1978–79 Los Angeles Lakers season

1978–79 Los Angeles Lakers season
1978–79 Los Angeles Lakers season
Head coach	Jerry West
General manager	Bill Sharman
Owner(s)	Jack Kent Cooke
Arena	The Forum
Results
Record	47–35 (.573)
Place	Division: 3rd (Pacific); Conference: 5th (Western)
Playoff finish	Conference semifinals; (lost to SuperSonics 1–4)
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	KHJ-TV
Radio	KLAC
< 1977–78	1979–80 >

The 1978–79 NBA season was the Lakers' 31st season in the NBA and 19th season in Los Angeles.^[1] It was the final season for the team under the ownership of Jack Kent Cooke, who sold the team to Jerry Buss the following summer.

Offseason

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College
2	26	Ron Carter	United States	Virginia Military
2	38	Lew Massey	United States	North Carolina
3	60	Michael Cooper	United States	New Mexico
4	82	Harold Robertson	United States	Lincoln University
5	104	Carlos Terry	United States	Winston-Salem
6	126	Kim Stewart	United States	Washington
7	147	Larry Paige	United States	Colorado

Roster

1978–79 Los Angeles Lakers roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB	From
C	33	Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem	7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1947-04-16	UCLA
SG	24	Boone, Ron	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1946-09-06	Idaho State
PF	2	Carr, Kenny	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1955-08-15	NC State
SG	15	Carter, Ron	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1956-08-31	VMI
SG	21	Cooper, Michael	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1956-04-15	New Mexico
SF	4	Dantley, Adrian	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	208 lb (94 kg)	1955-02-28	Notre Dame
PF	35	Ford, Don	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1952-12-31	UC Santa Barbara
SG	23	Hudson, Lou	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1944-07-11	Minnesota
PG	10	Nixon, Norm	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1955-10-11	Duquesne
PG	5	Price, Jim	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1949-11-27	Louisville
C	40	Robisch, Dave	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	1949-12-22	Kansas
SF	52	Wilkes, Jamaal	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1953-05-02	UCLA

Head coach

Jerry West

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Roster
Last transaction: October 27, 1978

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Seattle SuperSonics	52	30	.634	–	31–10	21–20	11–9
x-Phoenix Suns	50	32	.610	2	32–9	18–23	11–9
x-Los Angeles Lakers	47	35	.573	5	31–10	16–25	11–9
x-Portland Trail Blazers	45	37	.549	7	33–8	12–29	8–12
San Diego Clippers	43	39	.524	9	29–12	14–27	11–9
Golden State Warriors	38	44	.463	14	23–18	15–26	8–12

#	Western Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Seattle SuperSonics	52	30	.634	–
2	y-Kansas City Kings	48	34	.585	4
3	x-Phoenix Suns	50	32	.610	2
4	x-Denver Nuggets	47	35	.573	5
5	x-Los Angeles Lakers	47	35	.573	5
6	x-Portland Trail Blazers	45	37	.549	7

7	San Diego Clippers	43	39	.524	9
8	Indiana Pacers	38	44	.463	14
9	Milwaukee Bucks	38	44	.463	14
10	Golden State Warriors	38	44	.463	14
11	Chicago Bulls	31	51	.378	21

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1978-79 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHI	CLE	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	KCK	LAL	MIL	NJN	NOJ	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAS	SDC	SEA	WAS
Atlanta	—	2–2	3–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–3	3–1	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–0	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–1	2–2	3–1	3–1	1–3	2–2
Boston	2–2	—	1–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–1	1–3	3–1	1–3	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2	3–1	2–2	0–4	1–3	0–4	1–3	2–2	0–4
Chicago	1–3	2–1	—	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	0–4	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	4–0	0–3	0–4	0–4	1–3
Cleveland	1–3	2–2	3–1	—	1–2	1–3	2–1	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	0–4	0–4	0–4	2–2	2–2	0–4
Denver	1–3	3–1	2–2	2–1	—	2–2	4–0	1–3	3–1	1–3	3–1	2–2	4–0	3–1	3–1	0–3	3–1	1–3	3–1	2–2	3–1	1–3
Detroit	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	—	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–1	0–4	2–2	1–3	1–3	0–4	1–3	1–3	2–2	0–3	1–3
Golden State	3–1	1–2	1–3	1–2	0–4	3–1	—	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–3	3–1	2–2
Houston	1–3	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	—	0–4	3–1	2–1	2–2	3–1	4–0	4–0	0–4	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–1	2–2	2–2
Indiana	3–1	1–3	2–2	3–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	4–0	—	1–3	0–4	2–2	1–2	2–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	1–3	0–4	1–3
Kansas City	2–2	3–1	4–0	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–3	3–1	—	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–1	2–2	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–0
Los Angeles	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–2	1–3	2–2	3–1	1–2	4–0	2–2	—	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–0	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2
Milwaukee	0–3	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–2	1–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	—	2–2	3–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3
New Jersey	2–2	3–1	2–2	1–3	0–4	4–0	3–1	1–3	2–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	—	3–1	1–3	2–2	3–0	2–2	0–4	2–2	0–4	1–3
New Orleans	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	0–4	1–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–3	—	2–2	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	0–4	0–3	0–4
New York	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	1–3	0–4	2–2	1–2	0–3	3–1	3–1	2–2	—	2–2	0–4	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	1–3
Philadelphia	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	3–0	3–1	1–3	4–0	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	—	1–3	1–2	3–1	3–1	1–3	3–1
Phoenix	1–2	4–0	3–1	4–0	1–3	4–0	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	0–3	3–1	4–0	3–1	—	3–1	3–1	2–2	1–3	1–3
Portland	2–2	3–1	0–4	4–0	3–1	3–1	2–2	1–3	1–3	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–1	1–3	—	2–1	2–2	1–3	3–1
San Antonio	1–3	4–0	3–0	4–0	1–3	3–1	3–1	1–3	1–3	3–1	2–2	3–1	4–0	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	1–2	—	4–0	2–2	1–3
San Diego	1–3	3–1	4–0	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	4–0	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	0–4	—	2–2	0–3
Seattle	3–1	2–2	4–0	2–2	1–3	3–0	1–3	2–2	4–0	2–2	2–2	2–2	4–0	3–0	2–2	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	—	2–2
Washington	2–2	4–0	3–1	4–0	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	0–3	2–2	3–1	3–1	4–0	3–1	1–3	3–1	1–3	3–1	3–0	2–2	—

Playoffs

1979 playoff game log

First Round: 2–1 (home: 1–0; road: 1–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 10	@ Denver	L 105–110	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (23)	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (12)	Norm Nixon (11)	McNichols Sports Arena 16,011	0–1
2	April 13	Denver	W 121–109	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (32)	Jamaal Wilkes (13)	Norm Nixon (16)	The Forum 14,182	1–1
3	April 16	@ Denver	W 112–111	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (29)	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (16)	Norm Nixon (12)	McNichols Sports Arena 16,181	2–1

Conference semifinals: 1–4 (home: 1–1; road: 0–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 17	@ Seattle	L 101–112	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (25)	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (11)	Norm Nixon (7)	Kingdome 26,377	0–1
2	April 18	@ Seattle	L 103–108 (OT)	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (31)	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (15)	Norm Nixon (10)	Kingdome 26,862	0–2
3	April 20	Seattle	W 118–112 (OT)	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (32)	Jamaal Wilkes (9)	Norm Nixon (11)	The Forum 17,505	1–2
4	April 22	Seattle	L 115–117	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (31)	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (13)	Norm Nixon (19)	The Forum 17,505	1–3
5	April 25	@ Seattle	L 100–106	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (25)	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (14)	Abdul-Jabbar, Nixon (8)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,098	1–4