27 of the 92 cast) than Barkley (38), but totaled 636 points in the ballot compared to Barkley's 614.

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