The Showtime Lakers were rolling through the early ‘80s with fast breaks, flash, and plenty of wins. But at one point, they started to sour under coach Paul Westhead. His offense slowed the team down and clashed with Magic Johnson’s up-tempo style, creating tension behind the scenes.
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By late 1981, the Lakers just weren’t clicking like they used to, and management decided to make a change. Westhead was out, and assistant coach Pat Riley stepped in to steer the ship. However, the move didn’t come without drama. Rumors swirled that Magic played a big role in getting Westhead fired after clashing with him on and off the court.
The Hall of Fame point guard denied forcing the issue, but fans and media weren’t so sure. Well, now we have some more confirmation.
Purple and Gold legend Michael Cooper recently spoke on the subject during an interview with VladTV. The five-time champ recalled how Westhead allowed the offense to do its thing when he became the interim coach in 1980, but for some reason he changed his tactics the next year when he was named the head coach.
“That season started out weird because coach Westhead actually let us play in 80. He just let us play. Everything was already set in place so he didn’t have to change. So coming back the next year, he knew the interim tag had been taking off of him. The head coaching tag had been placed on him. Now he’s trying to do things differently,” the 69-year-old stated.
Westhead had just won the NBA championship with the Lakers. But as the interim coach, he felt the need to put his own stamp on the team. Still, it seemed foolish not to trust the system that had already brought them success. Cooper agreed, noting that when you have someone like Magic on the team, the best move is to run the offense through him.
“When you have a player like Magic and the way we had won, all you want to do is make slight adjustments, not major ones. And he did. Magic was about winning. He was a winner.” This prompted Cooper to speak out about the nasty rumor that Johnson was the reason Westhead got fired.
“Magic didn’t have the ability to have any coach fired. I don’t believe he went and told Dr. Buss, ‘I want him out.’ Magic wanted to have fun. So if he wasn’t going to have fun in LA, ‘Trade me Let me go.’ I think that’s what came out of that. He didn’t go to Dr. Buss or Jerry West and say, ‘Hey fire him because I’m not having fun.’ He just made a statement: ‘I’m not having fun here.'”
To further cement his point, Cooper explained that under Westhead, the Lakers were struggling to beat weaker teams. And since they couldn’t handle the easy matchups, facing top contenders like the Boston Celtics became an even bigger challenge.
“We weren’t winning easy games. The easy games were really hard games. So now, when you play Boston it’s going to be doubly hard. It just wasn’t fun. We wanted to play our style, and coach Westhead wanted us to slow down and play more to Kareem. It was a conflict of interest.”
Fortunately, Riley came in and restored the Lakers to dominance. The Showtime-era Purple and Gold are remembered not only for winning but also for bringing new energy and attention to the sport.
Looking back, Westhead’s exit turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It opened the door for Riley to unleash Showtime basketball, allowing Magic and the Lakers to run wild and dominate the 1980s. The drama may have been messy, but it set the stage for one of the greatest eras in NBA history.
