1982–83 Los Angeles Lakers season

In the 1982–83 NBA season, the Lakers were attempting to become the first team since the Boston Celtics in 1969 to repeat as NBA Champions. However, on April 10, 1983, rookie James Worthy injured his leg while attempting a putback in a home loss against Phoenix, ending his rookie season. Even without Worthy for the playoffs, the Lakers did make it to the NBA Finals, only to be swept in four games by the Julius Erving and Moses Malone led Philadelphia 76ers.

1982–83 Los Angeles Lakers season
Conference champions
Division champions
Head coachPat Riley
General managerJerry West
Owner(s)Jerry Buss
ArenaThe Forum
Results
Record58–24 (.707)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Pacific)
Conference: 1st (Western)
Playoff finishNBA Finals
(Lost to 76ers 0–4)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionKHJ
RadioAM 570 KLAC

NBA Draft

The Lakers were the defending league champions, which normally results in a low draft position, but the Lakers had the top pick in the Draft thanks to a trade made years earlier. On February 15, 1980, the Lakers sent Don Ford and their top pick in the 1980 NBA Draft (who turned out to be Chad Kinch) in exchange for Butch Lee and the Cleveland Cavaliers' top pick in the 1982 NBA Draft.[1] Prior to the implementation of the NBA Draft Lottery in 1985, the teams with the two worst records from the previous season would engage in a coin flip to determine which team would receive the top pick. Therefore, when Cleveland finished with the worst record in 1981-82, the Lakers took their place in the coin flip, and won out over the San Diego Clippers to earn the top pick.

Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
1 1 James Worthy Forward  United States North Carolina

Roster
1982–83 Los Angeles Lakers roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
C 33 Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem (C) 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1947-04-16 UCLA
G 35 Bates, Billy Ray 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1956-05-31 Texas
G 21 Cooper, Michael 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1956-04-15 New Mexico
G 34 Johnson, Clay 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1956-07-18 Missouri
G 32 Johnson, Magic 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1959-08-14 Michigan State
F 13 Jones, Dwight 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1952-02-27 Houston
G 15 Jordan, Eddie 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1955-01-29 Rutgers
F 54 Landsberger, Mark 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1955-05-21 Arizona State
C 11 McAdoo, Bob 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1951-09-25 North Carolina
F 40 McGee, Mike 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1959-07-29 Michigan
F 50 Mix, Steve 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1947-12-30 Toledo
G 10 Nixon, Norm 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1955-10-11 Duquesne
F 31 Rambis, Kurt 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 213 lb (97 kg) 1958-02-25 Santa Clara
F 52 Wilkes, Jamaal 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1953-05-02 UCLA
F 42 Worthy, James  6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1961-02-27 North Carolina
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • (L) On leave from the team
  • Injured

Roster
Last transaction: April 16, 1983

Regular season

Season standings
Pacific Division
TeamWLPCT.GB
Los Angeles Lakers5824.707-
Phoenix Suns5329.6465
Seattle SuperSonics4834.58510
Portland Trail Blazers4636.56112
Golden State Warriors3052.36628
San Diego Clippers2557.30533

Record vs. opponents
1982-83 NBA Records
Team ATL BOS CHI CLE DAL DEN DET GSW HOU IND KCK LAL MIL NJN NYK PHI PHO POR SAS SDC SEA UTA WAS
Atlanta –1–55–16–01–11–13–30–22–06–00–20–21–42–43–22–41–11–10–21–11–12–04–2
Boston 5–1–3–25–12–02–03–31–12–04–11–12–03–35–13–33–32–01–12–01–11–12–03–3
Chicago 1–52–3–5–11–11–12–42–01–14–20–20–21–52–41–41–50–21–10–21–10–21–11–5
Cleveland 0–61–51–5–2–00–21–52–02–05–11–10–21–50–61–50–50–21–10–21–11–10–23–2
Dallas 1–10–21–10–2–3–32–03–25–12–03–32–30–20–20–20–22–33–22–45–02–32–40–2
Denver 1–10–21–12–03–3–2–04–15–11–13–31–42–01–10–20–24–12–32–43–23–24–21–1
Detroit 3–33–34–25–10–20–2–2–02–04–20–20–23–33–21–50–61–11–11–11–10–20–23–2
Golden State 2–01–10–20–22–31–40–2–3–21–11–41–51–10–21–10–22–42–41–43–33–33–22–0
Houston 0–20–21–10–21–51–50–22–3–2–01–50–50–21–10–20–20–50–51–52–31–40–61–1
Indiana 0–61–42–41–50–21–12–41–10–2–1–10–21–50–63–31–41–10–20–21–11–12–01–5
Kansas City 2–01–12–01–13–33–32–04–15–11–1–1–41–11–11–10–21–42–33–34–11–44–22–0
Los Angeles 2–00–22–02–03–24–12–05–15–02–04–1–2–01–12–00–23–33–31–45–15–14–11–1
Milwaukee 4–13–35–15–12–00–23–31–12–05–11–10–2–3–24–21–51–12–02–02–00–22–03–2
New Jersey 4–21–54–26–02–01–12–32–01–16–01–11–12–3–4–23–31–11–10–21–12–01–13–2
New York 2–33–34–15–12–02–05–11–12–03–31–10–22–42–4–1–50–21–12–00–21–11–14–2
Philadelphia 4–23–35–15–02–02–06–02–02–04–12–02–05–13–35–1–2–00–21–12–02–02–04–2
Phoenix 1–10–22–02–03–21–41–14–25–01–14–13–31–11–12–00–2–5–13–24–25–15–00–2
Portland 1–11–11–11–12–33–21–14–25–02–03–23–30–21–11–12–01–5–2–35–13–33–21–1
San Antonio 2–00–22–02–04–24–21–14–15–12–03–34–10–22–00–21–12–33–2–4–11–45–12–0
San Diego 1–11–11–11–10–52–31–13–33–21–11–41–50–21–12–00–22–41–51–4–0–62–30–2
Seattle 1–11–12–01–13–22–32–03–34–11–14–11–52–00–21–10–21–53–34–16–0–5–01–1
Utah 0–20–21–12–04–22–42–02–36–00–22–41–40–21–11–10–20–52–31–53–20–5–0–2
Washington 2–43–35–12–32–01–12–30–21–15–10–21–13–33–32–42–42–01–10–22–01–12–0—

Playoffs
1983 playoff game log
Conference Semi-finals: 4–1 (Home: 3–0; Road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 April 24 Portland W 118–97 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (32) Johnson, Rambis (9) Magic Johnson (18) The Forum
13,891		 1–0
2 April 26 Portland W 112–106 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (37) Jamaal Wilkes (9) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (7) The Forum
16,239		 2–0
3 April 29 @ Portland W 115–109 (OT) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (30) Jamaal Wilkes (9) Magic Johnson (11) Memorial Coliseum
12,666		 3–0
4 May 1 @ Portland L 95–108 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (34) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (9) Magic Johnson (8) Memorial Coliseum
12,666		 3–1
5 May 3 Portland W 116–108 Norm Nixon (36) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (11) Magic Johnson (15) The Forum
16,739		 4–1
Conference Finals: 4–2 (Home: 1–2; Road: 3–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 May 8 San Antonio W 119–107 Abdul-Jabbar, Nixon (30) three players tied (8) Magic Johnson (12) The Forum
15,063		 1–0
2 May 10 San Antonio L 113–122 Johnson, Nixon (28) Magic Johnson (12) Norm Nixon (11) The Forum
17,505		 1–1
3 May 13 @ San Antonio W 113–100 Jamaal Wilkes (26) Magic Johnson (11) Magic Johnson (13) HemisFair Arena
15,782		 2–1
4 May 15 @ San Antonio W 129–121 Magic Johnson (31) Magic Johnson (8) Magic Johnson (17) HemisFair Arena
15,782		 3–1
5 May 18 San Antonio L 112–117 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (30) Magic Johnson (11) Magic Johnson (19) The Forum
17,505		 3–2
6 May 20 @ San Antonio W 101–100 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (28) Magic Johnson (15) Magic Johnson (16) HemisFair Arena
15,782		 4–2
NBA Finals: 0–4 (Home: 0–2; Road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 May 22 @ Philadelphia L 107–113 Norm Nixon (26) Mark Landsberger (10) Magic Johnson (11) Spectrum
18,482		 0–1
2 May 26 @ Philadelphia L 93–103 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (23) Magic Johnson (8) Magic Johnson (13) Spectrum
18,482		 0–2
3 May 29 Philadelphia L 94–111 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (23) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (15) Magic Johnson (13) The Forum
17,505		 0–3
4 May 31 Philadelphia L 108–115 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (28) four players tied (7) Magic Johnson (15) The Forum
17,505		 0–4
1983 schedule

Player statistics

Note: GP= Games played; MPG= Minutes per Game; REB = Rebounds; AST = Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; PPG = Points per Game

Season
Player GP MPG REB AST STL BLK PTS PPG
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar7932.359220061170172221.8
Jamaal Wilkes8031.93431826517157119.6
Magic Johnson7936.868382917647132616.8
Norm Nixon7934.32055661044119115.1
James Worthy7725.63991329164103313.4
Bob McAdoo4721.724739404070315.0
Michael Cooper8226.2274315115506397.8
Kurt Rambis7823.253190105635847.5
Dwight Jones3215.3114221391564.9
Mike McGee399.853261151564.0
Clay Johnson489.369242241443.0
Mark Landsberger399.11281284982.5
Eddie Jordan359.52680311942.7
Steve Mix117.0120099.0
Billy Ray Bates46.8101051.3
Joe Cooper25.5201121.0

Award winners/Honors

References
  1. James Worthy Bio at NBA.com
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