1981–82 Los Angeles Lakers season

1981–82 Los Angeles Lakers season
1981–82 Los Angeles Lakers season
NBA champions
Conference champions
Division champions
Head coach	Paul Westhead (fired); Pat Riley;
Owner(s)	Jerry Buss
Arena	The Forum
Results
Record	57–25 (.695)
Place	Division: 1st (Pacific); Conference: 1st (Western)
Playoff finish	NBA Champions; (Defeated 76ers 4–2)
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	KHJ
Radio	AM 570 KLAC
< 1980–81	1982–83 >

The 1981–82 NBA season saw the Lakers win their third NBA Championship in Los Angeles, and their eighth overall in franchise history.

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
8	179	Jay Triano		Canada	Simon Fraser University

^[1]

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB	From
C	33	Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem	7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1947–04–16	UCLA
PF	8	Brewer, Jim	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	210 lb (95 kg)		Minnesota
G/F	21	Cooper, Michael	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1956–04–15	New Mexico
G	34	Johnson, Clay	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	175 lb (79 kg)		Missouri
G	32	Johnson, Magic	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1959–08–14	Michigan State
G	5	Jordan, Eddie	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)		Rutgers
F	54	Landsberger, Mark	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1955–05–21	Arizona State
F	41	Kupchak, Mitch	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	1954-05-24	North Carolina
C	11	McAdoo, Bob	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	210 lb (95 kg)		North Carolina
SF	40	McGee, Mike	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1959–07–29	Michigan
SG	30	McKenna, Kevin	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)		Creighton
G	10	Nixon, Norm	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1955–10–11	Duquesne
PF	31	Rambis, Kurt	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	213 lb (97 kg)	1958–02–25	Santa Clara
G/F	52	Wilkes, Jamaal	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1953–05–02	UCLA

Head coach

Pat Riley

Legend

(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Regular season

On November 18, 1981, at halftime while on the road at Utah, Magic Johnson and coach Paul Westhead had a verbal altercation in the locker room. It was stated by teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar that Johnson had offered input on the game, which resulted in Westhead twice telling him to "Shut up." Johnson then told reporters after this game that he would like to be traded anywhere, resulting in a barrage of media coverage. One day after these events, Lakers owner Jerry Buss held a press conference at The Forum, where he announced the firing of Westhead, with his replacement being Pat Riley as "coach" and general manager Jerry West as "offensive coach". West came to the podium and clarified to media that Riley was indeed the head coach and that West himself would simply provide him support on the bench, which lasted for a period of 12 games. Although Johnson denied responsibility for Westhead's firing,^[2] he was booed across the league, even by Lakers' fans^[3] However, Buss was also unhappy with the Lakers offense and had intended on firing Westhead days before the Westhead–Johnson altercation, but assistant GM West and GM Bill Sharman had convinced Buss to delay his decision.^[4]

Season standings

Pacific Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers	57	25	.695	–	30–11	27–14	21–9
x-Seattle SuperSonics	52	30	.634	5.0	31–10	21–20	18–12
x-Phoenix Suns	46	36	.561	11.0	31–10	15–26	14–16
Golden State Warriors	45	37	.549	12.0	28–13	17–24	15–15
Portland Trail Blazers	42	40	.512	15.0	27–14	15–26	15–15
San Diego Clippers	17	65	.207	40.0	11–30	6–35	7–23

#	Western Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Los Angeles Lakers	57	25	.695	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	48	34	.585	9
3	x-Seattle SuperSonics	52	30	.634	5
4	x-Denver Nuggets	46	36	.561	11
5	x-Phoenix Suns	46	36	.561	11
6	x-Houston Rockets	46	36	.561	11

7	Golden State Warriors	45	37	.549	12
8	Portland Trail Blazers	42	40	.512	15
9	Kansas City Kings	30	52	.366	27
10	Dallas Mavericks	28	54	.341	29
11	Utah Jazz	25	57	.305	32
12	San Diego Clippers	17	65	.207	40

c - clinched homecourt advantage

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1981-82 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	KCK	LAL	MIL	NJN	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAS	SDC	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	–	1–5	2–3	4–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	0–2	2–0	4–2	1–1	0–2	3–3	3–2	5–1	3–3	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–4
Boston	5–1	–	4–2	5–0	2–0	1–1	6–0	1–1	1–1	4–1	2–0	1–1	3–3	5–1	5–1	4–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–2	2–0	6–0
Chicago	3–2	2–4	–	5–1	1–1	1–1	0–6	0–2	1–1	3–3	1–1	2–0	1–5	2–4	3–2	1–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–4
Cleveland	2–4	0–5	1–5	–	2–0	0–2	1–5	1–1	1–1	1–5	1–1	0–2	0–6	0–6	0–6	0–5	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–5
Dallas	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	–	1–5	1–1	0–5	2–4	1–1	4–2	1–4	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–2	2–3	2–3	1–5	2–3	1–4	3–3	1–1
Denver	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	5–1	–	1–1	3–2	5–1	0–2	4–2	1–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–3	2–3	2–4	5–0	2–3	3–3	2–0
Detroit	4–2	0–6	6–0	5–1	1–1	1–1	–	2–0	2–0	2–4	2–0	0–2	2–4	2–4	3–3	2–3	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–4
Golden State	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	5–0	2–3	0–2	–	1–4	2–0	3–2	3–3	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	4–2	2–4	3–2	5–1	1–5	3–2	1–1
Houston	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–2	1–5	0–2	4–1	–	2–0	3–3	1–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	4–1	3–3	4–1	2–3	6–0	2–0
Indiana	2–4	1–5	3–3	5–1	1–1	2–0	4–2	0–2	0–2	–	1–1	0–2	0–6	4–2	3–2	0–6	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–5
Kansas City	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	2–4	0–2	2–3	3–3	1–1	–	1–4	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–3	0–5	1–5	4–1	2–3	3–3	0–2
Los Angeles	2–0	1–1	0–2	2–0	4–1	4–1	2–0	3–3	4–1	2–0	4–1	–	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–2	5–1	2–3	5–1	4–2	5–0	2–0
Milwaukee	3–3	3–3	5–1	6–0	1–1	1–1	4–2	0–2	1–1	6–0	1–1	2–0	–	4–1	3–3	4–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	3–2
New Jersey	2–3	1–5	4–2	6–0	0–2	1–1	4–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	1–1	1–1	1–4	–	4–2	3–3	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	4–2
New York	1–5	1–5	2–3	6–0	1–1	1–1	3–3	1–1	1–1	2–3	0–2	2–0	3–3	2–4	–	1–5	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–5
Philadelphia	3–3	2–4	5–1	5–0	2–0	1–1	3–2	2–0	1–1	6–0	2–0	1–1	2–4	3–3	5–1	–	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	6–0
Phoenix	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	3–2	3–2	2–0	2–4	2–3	1–1	3–2	2–4	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	–	3–3	4–1	4–2	3–3	3–2	1–1
Portland	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	3–2	2–0	4–2	1–4	1–1	5–0	1–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	3–3	–	3–2	4–2	3–3	4–1	0–2
San Antonio	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	5–1	4–2	2–0	2–3	3–3	0–2	5–1	3–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–4	2–3	–	3–2	4–1	3–3	1–1
San Diego	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	3–2	0–5	0–2	1–5	1–4	0–2	1–4	1–5	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–4	2–4	2–3	–	1–5	1–4	0–2
Seattle	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	4–1	3–2	1–1	5–1	3–2	1–1	3–2	2–4	2–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	3–3	3–3	1–4	5–1	–	5–0	1–1
Utah	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	3–3	3–3	1–1	2–3	0–6	1–1	3–3	0–5	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–3	1–4	3–3	4–1	0–5	–	1–1
Washington	4–2	0–6	4–2	5–1	1–1	0–2	4–1	1–1	0–2	5–1	2–0	0–2	2–3	2–4	5–1	0–6	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	—

Game log

Regular season

1981–82 game log
Total: 57-25 (Home: 30-11; Road: 27-14)

October: 0–1 (home: 0–1; road: 0–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	October 30, 1981	Houston	L 112–113 (2OT)				The Forum	0–1

November: 12–4 (home: 5–2; road: 7–2)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
2	November 3, 1981	@ Portland	L 102–100	Memorial Coliseum	0-2
3	November 4, 1981	@ Seattle	W 106–103	Kingdome	1–2
4	November 6, 1981	Phoenix	L 99–101	The Forum	1–3
6	November 10, 1981	@ San Antonio	L 102–128	HemisFair Arena	2–4
7	November 11, 1981	@ Houston	W 95–93	The Summit	3–4
9	November 14, 1981	@ Phoenix	W 98–97	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum	5–4
11	November 18, 1981	@ Utah	W 113–110	Salt Palace	7–4
12	November 20, 1981	San Antonio	W 136–116	The Forum	8–4
15	November 25, 1981	@ San Antonio	W 117–96	HemisFair Arena	11–4
17	November 29, 1981	Houston	W 122–104	The Forum	12–5

December: 12–2 (home: 8–0; road: 4–2)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
19	December 2, 1981	@ Seattle	L 96–104	Kingdome	13–6
20	December 4, 1981	@ Denver	W 126–117	McNichols Sports Arena	14–6
22	December 8, 1981	Washington	W 102–98	The Forum	16–6
27	December 20, 1981	Atlanta	W 112–94	The Forum	20–7
29	December 25, 1981	@ Phoenix	W 104–101	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum	22–7

January: 7–5 (home: 3–2; road: 4–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
32	January 3, 1982	Seattle	L 90–110	The Forum	24–8
35	January 10, 1982	@ Milwaukee	L 107–118	MECCA Arena	25–10
39	January 19, 1982	@ Denver	L 139–140	McNichols Sports Arena	28–11
40	January 20, 1982	New Jersey	W 132–113	The Forum	29–11
42	January 26, 1982	Milwaukee	L 94–96	The Forum	30–12
43	January 28, 1982	Phoenix	W 97–87	The Forum	31–12
All-Star Break

February: 10–5 (home: 5–3; road: 5–2)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
46	February 5, 1982	@ Washington	W 90–87	Capital Centre	32–14
47	February 7, 1982	@ Boston	W 119–113	Boston Garden	33–14
48	February 9, 1982	@ Atlanta	W 130–117	The Omni	34–14
50	February 12, 1982	San Antonio	L 94–100	The Forum	34–16
51	February 14, 1982	Boston	L 103–108	The Forum	34–17
52	February 16, 1982	Seattle	W 108–101	The Forum	35–17
54	February 21, 1982	@ Denver	W 132–131	McNichols Sports Arena	37–17
55	February 23, 1982	Denver	W 145–129	The Forum	38–17
56	February 25, 1982	@ Seattle	W 104–98	Kingdome	39–17
57	February 26, 1982	Philadelphia	W 116–114 (2OT)	The Forum	40–17

March: 8–6 (home: 4–2; road: 4–4)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
59	March 3, 1982	@ New Jersey	L 103–111	Brendan Byrne Arena	41–18
61	March 7, 1982	@ Philadelphia	L 113–119	The Spectrum	41–20
68	March 21, 1982	Houston	W 107–102	The Forum	47–21
70	March 26, 1982	@ San Antonio	L 105–110	HemisFair Arena	47–23

April: 8–2 (home: 5–1; road: 3–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
74	April 2, 1982	Phoenix	L 99–109	The Forum	50–24
76	April 6, 1982	@ Houston	W 108–97	The Summit	52–24
77	April 9, 1982	Denver	W 153–128	The Forum	53–24
78	April 11, 1982	Seattle	W 107–104	The Forum	54–24
82	April 18, 1982	@ Phoenix	W 120–115	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum	57–25

1981–82 schedule

Playoffs

1982 playoff game log

Western Conference Semifinals: 4–0 (home: 2–0; road: 2–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 27, 1982	Phoenix	W 115–96	Jamaal Wilkes (28)	Bob McAdoo (12)	Magic Johnson (10)	The Forum 13,623	1–0
2	April 28, 1982	Phoenix	W 117–98	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (24)	Magic Johnson (12)	Magic Johnson (12)	The Forum 15,558	2–0
3	April 30, 1982	@ Phoenix	W 114–106	Jamaal Wilkes (26)	Magic Johnson (14)	Magic Johnson (9)	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 14,660	3–0
4	May 2, 1982	@ Phoenix	W 112–107	Jamaal Wilkes (24)	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (13)	Magic Johnson (12)	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 11,932	4–0

Western Conference Finals: 4–0 (home: 2–0; road: 2–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	May 9, 1982	San Antonio	W 128–117	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (32)	Magic Johnson (16)	Magic Johnson (14)	The Forum 15,700	1–0
2	May 11, 1982	San Antonio	W 110–101	Nixon, Wilkes (22)	Kurt Rambis (15)	Nixon, Johnson (9)	The Forum 17,505	2–0
3	May 14, 1982	@ San Antonio	W 118–108	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (26)	Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar (10)	Nixon, Johnson (10)	HemisFair Arena 15,800	3–0
4	May 15, 1982	@ San Antonio	W 128–123	Norm Nixon (30)	Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar (9)	Norm Nixon (10)	HemisFair Arena 15,800	4–0

NBA Finals: 4–2 (home: 3–0; road: 1–2)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	May 27, 1982	@ Philadelphia	W 124–117	Nixon, Wilkes (24)	Magic Johnson (14)	Norm Nixon (10)	The Spectrum 18,364	1–0
2	May 30, 1982	@ Philadelphia	L 94–110	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (23)	Magic Johnson (11)	Norm Nixon (10)	The Spectrum 18,364	1–1
3	June 1, 1982	Philadelphia	W 129–108	Norm Nixon (29)	Magic Johnson (9)	Magic Johnson (8)	The Forum 17,505	2–1
4	June 3, 1982	Philadelphia	W 111–101	Johnson, Wilkes (24)	Abdul-Jabbar, Rambis (11)	Norm Nixon (14)	The Forum 17,505	3–1
5	June 6, 1982	@ Philadelphia	L 102–135	Bob McAdoo (23)	Magic Johnson (10)	Norm Nixon (13)	The Spectrum 18,364	3–2
6	June 8, 1982	Philadelphia	W 114–104	Jamaal Wilkes (27)	Magic Johnson (13)	Magic Johnson (13)	The Forum 17,505	4–2

1982 schedule

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG

Awards and records

Awards

Records

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team

Subtractions

Player	Left	New team

References

^ "1981 NBA Draft on databaseBasketball.com". Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2012-11-05.
^ Johnson; Novak (1999). My Life. p. 143. ISBN 1-902799-01-1.
^ "Magic Johnson Bio". NBA Encyclopedia: Playoff Edition. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
^ Ostler, Scott; Springer, Steve (1988). Winnin' Times : The Magical Journey of the Los Angeles Lakers. Collier Books. pp. 154–156, 159–160, 169. ISBN 0-02-029591-X.

External links

"Something To Prove" – Documentary on the 1981–82 Los Angeles Lakers on YouTube

[1] "1981 NBA Draft on databaseBasketball.com". Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2012-11-05.

[2] Johnson; Novak (1999). My Life. p. 143. ISBN 1-902799-01-1.

[nbafullbio-3] "Magic Johnson Bio". NBA Encyclopedia: Playoff Edition. Retrieved 2008-05-08.

[4] Ostler, Scott; Springer, Steve (1988). Winnin' Times : The Magical Journey of the Los Angeles Lakers. Collier Books. pp. 154–156, 159–160, 169. ISBN 0-02-029591-X.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Los Angeles Lakers 1981–82 NBA champions
5 Jordan 8 Brewer 10 Nixon 11 McAdoo 21 Cooper 25 Kupchak 31 Rambis 32 M. Johnson (Finals MVP) 33 Abdul-Jabbar 34 C. Johnson 40 McGee 52 Wilkes 54 Landsberger
Head coach: Riley
Assistant coaches: Bertka Thibault
Regular season Playoffs

v t e NBA champions
1940s	1947: Philadelphia Warriors 1948: Baltimore Bullets 1949: Minneapolis Lakers
1950s	1950: Minneapolis Lakers 1951: Rochester Royals 1952: Minneapolis Lakers 1953: Minneapolis Lakers 1954: Minneapolis Lakers 1955: Syracuse Nationals 1956: Philadelphia Warriors 1957: Boston Celtics 1958: St. Louis Hawks 1959: Boston Celtics
1960s	1960: Boston Celtics 1961: Boston Celtics 1962: Boston Celtics 1963: Boston Celtics 1964: Boston Celtics 1965: Boston Celtics 1966: Boston Celtics 1967: Philadelphia 76ers 1968: Boston Celtics 1969: Boston Celtics
1970s	1970: New York Knicks 1971: Milwaukee Bucks 1972: Los Angeles Lakers 1973: New York Knicks 1974: Boston Celtics 1975: Golden State Warriors 1976: Boston Celtics 1977: Portland Trail Blazers 1978: Washington Bullets 1979: Seattle SuperSonics
1980s	1980: Los Angeles Lakers 1981: Boston Celtics 1982: Los Angeles Lakers 1983: Philadelphia 76ers 1984: Boston Celtics 1985: Los Angeles Lakers 1986: Boston Celtics 1987: Los Angeles Lakers 1988: Los Angeles Lakers 1989: Detroit Pistons
1990s	1990: Detroit Pistons 1991: Chicago Bulls 1992: Chicago Bulls 1993: Chicago Bulls 1994: Houston Rockets 1995: Houston Rockets 1996: Chicago Bulls 1997: Chicago Bulls 1998: Chicago Bulls 1999: San Antonio Spurs
2000s	2000: Los Angeles Lakers 2001: Los Angeles Lakers 2002: Los Angeles Lakers 2003: San Antonio Spurs 2004: Detroit Pistons 2005: San Antonio Spurs 2006: Miami Heat 2007: San Antonio Spurs 2008: Boston Celtics 2009: Los Angeles Lakers
2010s	2010: Los Angeles Lakers 2011: Dallas Mavericks 2012: Miami Heat 2013: Miami Heat 2014: San Antonio Spurs 2015: Golden State Warriors 2016: Cleveland Cavaliers 2017: Golden State Warriors 2018: Golden State Warriors 2019: Toronto Raptors
2020s	2020: Los Angeles Lakers 2021: Milwaukee Bucks 2022: Golden State Warriors 2023: Denver Nuggets 2024: Boston Celtics