1983–84 Los Angeles Lakers season

1983–84 Los Angeles Lakers season
Conference Champions
Division Champions
Head coach Pat Riley
Owner(s) Jerry Buss
Arena The Forum
Results
Record 54–28 (.659)
Place Division: 1st (Pacific)
Conference: 1st (Western)
Playoff finish NBA Finals
(Lost 3–4)

Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

Local media
Television KHJ
Radio AM 570 KLAC

The 1983–84 season for the Los Angeles Lakers saw them lose in the 1984 NBA Finals against Larry Bird's Boston Celtics in seven well-fought games. The Los Angeles Lakers, powered by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who broke the NBA's all-time total points record) and Magic Johnson with his 13.1 assists per game (tops in '84), ended up winning 54 games in the 1983–84 NBA season. On April 5, 1984, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had a 12 foot shot over Mark Eaton of the Utah Jazz 1 to surpass Wilt Chamberlain as the NBA's all-time leading scorer with 31,421 points.[1]

In the playoffs, the Lakers defeated the Kansas City Kings in the first round, Dallas Mavericks in the second, and the Phoenix Suns in the 1984 Western Conference Finals in order to advance to what is called the "greatest NBA Finals in history", against Larry Bird's formidable, 62–20 Boston Celtics. The Lakers' early step on the green team in the Championship caused Bird to label teammates "sissies". The words inspired the Celtics, and shot down the Lakers, and the C's won game 7 111–102, a Laker heartbreaker, and still, arguably, the most memorable Finals of the 1980s.

Draft picks

Main article: 1983 NBA Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College

Roster

1983–84 Los Angeles Lakers roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From
C 33 Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1947-04-16 UCLA
G 21 Cooper, Michael 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1956-04-15 New Mexico
F 0 Garrett, Calvin 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1956-07-11 Oral Roberts
G 32 Johnson, Magic 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1959-08-14 Michigan State
G 15 Jordan, Eddie 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1955-01-29 Rutgers
F 25 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) 1951-09-25 North Carolina
F 40 McGee, Mike 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1959-07-29 Michigan
C 41 Nater, Swen 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1950-01-14 UCLA
F 31 Rambis, Kurt 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 213 lb (97 kg) 1958-02-25 Santa Clara
G 4 Scott, Byron (R) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1961-03-28 Arizona State
F 35 Spriggs, Larry 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1959-09-08 Howard
F 52 Wilkes, Jamaal 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1953-05-02 UCLA
F 42 Worthy, James 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1961-02-27 North Carolina
Head coach

Pat Riley

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

Roster
Last transaction: 2013-07-30

Depth chart

Pos. Starter Bench Reserve Inactive
C Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Swen Nater
PF Kurt Rambis Bob McAdoo Mitch Kupchak
SF James Worthy Jamaal Wilkes Larry Spriggs Calvin Garrett
SG Michael Cooper Mike McGee
PG Magic Johnson Byron Scott Eddie Jordan

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers 54 28 .659 – 28–13 26–15 18–12
x-Portland Trail Blazers 48 34 .585 6 33–8 15–26 17–13
x-Seattle SuperSonics 42 40 .512 12 32–9 10–31 14–16
x-Phoenix Suns 41 41 .500 13 31–10 10–31 16–14
Golden State Warriors 37 45 .451 17 27–14 10–31 13–17
San Diego Clippers 30 52 .366 24 25–16 5–36 12–18
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Los Angeles Lakers 54 28 .659 –
2 y-Utah Jazz 45 37 .549 9
3 x-Portland Trail Blazers 48 34 .585 6
4 x-Dallas Mavericks 43 39 .524 11
5 x-Seattle SuperSonics 42 40 .512 12
6 x-Phoenix Suns 41 41 .500 13
7 x-Denver Nuggets 38 44 .463 16
8 x-Kansas City Kings 38 44 .463 16
9 San Antonio Spurs 37 45 .451 17
9 Golden State Warriors 37 45 .451 17
11 San Diego Clippers 30 52 .366 24
12 Houston Rockets 29 53 .354 25
z - clinched division title
y - clinched division title
x - clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

West First Round

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) Kansas City Kings: Lakers win series 3–0

Last Playoff Meeting: 1955 Western Division Semifinals (Lakers won 2–1; Lakers were in Minneapolis, Kings were in Rochester, New York as the Royals)

West Conference Semifinals

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (4) Dallas Mavericks: Lakers win series 4–1

Last Playoff Meeting: This is the first meeting between the Lakers and Mavericks.

West Conference Finals

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (6) Phoenix Suns: Lakers win series 4–2

Last Playoff Meeting: 1982 Western Conference Semifinals (Los Angeles won 4–0)

NBA Finals

Main article: 1984 NBA Finals
Game Home team Score Road Team Series
Game 1 Boston Celtics 109–115 Los Angeles Lakers LA 1–0
Game 2 Boston Celtics 124–121* Los Angeles Lakers TIED 1–1
Game 3 Los Angeles Lakers 137–104 Boston Celtics LA 2–1
Game 4 Los Angeles Lakers 125–129* Boston Celtics TIED 2–2
Game 5 Boston Celtics 121–103 Los Angeles Lakers BOS 3–2
Game 6 Los Angeles Lakers 119–108 Boston Celtics TIED 3–3
Game 7 Boston Celtics 111–102 Los Angeles Lakers BOS 4–3

*overtime

Boston beats Los Angeles 4–3

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

Awards and records

References

  1. ↑ Numbelivable!, p.160, Michael X. Ferraro and John Veneziano, Triumph Books, Chicago, Illinois, 2007, ISBN 978-1-57243-990-0

Lakers History

The 1984 NBA Finals|Celtics.com

NBA.com: Larry's Celtics Edge Magic's Lakers in 7

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