The Lakers entered the season as the defending NBA champions, having defeated the Indiana Pacers in the 2000 NBA Finals in six games, winning their twelfth NBA championship. In November 1979, after the team's head coach, Jack McKinney, was injured in a near-fatal bicycle accident, assistant coach Paul Westhead took over the team's head coaching duties [19] and hired Riley as an assistant coach. . Paul William Westhead (born February 21, 1939) is an American former basketball coach. He was followed by Paul. The Lakers would go on to win three more under Riley (1985, 1987, and 1988). During the off-season, the Lakers acquired Horace Grant from the Seattle SuperSonics. the Lakers were one of two teams eligible for the #1 pick in the 1979 NBA Draft. Drafted Ray White in the 4th round (79th pick) of the 1979 NBA Draft. After striking out on landing Jerry Tarkanian to fill the void left by West, owner Jerry Buss pivoted toward McKinney, the unheralded assistant whose only head coaching experience came at the high school and college levels. Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980 NBA playoffs. The Lakers then moved on to their next choice, Jack McKinney, the highly regarded assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers, to take over the 1979-80 season. Get the box score, shot charts and play by play summary of the Lakers vs Warriors, November 7, 1979. Westhead and Haywood clashed during the NBA finals. McKinney, who's viewed by some as the true architect of LA's fast-paced style, went 10-4 before suffering head injuries from a bicycle accident. LAL (109) vs GSW (126). Businessman Jerry Buss stakes his fortune on the purchase of the NBA's lackluster Los Angeles Lakers. By Cooper Hood Published Mar 21, 2022. Early in the team's Showtime dynasty, he was given the role of general manager, and in that capacity, he helped take the squad from a great team to a transcendent and iconic one. His head hit the concrete, which gave him a concussion and a. Sept. 26, 2018. Will Hardy will become just the sixth head coach for the Jazz since they moved from New Orleans to Salt Lake City in 1979, as relayed by Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune.Hardy spent last season as an assistant under Ime Udoka with the Eastern Conference champion Celtics. In 1979, he met a bike accident that ended his coaching career with the lakers; this accident pushed him out of his career for a long time. Now, the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers nearly dying via bicycle accident, . The 1969 Finals MVP, West was basketball royalty at the time. Totals Table; Rk Age G GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% 2P 2PA 2P% eFG% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST Westhead, a former Laker assistant coach, took over the team in 1979 after head coach Jack McKinney sustained a serious head injury in a bicycle crash. the 1981 NBA Coach of the Year with the @Pacers & former @Lakers Head Coach who paved the way for . He was the head coach for three National Basketball Association (NBA) teams and an assistant for four others, and also coached in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), American Basketball Association (ABA), and Japan Basketball League (JBL). McKinney left his home on a red and white Schwinn La Tour II bicycle. Head Coach ( Los Angeles Lakers, 1971 to 1976) McKinney's bike gears locked as he approached a stop sign, and he was thrown over the handlebars onto the asphalt. The franchise's first head coach while in the NBA was John Kundla, . On July 30, 1979, McKinney was hired as LA's head coach, installing an uptempo offense that came to be known as "Showtime." McKinney coached the Lakers to a 9-4 start through the first 13 games of. Jason Segel plays Paul Westhead, the Lakers' head coach at the start of the 1979-1980 season who helps guide LA to the 1980 title before eventually getting replaced by Riley in 1982. Western Conference Finals: Los Angeles Lakers - Seattle SuperSonics (4-1) Western Conference Semifinals: Los Angeles Lakers - Phoenix Suns (4-1) [20] 1976-1977. The Lakers have won 17 championships; five with Kundla, five with Jackson, four with Riley, one with Bill Sharman, one with Paul Westhead, and one with Frank Vogel. Chamberlain was the NBA's best rebounder that year with 19.2 boards per game, while Gail Goodrich and West featured ended up among the top-10 scorers, averaging 25.9 and 25.8 points per game . . The LA Lakers coach after Jerry West was Jack McKinney - who was in post for 14 games. His brain was scrambled by the bike accident and he almost died. July 30, 1979. What Happened To Jack McKinney In the 1979 Bike Accident? Get the box score, shot charts and play by play summary of the Lakers vs Warriors, November 7, 1979. Los Angeles Lakers 1979-80 Roster and Stats. Jack McKinney, a coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, was riding his bike when he was hit by a car. 1979-80 Los Angeles Lakers: Head-to-Head Results (1) Los . A huge void was created after former coach Jerry West ( Jason Clarke) shockingly stepped aside with training camp for the 1979-80 season looming. Brody enters the show for the first time in the third episode, shortly after former Lakers head coach Jerry West announces that he would no longer coach the team for the 1979-80 season. Gregg Popovich. Bill Sharman, a former NBA player, Lakers head coach, general manager, and . Photo: HBO Acclaimed actor and screenwriter Tracy Letts . However, in 1979, Jerry West decided to leave the Lakers head coach position. The Los Angeles Lakers scoured the NBA for a new head coach after Jerry West quit in 1979, something that's well-documented in HBO's Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty episode 3. That fall, he was drafted by the Lakers as the first overall pick. latest accepted revision, reviewed June 2022. That year the Lakers went on to win the NBA . The former coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, Jack McKinney, had to be put on life support because of the accident. 1979-1980. This was also the team's first season under the ownership of Jerry Buss. "The Best Is Yet to Come" the third episode of HBO's Winning Time, which aired on Sunday night ends on a shocking note.After meeting with Jerry Buss and negotiating a deal that would bring University of Nevada, Las Vegas head coach Jerry Tarkanian onboard to coach the Lakers, Tarkanian's close friend and business manager Vic Weiss is found dead in the trunk of his car, Buss's . This was also the team's first season under the ownership of Jerry Buss. He coached rookie Magic Johnson and the Lakers for 14 games, but was relieved of his duties after he suffered serious brain. The style won the Lakers the NBA championship in 1980 under coach Paul Westhead. 1979. A notorious unsolved California mafia murder prevented Jerry Tarkanian from coaching the "Showtime" L.A. Lakers of the 1980s.Tarkanian, a legendary college basketball coach who led University of Nevada-Las Vegas to back-to-back NCAA championship games and the 1990 National Title, was about to sign on as the Lakers new coach in the summer of 1979 until his agent and close friend, west coast . Jazz. he became Paul Westhead's assistant during the Lakers' 1979-80 championship season (Magic Johnson's first season . [8] The Lakers' Coaching Tragedy. 1979-80 Los Angeles Lakers: Head-to-Head Results (1) Los . But 14 games into the 1979-80 regular season, McKinney suffered a serious head injury in a bicycle accident. On November 8, 1979, McKinney was biking to meet Westhead when, as he neared a stop sign, the gears on his . The Lakers would go on to win three more under Riley (1985, 1987, and 1988). If Lakers coach Jack McKinney hadn't decided to ride his bike to a tennis date with Paul Westhead on Nov. 8, 1979 the course of the team's history might have been different. He began the 1979-80 season as an assistant, but when head coach Jack McKinney suffered a near-fatal bike crash 14 games into the campaign, Westhead stepped in and guided the team all the way to its seventh NBA title. That year, Jerry Buss hired Jack McKinney (played by Tracy Letts) as head coach.He wanted the coaching staff to install a "running . HBO's Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty episode 2 ends with Jerry West quitting, and here's why he stopped coaching the Los Angeles Lakers in 1979. In 1979, McKinney took over as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Jump navigation Jump search American basketball player, coach and executive.mw parser output .hatnote font style italic .mw parser output div.hatnote padding left 1.6em margin bottom 0.5em .mw parser output. Life-threatening: The coach was able to get away from the injury with . It was a time he joined the Lakers as a head coach and was making progress. McKinney was named to his first NBA head-coaching job with the Lakers in 1979. By 1979, the Lakers had just accepted the resignation of former head coach Jerry West. His head hit the concrete, which gave him a concussion and a. The incident is strongly rooted in reality as Jack McKinney met with an unfortunate biking accident on November 8, 1979. He spent his entire career as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers and served as the team's head coach from from 1976 to 1979. Here's the real Jack coaching his first @Lakers game in 1979 #WinningTime pic.twitter.com . After retiring as a player in 1974, West spent three seasons as the Lakers' head coach from 1976 to 1979. Jason Segel has joined HBO's still-untitled series about the 1980s L.A. Lakers. Unfortunately, McKinney's time . Most teams have a head coach and two assistants, but McKinney preferred to work only with Westhead. Let us briefly return to 1979. Haywood played for the Lakers in the 79-80 season winning the only NBA title of his career. He returned to his alma mater in 1960 as an assistant coach. First job with the Lakers was as broadcaster alongside the legendary Chick Hearn. Jack McKinney bike accident After stints as an assistant coach, McKinney was given his break as a head coach by Buss - who wanted a more attacking, free-flowing style of basketball for his new. W esthead's tenure with the Lakers started and ended the same way: abruptly. When Jerry West resigns as head coach prior to the 1979-80 season, Jack McKinney becomes his unlikely replacement. Besides working on the bench with McKinney, Westhead also scouted the Lakers' opponents. [7] With the Lakers, Sharman, Riley, and Del Harris have won the NBA Coach of the Year Award, in 1972, 1990, and 1995 respectively. The NBA commissioner flipped a coin to determine if the Chicago Bulls or the . McKinney was an assistant coach for the Bucks from 1974-76 overlapping with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for one season in Milwaukee before heading to Portland from 1976 to 1979, and helping the . After Jerry Buss bought the Lakers in 1979, he orchestrated the franchise's evolution to become one of the biggest . Television Analyst ( Los Angeles Lakers, 1977 to 1979) Bill Sharman. (Image: Getty) McKinney is a former standout guard from Saint Joseph's in Philadelphia where he played in the 1950s. Although it was the Pennsylvania native who set the tone for the famed 'Showtime' offense, he never got an actual shot to gain some reputation as the Lakers head coach primarily due to . The series primarily revolves around the roles that Jerry Buss and Magic Johnson played in revamping the Lakers franchise during the 1980s, but Jerry West also plays a central role. In 1979, Magic had led Michigan State to the NCAA title over Larry Bird's Indiana State in the most-watched college final ever. Jack McKinney spent just 14 games as the head coach of the LA Lakers at the start of the 1979-1980 season before he suffered a near-fatal bicycle accident. Unlike the modern NBA, there were not big coaching staffs . Reaches deal with Lakers. Assistant Paul Westhead was promoted to head coach and hired Riley out of the broadcast booth to be an assistant. Magic Johnson (played by Quincy Isaiah) is introduced as the Los Angeles Lakers' top draft pick in 1979 by owner Jerry Buss (John C. Reilly) and head coach Jerry West (Jason Clarke) in the HBO series "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty." The series premieres on HBO and HBO Max on Sunday, March 6. On his way to meet with Westhead at a tennis court in Palos Verdes, McKinney meets a near-fatal accident that prematurely ends his time as the Lakers' coach. While HBO has defended the series publicly, others who know West have come to the former Mountaineer great's defense. Head coach Jerry West and assistant coach Pat Riley of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on during an NBA basketball game circa 1979 at The Forum in. The logistics of replacing a head coach on the fly as the Lakes had to do in 1979 are hard to truly contextualize, let alone fully grasp. . In conclusion, the Lakers lost a total of 9 matches out of their first 28 under the guidance of Westhead. In 1979, six games into the season, then-Laker coach Jack McKinney was seriously injured in a bicycle accident. . Head Coach Pat Riley of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on against the Boston Celtics during an NBA basketball game circa 1984 at the Boston Garden in. According to The New York Times, on November 8, 1979, following a 9-4 start to the Lakers' season, McKinney was riding his bike in Los Angeles' Palos Verdes area to meet Westhead for a game of tennis. With Pat Riley stepping down as Heat coach, we take a look back at his career. His unconventional technique were proving to be fruitful for the Lakers. On November 8, 1979, the Lakers were 9-4 after 13 games, when McKinney suffered a near fatal head injury after falling while bicycling. The highlight of the Los Angeles Lakers season of 1979-80 was rookie Magic Johnson leading the Lakers to their seventh NBA Championship, defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in six games in the NBA Finals. West retired in 1974 after 14 seasons as a pro and with one NBA title to his name. "He was kind of a quiet, to himself kind of person," said former Lakers head coach Paul Westhead in a recent interview on The Dr. Brian McDonough Show. Assistant Coach. Jack McKinney, another Philadelphian, was originally hired as Lakers head coach before the start of that 1979-80 NBA season, and he had lured Westhead to Hollywood to be his assistant. West whose silhouette is the official NBA logo spent his entire 14-year playing career with the Lakers and led the team to a title in 1972. . Moreover, the team maintained a solid home record in the league as they lost just twice in their 14 matches at The Forum between November 1979 to December 1979, with Westhead as the head coach. Siegel chose a photo of Lakers legend Jerry West as his model. On November 8, 1979, McKinney was biking to meet Westhead when, as he neared a stop sign, the gears on his bicycle locked. Toscano-Anderson wasn't extended a qualifying offer by the Warriors after averaging 4.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 13.6 minutes of action during the regular . "I had not seen him act like [how West was shown in "Winning Time"]. In 1979 he became an assistant coach for the team, and he was promoted to head coach early in the 1981-82 season when young star Magic Johnson clashed with incumbent coach Paul Westhead. By 1979, the timing had changed. Paul Westhead had led the Los Angeles Lakers to the NBA finals during his first season as coach. six of those coaches won nba titles: phil jackson got 5 of his nba record 11 while coaching the lakers, john kundla also got 5 championships, all in the minneapolis lakers era, pat riley got 4 while coaching most of the showtime years, bill sharman had the best streak in nba history with 33 consecutive wins in the same season he won his Reassigned Head Coach Jerry West. Hired Jack McKinney as Head Coach. On November 8, 1979, McKinney was biking to meet Westhead when, as he neared a stop sign, the gears on his bicycle locked. After Jerry West left the bench to serve as a front office consultant, the Lakers tabbed Jack McKinney as their head coach in the spring of 1979. Luke Walton: The former Warriors' assistant and acting head coach for half of the Warriors' 2015-15 season was dismissed after the Lakers went 37-45 in LeBron's first season, but that record . The incident is strongly rooted in reality as Jack McKinney met with an unfortunate biking accident on November 8, 1979. Spencer Haywood the former Lakers star admits to plotting the murder of his head coach. He was the Lakers coach for 14 games, but suffered serious head injuries in a bicycle accident and was replaced by . Pat Riley went on [] Lakers Head Coach: NBA Finals Opponent: 1980: Paul Westhead: Philadelphia 76ers: 1982: Pat Riley: Philadelphia 76ers: 1988: Pat Riley: Boston Celtics: 1987: Pat Riley: Boston Celtics . Later that season Riley won his first championship ring as a head coach. This was also the team's first season under the ownership of Jerry Buss. Drafted Walter Daniels in the 3rd round (60th pick) of the 1979 NBA Draft. There have been 26 head coaches for the Lakers since joining the NBA. Before that, he spent more than a decade with Gregg Popovich and the Spurs. McKinney was pretty much an under-the-radar man who had stints as an unknown assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Portland Trail Blazers and won an NBA Championship with the latter in the 1976-77 season. Assistant coach Paul Westhead, who also worked under McKinney at St. Joseph's, was named the interim head coach. The 2000-01 NBA season was the Lakers' 53rd season in the National Basketball Association, and 41st in the city of Los Angeles. Segel will play Paul Westhead, head coach from 1979-1981, who oversaw the Lakers' 1980 NBA championship win that . Pat Riley. Magic's season represented the birth of the Showtime Lakers. Most teams have a head coach and two assistants, but McKinney preferred to work only with Westhead. N/A. The highlight of the Los Angeles Lakers season of 1979-80 was rookie Magic Johnson leading the Lakers to their seventh NBA Championship, defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in six games in the NBA Finals. The highlight of the Los Angeles Lakers season of 1979-80 was the 20-year old rookie Magic Johnson leading the Lakers to their seventh NBA Championship, defeating the Philadelphia 76ers led by Julius Erving in six games in the NBA Finals. Jack McKinney, who brought the up-tempo style of play that came to be known as Showtime to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1979 but lasted only 13 games as their coach after a bicycle . Jack McKinney may have gone down as a Lakers legend, but an untimely head injury ended his tenure as head coach of the team 13 games in. Drafted Ricky Reed in the 4th round (81st pick) of the 1979 NBA Draft. Meanwhile, the team's head coach, Jerry West, bristles at the prospect of drafting college phenom Earvin Johnson - who must decide if he's ready to live up to the mantle of his nickname: Magic. Riley returned to the NBA in 1977 as a broadcaster for the Lakers. McKinney debuted the up-tempo style that became known as Showtime. Magic's season represented the birth of the Showtime Lakers. Westhead, a former Laker assistant coach, took over the team in 1979 after head coach Jack McKinney sustained a serious head injury in a bicycle crash. Besides working on the bench with McKinney, Westhead also scouted the Lakers' opponents. LAL (109) vs GSW (126). General Manager. 1979-1991, 1996: Los Angeles Lakers: 1999-2000: Magic M7 Bors: 2000: Magic Great Danes: As coach: Who is the highest NBA coach? sign the five-year contract and be introduced to the Los Angeles media as the Lakers' 10th head coach. All things said the Lakers made a comfortable . coach of the Lakers from 1976 through 1979 .