1980–81 Los Angeles Lakers season

1980–81 Los Angeles Lakers season
1980–81 Los Angeles Lakers season
Head coach	Paul Westhead
General manager	Bill Sharman
Owner(s)	Jerry Buss
Arena	The Forum
Results
Record	54–28 (.659)
Place	Division: 2nd (Pacific); Conference: 3rd (Western)
Playoff finish	First Round; (Lost to Rockets 1–2)
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	KHJ
Radio	AM 570 KLAC
< 1979–80	1981–82 >

A ticket for a March 1981 game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks.

The Lakers were attempting to become the first team since 1969 to repeat as NBA Champions. Despite missing Magic Johnson for 45 games due to a knee injury, the Lakers still managed an impressive 54-28 record during the regular season, and they were the #3 seed heading into the Western Conference playoffs. However, the underdog Houston Rockets eliminated the Lakers in a best-of-three first round series two games to one.

NBA Draft[]

The Lakers did not have a first round pick in the 1980 Draft. Their first selection was Wayne Robinson, the 31st pick overall, but he never played a game for the Lakers. Future NBA Coach Butch Carter was their second selection at #37 overall.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
2	31	Wayne Robinson	Forward	United States	Virginia Tech
2	37	Butch Carter	Guard	United States	Indiana

Roster[]

1980–81 Los Angeles Lakers roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB (YYYY-MM-DD)	From
C	33	Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem (C)	7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1947-04-16	UCLA
PF	8, 40	Brewer, Jim	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1951-12-03	Minnesota
SF	24	Carter, Butch	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1958-06-11	Indiana
PF	9	Chones, Jim	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1949-11-30	Marquette
SG	21	Cooper, Michael	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1956-04-15	New Mexico
SG	25	Hardy, Alan	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1957-05-25	Michigan
SG	14	Holland, Brad	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1956-12-06	UCLA
SG	32	Johnson, Magic (C)	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1959-08-14	Michigan State
PG	15	Jordan, Eddie	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1955-01-29	Rutgers
PF	54	Landsberger, Mark	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1955-05-21	Arizona State
PG	10	Nixon, Norm	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1955-10-11	Duquesne
SF	52	Wilkes, Jamaal	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1953-05-02	UCLA

Head coach

Paul Westhead

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Roster
Last transaction: December 2, 1980

Roster Notes[]

Shooting guard Magic Johnson missed 45 games during the season after suffering a torn cartilage in his left knee on November 18 during a game against the Kansas City Kings.^[1]

Regular season[]

Season standings[]

Pacific Division v t	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Phoenix Suns	57	25	.695	–	36–5	21–20	22–8
x-Los Angeles Lakers	54	28	.659	3.0	30–11	24–17	19–11
x-Portland Trail Blazers	45	37	.549	12.0	30–11	15–26	18–12
Golden State Warriors	39	43	.476	18.0	26–15	13–28	10–20
San Diego Clippers	36	46	.439	21.0	22–19	14–27	14–16
Seattle SuperSonics	34	48	.415	23.0	22–19	12–29	7–23

#	Western Conference v t
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Phoenix Suns	57	25	.695	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	52	30	.634	5
3	x-Los Angeles Lakers	54	28	.659	3
4	x-Portland Trail Blazers	45	37	.549	12
5	x-Kansas City Kings	40	42	.488	17
6	x-Houston Rockets	40	42	.488	17

7	Golden State Warriors	39	43	.476	18
8	Denver Nuggets	37	45	.451	20
9	San Diego Clippers	36	46	.439	21
10	Seattle SuperSonics	34	48	.415	23
11	Utah Jazz	28	54	.341	29
12	Dallas Mavericks	15	67	.183	42

Notes

z, y – division champions
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents[]

1980-81 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	—	2–4	2–4	1–5	2–0	1–1	4–2	2–0	1–1	1–5	1–1	0–2	1–5	3–2	2–4	1–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–4
Boston	4–2	—	5–1	4–1	2–0	2–0	4–1	1–1	2–0	3–3	1–1	2–0	3–3	6–0	5–1	3–3	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	5–1
Chicago	4–2	1–5	—	5–1	1–1	1–1	5–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	2–0	1–1	3–3	3–2	3–3	2–4	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	5–1
Cleveland	5–1	1–4	1–5	—	2–0	1–1	3–3	1–1	0–2	2–4	0–2	0–2	0–6	3–3	0–5	0–6	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–2
Dallas	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	—	3–3	0–2	2–3	0–6	0–2	0–6	0–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–4	1–4	1–5	2–3	1–4	1–5	0–2
Denver	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–3	—	2–0	3–2	2–4	1–1	4–2	3–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–4	2–3	2–4	3–2	3–2	2–4	0–2
Detroit	2–4	1–4	1–5	3–3	2–0	0–2	—	0–2	1–1	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–5	3–3	1–5	1–4	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–5
Golden State	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	2–3	2–0	—	3–2	1–1	5–0	1–5	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–4	2–4	1–4	2–4	3–3	4–1	1–1
Houston	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	6–0	4–2	1–1	2–3	—	1–1	2–4	2–3	0–2	2–0	0–2	0–2	1–4	3–2	3–3	1–4	4–1	4–2	0–2
Indiana	5–1	3–3	2–3	4–2	2–0	1–1	4–2	1–1	1–1	—	2–0	0–2	2–4	5–1	3–2	0–6	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–2
Kansas City	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	6–0	2–4	1–1	0–5	4–2	0–2	—	0–5	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–2	3–2	3–2	2–4	3–2	2–3	5–1	1–1
Los Angeles	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–0	5–0	2–3	2–0	5–1	3–2	2–0	5–0	—	0–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–4	3–3	2–3	3–3	6–0	3–2	1–1
Milwaukee	5–1	3–3	3–3	6–0	2–0	1–1	5–1	1–1	2–0	4–2	1–1	2–0	—	5–1	3–3	3–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	4–1
New Jersey	2–3	0–6	2–3	3–3	1–1	1–1	3–3	1–1	0–2	1–5	0–2	0–2	1–5	—	0–6	1–5	1–1	2–0	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–3
New York	4–2	1–5	3–3	5–0	1–1	2–0	5–1	0–2	2–0	2–3	1–1	0–2	3–3	6–0	—	3–3	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	4–2
Philadelphia	5–1	3–3	4–2	6–0	2–0	1–1	4–1	2–0	2–0	6–0	2–0	1–1	2–3	5–1	3–3	—	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	4–2
Phoenix	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–1	4–1	4–1	2–0	4–2	4–1	1–1	2–3	4–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	—	3–3	3–2	6–0	5–1	5–0	1–1
Portland	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	4–1	3–2	2–0	4–2	2–3	2–0	2–3	3–3	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–3	—	2–3	4–2	4–2	2–3	2–0
San Antonio	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	5–1	4–2	2–0	4–1	3–3	0–2	4–2	3–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–2	2–3	3–2	—	4–1	3–2	5–1	1–1
San Diego	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–2	2–3	1–1	4–2	4–1	1–1	2–3	3–3	0–2	2–0	0–2	0–2	0–6	2–4	1–4	—	5–1	3–2	0–2
Seattle	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	4–1	2–3	2–0	3–3	1–4	2–0	3–2	0–6	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–5	2–4	2–3	1–5	—	4–1	1–1
Utah	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	5–1	4–2	2–0	1–4	2–4	1–1	1–5	2–3	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–5	3–2	1–5	2–3	1–4	—	0–2
Washington	4–1	1–5	1–5	2–4	2–0	2–0	5–1	1–1	2–0	2–4	1–1	1–1	1–4	3–3	2–4	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	—

Game log[]

Playoffs[]

1980–81 game log

First Round: 1–2 (Home: 0–2; Road: 1–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 1	Houston	L 107–111	Magic Johnson (26)	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (15)	Norm Nixon (10)	The Forum 15,517	0–1
2	April 3	@ Houston	W 111–106	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (27)	Magic Johnson (18)	Norm Nixon (11)	The Summit 16,121	1–1
3	April 5	Houston	L 86–89	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (32)	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (18)	Magic Johnson (9)	The Forum 14,813	1–2

1981 schedule

Player statistics[]

Note: GP= Games played; MPG= Minutes per Game; REB = Rebounds; AST = Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; PPG = Points per Game

Player	GP	MPG	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	PPG
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	80	37.2	821	272	59	228	2095	26.2
Jamaal Wilkes	81	37.4	435	235	121	29	1827	22.6
Norm Nixon	79	37.5	232	696	146	11	1350	17.1
Jim Chones	82	31.2	657	153	39	96	882	10.8
Magic Johnson	37	37.1	320	317	127	27	798	21.6
Michael Cooper	81	32.4	336	332	133	78	763	9.4
Mark Landsberger	69	15.7	377	27	19	6	390	5.7
Eddie Jordan	60	16.5	80	195	74	7	306	5.1
Butch Carter	54	12.4	65	52	23	1	301	5.6
Jim Brewer	78	14.2	281	55	43	58	217	2.8
Brad Holland	41	7.2	29	23	21	1	130	3.2
Alan Hardy	22	5.0	19	3	1	9	51	2.3
Myles Patrick	3	3.0	2	1	0	0	5	1.7
Tony Jackson	2	7.0	2	2	2	0	2	1.0

Award winners/Honors[]

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, First Team All-NBA, First Team All-Defense, All-Star
Michael Cooper, Second Team All-Defense
Jamaal Wilkes, All-Star

Transactions[]

References[]

^ "With Johnson Out, The Lakers Are Having Their Problems". Los Angeles Times. January 12, 1981. Retrieved November 24, 2020.

[1] "With Johnson Out, The Lakers Are Having Their Problems". Los Angeles Times. January 12, 1981. Retrieved November 24, 2020.

[1]