Los Angeles Lakers: Showtime Lakers who would fit in nicely in 2020
By Robert Marvi
3. Norm Nixon
The 2019-20 Lakers have LeBron James, who some feel is still the best player in the world right now. But he has tons of mileage, and everyone has been talking about doing some kind of “load management” with him.
Some of that means giving him help via a guard who can handle the ball in the open court, create his own shot and set up his teammates so that James doesn’t have to always shoulder the entire burden of those three things.
If only there were such a thing as a Hot Tub Time Machine, Norm Nixon would be a great guy to ease that burden on James.
Nixon played six years with the Purple and Gold (1977-83). He was a 6-foot-2 speedster guard who could push the ball as fast as anyone in the NBA. He could stop on a dime and hit the mid-range jumper, penetrate and finish at the rim, be a floor general and hit the open man.
In the early years of the Showtime era, Nixon shared the backcourt with Magic Johnson as the Lakers were the rare NBA team that employed two point guards in the starting lineup. But it made their fast break deadly, as teams couldn’t simply key on Johnson and trap him in the backcourt without paying for it.
In four years with Johnson, Nixon averaged 16.9 points and 7.9 assists per game while shooting 49.0 percent from the field.
It wasn’t easy, but this unique backcourt arrangement helped L.A. win the NBA title in 1980 and 1982.
Nixon’s high skills could’ve helped James age much more gracefully while making this year’s Laker offense that much more potent and deadly.