The1981–82 Los Angeles Lakers season saw the Lakers win theNBA Finals for their thirdNBA championship in Los Angeles, and their eighth overall in franchise history.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
8	179	Jay Triano		Canada	Simon Fraser University

^[1]

Soon before the start of training camp,Jamaal Wilkes' eight-day-old daughter died, his second child to die as a baby. He started the season slowly, culminating with a 1-for-10 shooting performance in a 128–102 loss toSan Antonio on November 10, 1981. He seriously considered quitting basketball.^[2]

On November 18, 1981, at halftime while on the road at Utah,Magic Johnson and coachPaul Westhead had a verbal altercation in the locker room. It was stated by teammateKareem Abdul-Jabbar that Johnson had offered input on the game, which resulted in Westhead twice telling him to "Shut up." Johnson then told reporters after this game that he would like to be traded anywhere,^[3] resulting in a barrage of media coverage. One day after these events, Lakers ownerJerry Buss held a press conference at The Forum, where he announced the firing of Westhead, with his replacement beingPat Riley as "coach" and general managerJerry West as "offensive coach". West came to the podium and clarified to media that Riley was indeed the head coach and that West himself would simply provide him support on the bench, which lasted for a period of 12 games. Although Johnson denied responsibility for Westhead's firing,^[4] he was booed across the league, even by Lakers' fans.^[5] However, Buss was also unhappy with the Lakers offense and had intended on firing Westhead days before the Westhead–Johnson altercation, but assistant GM West and GMBill Sharman had convinced Buss to delay his decision.^[6]

Wilkes recovered to average 21.1 points and shoot 52.5% as Los Angeles advanced to theNBA Finals, where they facedPhiladelphia. Wilkes scored a team-high 27 points in game 6 as the Lakers won the series 4–2. Johnson had atriple-double with 13 points, 13 rebounds, 13 assists and four steals and was named theNBA Finals Most Valuable Player.^[2]

c - clinched homecourt advantage

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

• Magic Johnson,NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award
• Magic Johnson,All-NBA Second Team
• Michael Cooper,NBA All-Defensive First Team

• "Something To Prove" – Documentary on the 1981–82 Los Angeles Lakers onYouTube

• NBA championship seasons
• 1981–82 NBA season by team
• Los Angeles Lakers seasons
• Western Conference (NBA) championship seasons
• 1981 in sports in California
• 1982 in sports in California

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