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Who Was The Coach Before Riley?

Published in Lakers Coaches 2 mins read

The coach directly preceding Pat Riley as the head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers was Paul Westhead. Riley, who initially served as an assistant coach under Westhead, took over the head coaching role during the 1981-82 NBA season.

Understanding the Coaching Succession

Pat Riley's tenure as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, famously known as the architect of the "Showtime" era, began in November 1981. He replaced Paul Westhead, who had coached the team from 1979 until his dismissal early in the 1981-82 season. Westhead led the Lakers to an NBA championship in 1980.

For context, here's a segment from a list of Los Angeles Lakers head coaches:

ID Coach Team
18 Randy Pfund Los Angeles Lakers
19 Mike Dunleavy Los Angeles Lakers
20 Pat Riley Los Angeles Lakers
21 Paul Westhead Los Angeles Lakers

This specific portion of a larger database lists coaches with internal identifiers. While Pat Riley appears with ID 20, and Mike Dunleavy is listed with ID 19 immediately before him in this particular excerpt, historically and chronologically, Paul Westhead was the head coach directly prior to Pat Riley's legendary run with the Lakers. Other coaches like Mike Dunleavy and Randy Pfund coached the Lakers much later, after Riley's departure from the team.

JJ Redick, for instance, has recently been named as the head coach of the Lakers for the 2024-25 season, showcasing the long and varied history of coaches for the franchise.