Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2021 6:18 pm Post subject: 1981/82 Magic and Dr. Buss flub firing of Paul Westhead
11-19-1981. (This of ULTIMATE RARITY). This footage has been written about, but only I had the receipts in The Volt. Now you can see what really happened. Buss' rookie mistake of naming West coach and West immed clarified the situation. That moment has been written about, but nary the actual footage.
NPZ:
Press conference by Lakers announcing the firing of Westhead and the hiring of Pat Riley. This is of legend. Dr. Buss, a newbie, handled the reasons terribly and sounded like he just rehired West for the HC gig, but West right at the podium put that to rest. Scene discussed in every Laker history book. This clip has news footage from the day of Westhead's firing on 11/19/81 and interviews by Magic, Kareem, Dr. Buss, Riley, Chick.
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Young Magic wore the goat horns on this situation because there was a mini-team mutiny against Westhead and Magic's comments off the cuff after a WIN at Utah on 11/18 made the levee break. Internally, Dr. Buss, Bill Sharman, and Chick Hearn (the FO members) were planning on firing Westhead after about 5 more games in order to get their ducks in a row, but young Earvin, unwittingly put himself into the mix not knowing that. Everyone blamed him from the media to fans. He got booed on the first home game afterwards vs SA on 11/20. Laker history books write about that, but it wasn't as bad as portrayed. Nothing is. The media doesn't care about giving nuance, they care about pushing THE most controversial angle they can possibly create. _________________ GOAT MAGIC REEL SEDALE TRIBUTE EDDIE DONX!
Last edited by non-player zealot on Wed Sep 29, 2021 8:16 am; edited 1 time in total
Westhead reminds me of one of those actors that appears on all sorts of TV shows but always gets cast as the villain. Can't quite think of a name though. The guy was given a chance at immortality but blew it. Anybody know if the Captain Hook hated him also? _________________ Smrek 2, Nevitt 1, Barkley 0
Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 8327 Location: Santa Monica
Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2021 12:51 am Post subject:
Awesome find as always NPZ! I've always especially loved the long game recaps from the Showtime era.
It's interesting, watching this vid and reading the books that I've read about the Showtime era, that Westhead seemed to have this lack of self awareness about why he was fired. Self awareness is such an important trait for any coach or leader to have, and it seems like he had no idea that making that team play slowdown basketball was not only a bad idea, but that it was pissing his players off, especially Magic.
Westhead reminds me of one of those actors that appears on all sorts of TV shows but always gets cast as the villain. Can't quite think of a name though. The guy was given a chance at immortality but blew it. Anybody know if the Captain Hook hated him also?
Dude took the team to a championship and would've gone back to back had Magic not gotten injured.
He also won a WNBA Championship as head coach and completely destroyed the NCAA tourney with his offense at LMU.
Even with his firing - it wasn't because he was inept. The team was wining - THE MAN WAS FIRED AFTER A 5 GAME WINNING STREAK! - and he wanted the offense to run through Kareem. Magic wanted Showtime. Even though Buss was planning to fire Westhead anyway, I still believe it was at Magic's behest.
So, say what you want, but Westhead was a damned good head coach. _________________ On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".
Watching/listening to Kareem's response pretty much verifies that this was a Magic thing. Kareem hints that Magic never complained to him about the offense. _________________ On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".
Westhead reminds me of one of those actors that appears on all sorts of TV shows but always gets cast as the villain. Can't quite think of a name though. The guy was given a chance at immortality but blew it. Anybody know if the Captain Hook hated him also?
Dude took the team to a championship and would've gone back to back had Magic not gotten injured.
He also won a WNBA Championship as head coach and completely destroyed the NCAA tourney with his offense at LMU.
Even with his firing - it wasn't because he was inept. The team was wining - THE MAN WAS FIRED AFTER A 5 GAME WINNING STREAK! - and he wanted the offense to run through Kareem. Magic wanted Showtime. Even though Buss was planning to fire Westhead anyway, I still believe it was at Magic's behest.
So, say what you want, but Westhead was a damned good head coach.
People have been spinning the Westhead firing for 40 years.
Westhead wanted a boring, yet effective offense centered on Kareem. Magic wanted an exciting, and what turn out to be effective offense centered on his style of play.
Basic power struggle. Westhead was a good coach, but bad politician. He didn't realize the influence that Magic would have on the team, and the importance of entertainment in addition to winning.
Westhead reminds me of one of those actors that appears on all sorts of TV shows but always gets cast as the villain. Can't quite think of a name though. The guy was given a chance at immortality but blew it. Anybody know if the Captain Hook hated him also?
Dude took the team to a championship and would've gone back to back had Magic not gotten injured.
He also won a WNBA Championship as head coach and completely destroyed the NCAA tourney with his offense at LMU.
Even with his firing - it wasn't because he was inept. The team was wining - THE MAN WAS FIRED AFTER A 5 GAME WINNING STREAK! - and he wanted the offense to run through Kareem. Magic wanted Showtime. Even though Buss was planning to fire Westhead anyway, I still believe it was at Magic's behest.
So, say what you want, but Westhead was a damned good head coach.
People have been spinning the Westhead firing for 40 years.
Westhead wanted a boring, yet effective offense centered on Kareem. Magic wanted an exciting, and what turn out to be effective offense centered on his style of play.
Basic power struggle. Westhead was a good coach, but bad politician. He didn't realize the influence that Magic would have on the team, and the importance of entertainment in addition to winning.
It was all big and dramatic at the time. When Riley came in, and Showtime succeeded, no one cared. Forty years later, it's simply a tidbit for those who like basketball history.
The big headlines of the moment eventually turn into LG threads that dribble to a close after a few posts.
1 - NBA's crappy TV package
2 - Early Showtime (Nixon/Wilkes) was unappreciated compared to later Showtime (Scott/Worthy)
3 - It was a coronation rather than a competition - Sixers had to go get Moses Malone the next season and still would've lost were it not for injuries (yes, I'm still bitter). _________________ On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".
Westhead reminds me of one of those actors that appears on all sorts of TV shows but always gets cast as the villain. Can't quite think of a name though. The guy was given a chance at immortality but blew it. Anybody know if the Captain Hook hated him also?
Dude took the team to a championship and would've gone back to back had Magic not gotten injured.
He also won a WNBA Championship as head coach and completely destroyed the NCAA tourney with his offense at LMU.
Even with his firing - it wasn't because he was inept. The team was wining - THE MAN WAS FIRED AFTER A 5 GAME WINNING STREAK! - and he wanted the offense to run through Kareem. Magic wanted Showtime. Even though Buss was planning to fire Westhead anyway, I still believe it was at Magic's behest.
So, say what you want, but Westhead was a damned good head coach.
I didn't say anything about his coaching abilities. But he certainly didn't play his cards right, which is a pity for him. _________________ Smrek 2, Nevitt 1, Barkley 0
The career this situation gave Pat Riley. He could’ve still been the Lakers announcer.
Actually, it was the prior situation. Riley was an announcer when Jack McKinney was HC and Westhead was an AC. Jack McKinney was injured in a bicycle accident, Westhead was bumped up to HC and he hired Riles as AC.
I've always wondered if Chick pushed Riles out of the booth and onto the bench. Chick was still Assistant GM in 1979 and was notoriously hard on announcing partners (he fired Al Michaels - THE Al Michaels - for Pete's sake). Chick often talked about helping Riles out when Pat retired as a player. _________________ On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".
Westhead reminds me of one of those actors that appears on all sorts of TV shows but always gets cast as the villain. Can't quite think of a name though. The guy was given a chance at immortality but blew it. Anybody know if the Captain Hook hated him also?
Dude took the team to a championship and would've gone back to back had Magic not gotten injured.
He also won a WNBA Championship as head coach and completely destroyed the NCAA tourney with his offense at LMU.
Even with his firing - it wasn't because he was inept. The team was wining - THE MAN WAS FIRED AFTER A 5 GAME WINNING STREAK! - and he wanted the offense to run through Kareem. Magic wanted Showtime. Even though Buss was planning to fire Westhead anyway, I still believe it was at Magic's behest.
So, say what you want, but Westhead was a damned good head coach.
People have been spinning the Westhead firing for 40 years.
Westhead wanted a boring, yet effective offense centered on Kareem. Magic wanted an exciting, and what turn out to be effective offense centered on his style of play.
Basic power struggle. Westhead was a good coach, but bad politician. He didn't realize the influence that Magic would have on the team, and the importance of entertainment in addition to winning.
Yep. Neither the players nor fans wanted that Westhead controlled fast break. It was boring. And Westhead overestimated the importance of the coach within an era where the power of the player was rapidly rising.
I felt bad for Magic, not only was he booed but many fans wanted him traded.
My wife is loving Winning Time and learning more about Lakers history, so after the events of last night's episode, she was asking about how exactly Pat Riley became HC and I ended up explaining this iconic press conference in detail. I came here to show her the video, but it's private! NPZ, any way we can make this video public?!
My wife is loving Winning Time and learning more about Lakers history, so after the events of last night's episode, she was asking about how exactly Pat Riley became HC and I ended up explaining this iconic press conference in detail. I came here to show her the video, but it's private! NPZ, any way we can make this video public?!
My wife is loving Winning Time and learning more about Lakers history, so after the events of last night's episode, she was asking about how exactly Pat Riley became HC and I ended up explaining this iconic press conference in detail. I came here to show her the video, but it's private! NPZ, any way we can make this video public?!
NPZ needs to create a corresponding watch list for the various Winning Time episodes.
My wife is loving Winning Time and learning more about Lakers history, so after the events of last night's episode, she was asking about how exactly Pat Riley became HC and I ended up explaining this iconic press conference in detail. I came here to show her the video, but it's private! NPZ, any way we can make this video public?!
NPZ needs to create a corresponding watch list for the various Winning Time episodes.
Love this idea!
@NPZ: If you don't want to make this particular video public, can you make it "Unlisted" and share the link to LG members who DM you directly for it?
Joined: 27 May 2010 Posts: 49069 Location: LA to the Bay
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2022 5:53 pm Post subject:
ArminNBA wrote:
DancingBarry wrote:
ArminNBA wrote:
My wife is loving Winning Time and learning more about Lakers history, so after the events of last night's episode, she was asking about how exactly Pat Riley became HC and I ended up explaining this iconic press conference in detail. I came here to show her the video, but it's private! NPZ, any way we can make this video public?!
NPZ needs to create a corresponding watch list for the various Winning Time episodes.
Love this idea!
@NPZ: If you don't want to make this particular video public, can you make it "Unlisted" and share the link to LG members who DM you directly for it?
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