1980–81 Los Angeles Lakers season

1980–81 Los Angeles Lakers season
Head coach Paul Westhead
Owner(s) Jerry Buss
Arena The Forum
Results
Record 54–28 (.659)
Place Division: 2nd (Pacific)
Conference: 3rd (Western)
Playoff finish West First Round
(Eliminated 2-1)

Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

Local media
Television KHJ
Radio AM 570 KLAC
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

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division 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
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

Playoffs

West First Round

(3) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (6) Houston Rockets: Rockets win series 2-1

Player stats

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

References

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