Los Angeles Lakers Regular Season Rosters

1979-1980 Los Angeles Lakers Regular Season Roster

Player Pos HT WT YOS Pre-Draft Team Draft Status Nationality
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar C 7-2 225 10 UCLA 1969 Rnd 1 Pick 1 United States
Marty Byrnes SF 6-7 215 1 Syracuse 1978 Rnd 1 Pick 19 United States
Jim Chones FC 6-11 220 5 Marquette 1973 Rnd 2 Pick 13 United States
Michael Cooper SG 6-5 170 1 New Mexico 1978 Rnd 3 Pick 16 United States
Don Ford F 6-9 215 4 UC Santa Barbara 1975 Rnd 6 Pick 2 United States
Spencer Haywood PF 6-8 225 9 Detroit-Mercy 1971 Rnd 2 Pick 13 United States
Brad Holland SG 6-3 180 0 UCLA 1979 Rnd 1 Pick 14 United States
Magic Johnson PG 6-9 255 0 Michigan State 1979 Rnd 1 Pick 1 United States
Mark Landsberger FC 6-8 215 2 Arizona State 1977 Rnd 2 Pick 13 United States
Butch Lee PG 6-0 185 1 Marquette 1978 Rnd 1 Pick 10 Puerto Rico / United States
Oliver Mack SG 6-3 185 0 East Carolina 1979 Rnd 2 Pick 3 United States
Norm Nixon G 6-2 170 2 Duquesne 1977 Rnd 1 Pick 22 United States
Jamaal Wilkes GF 6-6 190 5 UCLA 1974 Rnd 1 Pick 11 United States

1979-1980 L.A. Lakers Depth Chart

  PG SG SF PF C
Starters M. Johnson N. Nixon M. Cooper J. Wilkes K. Abdul-Jabbar
Rotation   B. Holland   J. Chones  
Rotation       S. Haywood  
Lim PT B. Lee   M. Byrnes M. Landsberger  

1979-1980 Pacific Division Standings

RankTeamRecordGB
1Los Angeles Lakers60-22-
2Seattle SuperSonics56-264
3Phoenix Suns55-275
4Portland Trail Blazers38-4422
5San Diego Clippers35-4725
6Golden State Warriors24-5836

1979-1980 L.A. Lakers Awards & Honors

Player Award / Honor
Michael Cooper NBA Champion (1980)
Mark Landsberger NBA Champion (1980)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar NBA Champion (1980)
Spencer Haywood NBA Champion (1980)
Butch Lee NBA Champion (1980)
Marty Byrnes NBA Champion (1980)
Brad Holland NBA Champion (1980)
Norm Nixon NBA Champion (1980)
Jim Chones NBA Champion (1980)
Magic Johnson NBA Champion (1980)
Jamaal Wilkes NBA Champion (1980)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Michael Jordan Most Valuable Player (1980)
Magic Johnson Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP (1980)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar All-NBA First Team (1980)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Player Of The Month (Dec 79)
Magic Johnson Player Of The Week (11/11/79, 03/16/80)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Player Of The Week (12/09/79, 02/17/80)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar All-NBA Defensive First Team (1980)
Magic Johnson All-Rookie First Team (1980)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Western All-Star Fan Vote Selection (1980)
Magic Johnson Western All-Star Fan Vote Selection (1980)

1979-1980 L.A. Lakers Season Stat Leaders

Player GP MIN PTS REB AST STL BLK TOV
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 82 38.3 24.8 10.8 4.5 1.0 3.4 3.6
Jamaal Wilkes 82 37.9 20.0 6.4 3.0 1.6 0.3 1.9
Norm Nixon 82 39.3 17.6 2.8 7.8 1.8 0.2 3.5
Magic Johnson 77 36.3 18.0 7.7 7.3 2.4 0.5 4.0
Jim Chones 82 29.2 10.6 6.9 1.8 0.7 0.8 2.1
Spencer Haywood 76 20.3 9.7 4.6 1.2 0.5 0.8 1.8
Michael Cooper 82 24.1 8.8 2.8 2.7 1.0 0.5 1.7
Mark Landsberger 23 16.3 7.0 7.1 0.6 0.4 0.2 1.1
Don Ford 52 11.2 3.0 1.9 0.7 0.2 0.3 0.6
Brad Holland 38 5.2 2.8 0.4 0.6 0.4 0.0 0.3
Marty Byrnes 32 6.1 2.0 0.8 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.7
Oliver Mack 27 5.7 1.9 0.8 0.7 0.1 0.0 0.3
Ron Boone 6 17.7 5.7 1.8 1.2 0.8 0.0 2.2
Kenny Carr 5 11.4 3.2 3.4 0.2 0.4 0.2 1.8
Butch Lee 11 2.8 1.3 0.7 0.8 0.1 0.0 0.6

1979-1980 Los Angeles Lakers Roster Composition

Selected via Draft

Michael Cooper was selected as the #16 pick in the 3 Round of the 1978 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. Michael Cooper signed a multi-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers on September 1, 1978.

Brad Holland was selected as the #14 pick in the First Round of the 1979 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. Brad Holland signed a multi-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers on September 1, 1979.

Magic Johnson was selected as the #1 pick in the First Round of the 1979 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. Magic Johnson signed a multi-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers on August 1, 1979.

Norm Nixon was selected as the #22 pick in the First Round of the 1977 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. Norm Nixon signed a multi-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers on September 2, 1977. Norm Nixon signed a multi-year extension with the Los Angeles Lakers on April 1, 1980.

Acquired via Trade

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was acquired in a trade by the Los Angeles Lakers from the Milwaukee Bucks on June 16, 1975.

Jim Chones was acquired in a trade by the Los Angeles Lakers from the Cleveland Cavaliers on October 5, 1979.

Spencer Haywood was acquired in a trade by the Los Angeles Lakers from the Utah Jazz on August 13, 1979.

Mark Landsberger was acquired in a trade by the Los Angeles Lakers from the Chicago Bulls on February 13, 1980.

Butch Lee was acquired in a trade by the Los Angeles Lakers from the Cleveland Cavaliers on February 15, 1980.

Acquired via Free Agency

Marty Byrnes signed a multi-year contract as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers on October 25, 1979.

Jamaal Wilkes signed a multi-year contract as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers on July 11, 1977.

1979-1980 Los Angeles Lakers Front Office

Staff Member Position Start Season Previous Job
Dr. Jerry H. Buss Owner, Majority Owner 1979-1980 N/A
Jim Perzik General Counsel 1979-1980 N/A
Jack McKinney Head Coach 1979-1980 Assistant Coach (Milwaukee Bucks, 1974 to 1976)
Paul Westhead Head Coach, Assistant Coach 1979-1980 N/A
Pat Riley Assistant Coach 1979-1980 Television Analyst (Los Angeles Lakers, 1977 to 1979)
Bill Sharman General Manager 1976-1977 Head Coach (Los Angeles Lakers, 1971 to 1976)
Bumper Tormohlen Scout 1967-1968 N/A
Jerry West Scout 1979-1980 Head Coach (Los Angeles Lakers, 1976 to 1979)
Chick Hearn Television Play-By-Play 1965-1966 N/A