The “Showtime” Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s always seemed so happy. This was particularly bothersome to me as a Boston Celtics fan growing up in the Los Angeles area. It seemed the Lakers of that era were more than good. They were harmonious. How else to run fast breaks that had such orchestral qualities?
That’s one of many reasons why Jeff Pearlman’s 2014 book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s, proved such a fun and essential read. It turns out the Lakers were human. It’s not just that Norm Nixon was “one of the NBA’s great partiers,” it’s that he had an ego of the kind such that he thought himself on the talent level of Magic Johnson, and that he deserved the ball every bit as much as Johnson.
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