1981–82 Los Angeles Lakers season


The 1981–82 NBA season saw the Lakers win their eighth NBA championship.

Draft picks

Roster

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, 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.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Regular season

Playoffs

Playoffs

West First Round

The Lakers had a first round bye.

West Conference Semifinals

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns: Lakers win series 4–0
Los Angeles Lakers vs. San Antonio Spurs: Lakers win series 4–0
Philadelphia 76ers vs. Los Angeles Lakers: Lakers win series 4–2

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

Awards

Transactions

Trades

Free Agents

Additions

PlayerSignedFormer team

Subtractions