15 facts about the Los Angeles Lakers that will blow your mind
By Jason Reed
Facts about the Los Angeles Lakers that will blow your mind, 1980-1990
10. Mike McGee had the highest-scoring game for the Lakers during the 1984-1985 season
The 1984-85 Los Angeles Lakers were a special basketball team. Right in the heart of the Showtime era, these Lakers went 62-20 and won the NBA Championship in six games against the Boston Celtics.
This was James Worthy’s second season with the Lakers and overall, the team had five Hall of Famers on the roster (Worthy, Magic, Kareem, Jamaal Wilkes, Bob McAdoo). Despite all of that talent, the player who had the best scoring game was Mike McGee.
Backup forward Mike McGee scored 41 points off the bench on April 12, 1985 against the Seattle Supersonics. He took 25 shots, making 18 of them.
11. The 1986-87 Lakers were 29-4 at home
You could make the case that the 1986-87 Lakers are the greatest team in franchise history. These Lakers went 65-17 and also beat the Boston Celtics in six games with a combined 15-3 record in the 1987 NBA Playoffs.
It was arguably the best year of Magic Johnson’s career as he won his first of three MVPs and the Lakers were practically unbeatable at The Forum, going 29-4 in the process.
12. Paul Westhead was part of two NBA Champions who changed head coaches midseason
Only three teams in NBA history have won an NBA Championship while changing a coach midseason. The most recent example is the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers, who won the NBA Championship after firing David Blatt and promoting Ty Lue. Blatt coached 41 games that season.
Paul Westhead won the NBA Championship in 1980 after taking over for Jack McKinney, who injured himself in a bike accident. Westhead coached 68 games in the 1979-80 season. Two years later he was fired after just 11 games, which has been theorized since as Magic Johnson’s doing.
Pat Riley replaced Westhead and went on to win the 1982 NBA Championship. Two of the three teams to win a title with a coaching change were Lakers teams and both involved Paul Westhead.