Los Angeles Lakers: The four head coaches that won the title in year one

By Jason Reed | May 12, 2020

SHANGHAI, CHINA - OCTOBER 10: Head coach Frank Vogel of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on during a preseason game as part of 2019 NBA Global Games China at Mercedes-Benz Arena on October 10, 2019 in Shanghai, China. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images) /

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(Mandatory Credit: J.D. Cuban /Allsport) – Los Angeles Lakers /

2. Paul Westhead, 1979-1980

On the first slide of the article, we mentioned how there are three Hall of Fame coaches that won a championship in their first season with the Lakers and then there is an outlier. That outlier is Paul Westhead, who won the first championship of the Showtime Lakers era.

The crazy part about Westhead winning a championship with the Lakers is that he was not even supposed to be the guy for the job. Instead, Jack McKinney is one of the biggest “what ifs” in Lakers history, as he could have very well been the coach of the Showtime Lakers for all five championships.

McKinney coached 14 for the Lakers that season in what was also his first season with the team and suffered a bicycling accident. Westhead was named the interim head coach thereafter and McKinney never returned to coach the Lakers.

Westhead won the 1980 NBA Championship with an MVP in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and one of the most exciting rookies in league history, Magic Johnson. That would be the only championship that Westhead won with the Lakers, as his tenure did not last much longer.

Westhead coached the team to a first-round exit the following season and was fired 11 games into his third season after a 7-4 start. Magic Johnson demanded to be traded if Westhead was not fired, paving the way for the next coach on this list.

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