Okay, so I was digging into the 1984 Lakers the other day. Man, what a team! I wanted to see who was in their starting lineup back then, you know, just for kicks.
First, I hit up this site that tracks all the games. It’s pretty cool because it lists out every game they played that season. I noticed that it only got me to 1983.
- October 28, 1983 – They won against the Kansas City Kings.
- October 29, 1983 – Another win, this time against the Utah Jazz.
- November 2, 1983 – Lost to the San Diego Clippers, bummer.
- November 5, 1983 – Another loss against the Dallas Mavericks.
Then, I went to check out another site, which seemed to have all the player info. This one had rosters and stats specifically for the 1984-85 season. So now I’m getting somewhere. They had a solid record that year, 62 wins and only 20 losses.
I also found out it was the franchise’s 39th season. Time flies, huh? And apparently, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was tearing it up, breaking the NBA’s all-time total points record. Magic Johnson was dishing out assists like crazy, averaging 13.1 per game. They won 54 games in the 1983-84 NBA season.
It also mentioned something about their coach, Pat Riley, guaranteeing a repeat championship during the 1987 parade. Bold move! I guess they were aiming to match what the Boston Celtics did back in 1969.
And back in 1979-80, they drafted Magic Johnson, which was obviously a huge deal. They paired him up with Kareem, Michael Cooper, and Norm Nixon. That’s a pretty killer squad right there.
So, after piecing all this together, I got a decent picture of the 1984 Lakers starting lineup.
They had some real legends on that team. It was interesting to see how they built up that powerhouse. I love basketball history. I felt like I went back in time a bit!
