1977–78 Los Angeles Lakers season

1977–78 Los Angeles Lakers season
1977–78 Los Angeles Lakers season
Head coach	Jerry West
General manager	Bill Sharman
Owner(s)	Jack Kent Cooke
Arena	The Forum
Results
Record	45–37 (.549)
Place	Division: 4th (Pacific); Conference: 5th (Western)
Playoff finish	First round; (lost to SuperSonics 1–2)
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	KHJ-TV; (Chick Hearn, Pat Riley)
Radio	KLAC; (Chick Hearn, Pat Riley)
< 1976–77	1978–79 >

The 1977–78 NBA season was the Lakers' 30th season in the NBA and 18th season in Los Angeles.^[1]

Offseason

Draft picks

Roster

1977–78 Los Angeles Lakers roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB	From
C	33	Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem (C)	7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1947-04-16	UCLA
SF	5	Abernethy, Tom	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1954-05-06	Indiana
PF	2	Carr, Kenny	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1955-08-15	NC State
SF	4	Dantley, Adrian	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	208 lb (94 kg)	1955-02-28	Notre Dame
PG	30	Davis, Brad	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1955-12-17	Maryland
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
C	40	Robisch, Dave	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	1949-12-22	Kansas
SG	11	Scott, Charlie	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1948-12-15	North Carolina
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

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

Roster
Last transaction: January 30, 1978

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Portland Trail Blazers	58	24	.707	–	36–5	22–19	13–3
x-Phoenix Suns	49	33	.598	9	34–7	15–26	8–8
x-Seattle SuperSonics	47	35	.573	11	31–10	16–25	8–8
x-Los Angeles Lakers	45	37	.549	13	29–12	16–25	6–10
Golden State Warriors	43	39	.524	15	30–11	13–28	5–11

#	Western Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Portland Trail Blazers	58	24	.707	–
2	y-Denver Nuggets	48	34	.585	10
3	x-Phoenix Suns	49	33	.598	9
4	x-Seattle SuperSonics	47	35	.573	11
5	x-Los Angeles Lakers	45	37	.549	13
6	x-Milwaukee Bucks	44	38	.537	14

7	Golden State Warriors	43	39	.524	15
8	Chicago Bulls	40	42	.488	18
9	Detroit Pistons	38	44	.463	20
10	Indiana Pacers	31	51	.378	27
11	Kansas City Kings	31	51	.378	27

z – clinched division title

y – clinched division title

x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1977–78 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	BUF	CHI	CLE	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	KCK	LAL	MIL	NJN	NOJ	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAS	SEA	WAS
Atlanta	—	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–1	2–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	2–1	1–3
Boston	2–2	—	3–1	1–3	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–1	2–2	1–2	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	0–4	2–2	1–3	0–4	0–4	1–3
Buffalo	1–3	1–3	—	3–1	1–3	1–3	1–3	0–3	3–1	1–3	1–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	0–4	1–3	1–3	1–3	1–3
Chicago	3–1	3–1	1–3	—	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–1	0–4	2–2	1–3	1–2	2–2	1–3	3–0	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–1
Cleveland	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–3	—	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–2	0–4	0–4	3–1	2–2
Denver	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–2	1–3	—	2–2	2–2	3–0	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–3	1–3	2–2	3–1	2–1	1–3	3–1
Detroit	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	—	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–0	0–4	0–4	2–2	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2
Golden State	3–1	2–2	3–0	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	—	2–1	3–1	3–1	0–4	2–2	3–1	0–4	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	2–2	2–2
Houston	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	0–3	1–3	1–2	—	3–1	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	0–4	1–3
Indiana	1–3	1–2	3–1	1–3	1–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	—	2–2	1–3	0–4	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–3	1–3	1–3	3–1
Kansas City	1–2	2–2	2–1	4–0	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	—	2–2	0–4	2–2	2–2	0–4	1–3	0–4	0–4	0–4	1–3	2–2
Los Angeles	1–3	2–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	4–0	3–1	3–1	2–2	—	3–1	4–0	2–1	3–1	2–2	1–3	0–4	2–2	1–3	2–2
Milwaukee	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–1	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	4–0	4–0	1–3	—	3–1	2–1	3–1	1–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1
New Jersey	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–1	1–3	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2	0–4	1–3	—	0–4	1–3	0–4	2–2	0–3	0–4	2–2	2–2
New Orleans	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	1–3	4–0	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–2	1–2	4–0	—	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	1–3	2–2	0–4
New York	2–2	2–2	1–3	3–1	1–3	3–1	3–0	2–2	2–2	3–1	4–0	1–3	1–3	3–1	3–1	—	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–1	2–2
Philadelphia	2–2	4–0	3–1	1–3	3–1	3–1	4–0	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–1	4–0	2–2	3–1	—	2–1	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–2
Phoenix	1–3	2–2	4–0	2–2	2–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	4–0	3–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	3–1	1–2	—	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2
Portland	3–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	4–0	1–3	3–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	4–0	4–0	3–1	3–1	1–3	3–0	2–2	3–1	—	2–2	3–1	2–1
San Antonio	3–1	4–0	3–1	2–2	4–0	1–2	2–1	1–3	3–1	3–1	4–0	2–2	2–2	4–0	3–1	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	—	2–2	2–2
Seattle	1–2	4–0	3–1	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–1	2–2	4–0	3–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–1	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	2–2	—	1–3
Washington	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	4–0	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–2	2–2	3–1	—

Playoffs

1978 playoff game log

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

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 12	@ Seattle	L 90–102	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (26)	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (12)	Nixon, Scott (6)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,098	0–1
2	April 14	Seattle	W 105–99	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (24)	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (18)	Adrian Dantley (6)	The Forum 15,051	1–1
3	April 16	@ Seattle	L 102–111	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (31)	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (11)	Norm Nixon (5)	Seattle Center Coliseum 14,098	1–2

1978 schedule

Awards and records

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, All-NBA Second Team
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA All-Defensive Second Team
Norm Nixon, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team

References

^ 1977–78 Los Angeles Lakers

[1] 1977–78 Los Angeles Lakers

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