Berger and Chalfen paid the then Gems owner, Maury Winston, $15,000 and relocated the franchise to Minneapolis (History of the Lakers). The team then renamed themselves the "Lakers" which was inspired by Minnesota's nickname, "Land of 10,000 Lakes" (History of the Los Angeles Lakers). The Lakers would go on to play their home games at the Minneapolis Auditorium and the Minneapolis Armory. The "team" that Berger and Chalfen purchased had no actual players. In fact, since all of its players had already been assigned to other NBL teams, the purchase only consisted of equipment (Thornley). Berger and Chalfen immediately began to pursue players and coaches. With the addition of Center George Mikan, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest centers of his time, the Lakers went on to win the NBL championship in their first season. A great achievement considering that the team was purchased without any players earlier that year. .
The next year, the Lakers were persuaded to switch to the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which had established itself in bigger cities than the NBL and played its games in larger arenas like the Boston Garden and New York City's Madison Square Garden (Thornley). Upon joining the BAA, the Lakers continued their success and went on to win the championship their first season with the BAA. The Lakers 1949 BAA championship is recognized as an official NBA championship since the BAA is considered to be the direct lineal ancestor of today's NBA, whereas their 1948 NBL championship is not acknowledged by the NBA. Since the NBA does not recognize NBL records and considers the Lakers to be a 1948 expansion team, the Lakers are officially the most successful expansion team in NBA history ("History of the Los Angeles Lakers"). In 1949, the BAA and NBL merged to form today's highly successful NBA, in which the Lakers once again won the championship upon its inauguration.