The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most successful and popular professional basketball teams in the history of the NBA, with 17 NBA championships, tied with the Boston Celtics for the most in NBA history. ¹ They were founded in 1947 as the Detroit Gems, a team that played in the National Basketball League (NBL). ⁷ They moved to Minneapolis in 1947 and became the Lakers, after the state's nickname "Land of 10,000 Lakes". ^{5 7} They joined the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1948 and won the BAA championship in their first season. ^{5 7} The BAA merged with the NBL in 1949 to form the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Lakers were one of the founding members. ^{5 7} They relocated to Los Angeles in 1960, becoming the first NBA team on the West Coast. ^{5 7}