The Lakers were attempting to become the first team since 1969 to repeat as NBA Champions. Despite missing Magic Johnson

Magic Johnson

Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers...

 for 45 games due to a knee injury, the Lakers still managed an impressive 54-28 record during the regular season, and they were the #3 seed heading into the Western Conference playoffs. However, the underdog Houston Rockets

Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...

 eliminated the Lakers in a best-of-three first round series two games to one.

NBA Draft

The Lakers did not have a first round pick in the 1980 Draft. Their first selection was Wayne Robinson

Wayne Robinson (basketball)

Wayne Howard Robinson is a retired American basketball player. He was a 6'8", 217 lb forward....

, the 31st pick overall, but he never played a game for the Lakers. Future NBA Coach Butch Carter

Butch Carter

Clarence Eugene "Butch" Carter is a retired American basketball player and coach of the NBA...

 was their second selection at #37 overall.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
2	31	Wayne Robinson Wayne Robinson (basketball) Wayne Howard Robinson is a retired American basketball player. He was a 6'8", 217 lb forward....	Forward		Virginia Tech
2	37	Butch Carter Butch Carter Clarence Eugene "Butch" Carter is a retired American basketball player and coach of the NBA...	Guard		Indiana Indiana University Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; MPG= Minutes per Game; REB = Rebounds; AST = Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; PPG = Points per Game

Player	GP	MPG	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	PPG
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a retired American professional basketball player. He is the NBA's all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points. During his career with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers from 1969 to 1989, Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships and a record six regular season...	80	37.2	821	272	59	228	2095	26.2
Jamaal Wilkes Jamaal Wilkes Jamaal Wilkes is a retired American basketball player who played the small forward position and won four NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors. Wilkes was also a key player in the run of NCAA championships accumulated during the John Wooden era of UCLA basketball...	81	37.4	435	235	121	29	1827	22.6
Norm Nixon Norm Nixon Norman Ellard "Norm" Nixon is a retired American professional basketball player for the NBA, who spent twelve seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers.-Early life:...	79	37.5	232	696	146	11	1350	17.1
Jim Chones Jim Chones James Bernett Chones is an American former professional basketball player.A 6'11" forward/center, Chones starred at Marquette University, where he earned All-America honors as a junior in 1972 after averaging 20.5 points and 11.9 rebounds per game...	82	31.2	657	153	39	96	882	10.8
Magic Johnson Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers...	37	37.1	320	317	127	27	798	21.6
Michael Cooper	81	32.4	336	332	133	78	763	9.4
Mark Landsberger Mark Landsberger Mark Walter Landsberger is a retired American professional basketball player. At 6'8" and 225 pounds, he played as a power forward and center.-Career:...	69	15.7	377	27	19	6	390	5.7
Eddie Jordan Eddie Jordan (basketball) Edward Montgomery "Eddie" Jordan is a retired American professional basketball player and former coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, Washington Wizards and Sacramento Kings in the NBA.-Collegiate and pro career:...	60	16.5	80	195	74	7	306	5.1
Butch Carter Butch Carter Clarence Eugene "Butch" Carter is a retired American basketball player and coach of the NBA...	54	12.4	65	52	23	1	301	5.6
Jim Brewer Jim Brewer (basketball) James Turner Brewer is a retired American National Basketball Association player. Brewer was the first notable player to come out of Proviso East High School, which has one of the most successful high school basketball programs in Illinois. In 1969, Brewer, playing center, led his team to the...	78	14.2	281	55	43	58	217	2.8
Brad Holland Brad Holland John Bradley Holland is a retired American professional basketball player. He played for four years at UCLA and was the 14th player taken in the first round of the 1979 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. He served as a member of the 1980 NBA L.A. Lakers championship team...	41	7.2	29	23	21	1	130	3.2
Alan Hardy	22	5.0	19	3	1	9	51	2.3
Myles Patrick Myles Patrick Myles Patrick is an American former professional basketball player.A 6'8" forward from Auburn University, Patrick played one season in the NBA for the Los Angeles Lakers. He averaged 1.7 points per game. He has recently worked as a midnight basketball coordinator in his hometown of Macon.-Note:...	3	3.0	2	1	0	0	5	1.7
Tony Jackson	2	7.0	2	2	2	0	2	1.0

Award winners/Honors

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a retired American professional basketball player. He is the NBA's all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points. During his career with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers from 1969 to 1989, Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships and a record six regular season...
  
  , First Team All-NBA, First Team All-Defense, All-Star
• Michael Cooper, Second Team All-Defense
• Jamaal Wilkes
  Jamaal Wilkes
  Jamaal Wilkes is a retired American basketball player who played the small forward position and won four NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors. Wilkes was also a key player in the run of NCAA championships accumulated during the John Wooden era of UCLA basketball...
  
  , All-Star