“I Want to Leave”: A Year After Signing $25 Million Contract, Magic Johnson Openly Demanded a Trade in 1981

Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers are synonymous with each other. The point guard spent his entire career with the franchise and led them to five championships. However, a little-known fact is that he wanted to leave the team in 1981.

Johnson had signed a twenty-five-year, $25 million extension with the franchise in 1981 offseason to commit his entire career to the Lakers. But, only five months later, he was fed up with head coach Paul Westhead‘s tactics and publicly demanded an exit from the team. After the Lakers beat the Utah Jazz 113-110, Johnson told the media,

“I can’t play here anymore. I want to leave. I want to be traded.”

Johnson was asked if coach Westhead was the reason he wanted to exit the franchise, and he did not mince words, saying,

“Yeah. We don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things. It’s time for me to go.” 

The point guard was allegedly miffed about the Lakers’ slow-paced offense, which catered to center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Johnson wanted a fast-paced offense and to use his ball-handling skills and court vision. However, the coach refused to change tactics, irking the point guard.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss did not waste any time in showcasing where his loyalty lay. He fired Westhead and promoted assistant Pat Riley to the head coaching role. Buss claimed firing Westhead wasn’t prompted by Johnson’s trade demand. He said,

”Obviously it was a difficult decision for us. There is no way to criticize anybody. I was disappointed in not seeing an exciting team once again. This started after the first or second game.” 

Although Buss claimed the firing reason to be different, it was abundantly clear why the Lakers had parted ways with their head coach. Notably, all the chatter surrounding Westhead’s firing quickly disappeared as the Lakers dominated on the court and won the NBA title in Riley’s first year as the head coach. He spent eight more seasons with the franchise, led them to five more NBA Finals appearances and three more titles.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sheds light on Paul Westhead’s firing

The Lakers won the NBA title in 1980 on the back of rookie Magic Johnson and superstar center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s ability to get the best out of each other’s unique skill sets. However, after the point guard missed 45 games in the 1980-81 season, coach Westhead wanted to build an offensive gameplan that worked even in Johnson’s absence. In his Substack, Kareem explained,

“The Lakers were used to outrunning teams and Magic was a key part of that strategy because he had an uncanny intuitiveness about when to drive and when to pass…. We were less choreographed and more like jazz, anticipating each other’s moves, reading the body movement, reacting to the notes the other was playing… “Paul had a more methodical, tactical approach. He added more set plays that stifled Magic’s spontaneity and killed our fast-break advantage.”

Kareem said the Lakers had no choice but to fire their head coach to keep their 22-year-old superstar happy.

Choosing Johnson over Westhead was the correct move. He played a pivotal role in helping the franchise win four more titles.

Riley’s fast-paced offense centered around Johnson’s playmaking abilities produced the most entertaining basketball ever. Their fast breaks, alley-oops, and dunks became legendary and almost impossible to contain. Jerry Buss’ decision to side with Johnson birthed the Showtime Lakers and a dynasty unlike any other in NBA history.

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• Jerry Buss
• Kareem Abdul Jabbar
• Los Angeles Lakers
• Magic Johnson
• Pat Riley
• Paul Westhead