Record 57–25 (.695) Owner Jerry Buss Arena The Forum Head coaches Paul Westhead, Pat Riley | Period 1981 – 1982 Radio KLAC Television KCAL-TV | |
Place Division: 1st (Pacific)
Conference: 1st (Western) Playoff finish NBA Champions
(Defeated 76ers 4-2) Similar 1979–80 Los Angeles, 1949–50 Minneapolis Lakers se, 2000–01 Los Angeles, 1971–72 Los Angeles | ||
The 1981–82 NBA season saw the Lakers win their eighth NBA championship.
Contents
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 "offensive coach" and general manager Jerry West as "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, he was booed across the league, even by Lakers' fans 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.
c - clinched homecourt advantage y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spotWest First Round
The Lakers had a first round bye.
West Conference Semifinals
(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (5) Phoenix Suns: Lakers win series 4–0
West Conference Finals
(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (2) San Antonio Spurs: Lakers win series 4–0
NBA Finals
(E3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (W1) Los Angeles Lakers: Lakers win series 4–2