Era 3: It’s Showtime!
After the retirements of Baylor, West and Chamberlain, the Lakers slipped a bit in the standings and even had two straight sub-.500 seasons, missing the playoffs both times. Even the acquisition of the iconic Kareem Abdul-Jabbar followed two years later by Jamaal Wilkes and Norm Nixon failed to produce more than one first-place conference finish in six years.
But help was on the way. The arrival of rookie superstar Magic Johnson marked the start of Showtime. The pairing of Magic and Kareem worked to perfection. Along with Wilkes and Nixon, they won two titles in three years. Then they won three more when James Worthy, another future Hall-of-Famer, and Byron Scott replaced Wilkes and Nixon.
Not only did they win five championships during this era, but the Laker teams of the ’80s are generally considered to be the finest in franchise history and among the best the NBA has ever seen. They even broke through to defeat the Celtics twice in the Finals.
The scorecard: in 12 years, the most successful Lakers era ever produced five NBA titles, nine Finals appearances and 10 first-place conference finishes (including nine straight).