Page 1 of 1

I need an old Lakers fan......

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 4:43 pm
by RexRyan
Just read a Bill Simmons article about Pat Riley, and he mentioned two failed trades with the Showtime Lakers. One was Kareem in 1983, the other was Worthy in 1986. Both fell through at the last minute. Any idea who those trades were for?

Re: I need an old Lakers fan......

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 5:05 pm
by Kilroy
Simmons is coming at this from a Celtics perspective, which is a million miles away... And he was only 13 in 1983... And it was before the internet... The Lakers were like Fort Knox back then as far as leaking information. NOTHING got out.
So, I'd be shocked if we tried to trade Kareem in 83... NEVER heard that. In fact, Kareem was a free agent in the summer of 1983. He was being courted by the Bulls but ultimately, the $1.5M (Seriously) they were offering was not enough, so he resigned with the Lakers.

I think the Worthy deal he was talking about was a proposed trade with Dallas for Roy Tarpley and Mark Aguirre... But my memory was that that deal wasn't that close to happening... It was just proposed... Worthy was just hitting his prime right then and was a legit all-star. It didn't make sense to trade him.

Re: I need an old Lakers fan......

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 5:18 pm
by RexRyan
I remember the Tarpley talk, years after the fact. The only guess I had on Kareem was perhaps for Ralph Sampson. Thanks much!

Here's the link, by the way..... nice article on Riley

https://theringer.com/pat-riley-gets-what-he-wants-undeniables-bill-simmons-4064cf607e42

Re: I need an old Lakers fan......

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 8:00 pm
by TylersLakers
Kilroy wrote:Simmons is coming at this from a Celtics perspective, which is a million miles away... And he was only 13 in 1983... And it was before the internet... The Lakers were like Fort Knox back then as far as leaking information. NOTHING got out.
So, I'd be shocked if we tried to trade Kareem in 83... NEVER heard that. In fact, Kareem was a free agent in the summer of 1983. He was being courted by the Bulls but ultimately, the $1.5M (Seriously) they were offering was not enough, so he resigned with the Lakers.

I think the Worthy deal he was talking about was a proposed trade with Dallas for Roy Tarpley and Mark Aguirre... But my memory was that that deal wasn't that close to happening... It was just proposed... Worthy was just hitting his prime right then and was a legit all-star. It didn't make sense to trade him.


John Ireland actually talked about that Worthy deal last week on AM 570. The trade was agreed to by Jerry Buss. Jerry Buss then took it to Jerry West, and West responded by saying.. "Well, you're the owner, if you want to do that, you can. But if you do it, I'm quitting." And then Buss went back to Dallas and asked to get out of the deal.

That's at least what I heard.

Re: I need an old Lakers fan......

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 8:30 pm
by salmahayek
Yeah, my recollection was that Riley went to Buss to override the deal.

That said, had Tarpley kept his nose clean, he was a monster and the Pistons finally won the title(s) with Aguirre as opposed to Adrian Dantley.

As for Kareem...no way he was getting shipped out unless Sampson or Olajuwon were coming in to stalk the Forum.

It's a cliche, but goes to show, sometimes the best trades are the ones you don't make...

Re: I need an old Lakers fan......

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 8:58 pm
by gts1
TylersLakers wrote:
Kilroy wrote:Simmons is coming at this from a Celtics perspective, which is a million miles away... And he was only 13 in 1983... And it was before the internet... The Lakers were like Fort Knox back then as far as leaking information. NOTHING got out.
So, I'd be shocked if we tried to trade Kareem in 83... NEVER heard that. In fact, Kareem was a free agent in the summer of 1983. He was being courted by the Bulls but ultimately, the $1.5M (Seriously) they were offering was not enough, so he resigned with the Lakers.

I think the Worthy deal he was talking about was a proposed trade with Dallas for Roy Tarpley and Mark Aguirre... But my memory was that that deal wasn't that close to happening... It was just proposed... Worthy was just hitting his prime right then and was a legit all-star. It didn't make sense to trade him.


John Ireland actually talked about that Worthy deal last week on AM 570. The trade was agreed to by Jerry Buss. Jerry Buss then took it to Jerry West, and West responded by saying.. "Well, you're the owner, if you want to do that, you can. But if you do it, I'm quitting." And then Buss went back to Dallas and asked to get out of the deal.

That's at least what I heard.


that's how it went down.. Ireland isn't the first to tell the story... Buss was the first actually in a late 90's early 2000's interview

The deal had been made between the two owners... then West put out is ultimatum and Buss went back to the Dallas owner and said I"m going to lose my GM if you force me to go through with this and the Mavs owner kindly let Jerry off the hook..

It was Worthy and Scott for Tarpley and Aguire

Re: I need an old Lakers fan......

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 9:26 pm
by Sedale Threatt
Magic was super-tight with Aguirre and Isiah Thomas back then. Jeff Pearlman's book made it sound like Magic was the one who convinced Buss that it would be a great deal, and then Buss purposely went behind West's back because he knew West would shoot it down. What a disaster that would have been. Worthy was the PERFECT wingman for Magic. Aguirre was much more comfortable in the half court. It would have ruined the whole dynamic of the team.

Re: I need an old Lakers fan......

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2016 9:38 pm
by Sedale Threatt
Don't remember anything about a Kareem trade in 1983, but in the same book Pearlman wrote that Buss -- again going behind West's back -- was hell-bent on making sure we had the No. 1 pick, at which point he wanted Sampson if he came out. (Buss was sure he would for the chance to play in L.A.) Offered $6 million to the Clippers, our pick that year (no worse than No. 2) and then another one next year, in case we lost the coin flip with the Clippers. Donald Sterling being Donald Sterling, he declined. We won, Sampson stayed anyway and we ended up with Worthy. I've read that West was torn between him and Dominique Wilkins, which is fascinating to think about. James was the perfect fit, but Dominique flying down the wing catching lobs from Magic would have been awesome.

Moral of the story: Jerry West knew what the F he was doing, and Buss would have screwed everything up.

Re: I need an old Lakers fan......

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2016 2:19 am
by Sofa King
I need a young Lakers cheerleader.

To answer the OP's request... Deep... someone is looking for you sir. :D