During his six-season stint with the Los Angeles Lakers , Norm Nixon went from being the team's primary playmaker to playing second fiddle to Magic Johnson. While he wasn't a superstar as big as Kareem Abdul Jabbar or Magic, he indeed made his contributions.
However, it was his demeanor and attitude that rubbed Jerry West in the wrong way. Given that 'The Logo' had coached Norm in his first two campaigns, West's frustration with the 6'2" point guard reached such an extent that he took desperate measures to get him out of the franchise when he became the general manager.
Jerry and Norm butted heads daily
Nixon joined the Purple and Gold from the relatively unknown Duquesne College when West was the team's head coach. Despite averaging just 3.2 points per game in his junior year of college, Norm displayed a level of confidence that Jerry could not comprehend. As a result, committed to improving the team's overall prowess, the pair butted heads daily because of their strong opinions.
"Their relationship was very antagonistic," Ron Carter told Jeff Pearlman in the book Showtime . "He had a huge ego, and he was our leader. As a coach, Jerry wanted to be the leader, and he and Norm bumped heads daily... Norm lived to contradict him."
Related: "He would've been knocking on Bill Russell's door" - Olden Polynice says MJ would've won more titles if they did not trade him for Pippen
West took the ultimate measure
After the Lakers defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1981-82 season to lift their second championship trophy in three years, Nixon seemed like the perfect complement to Magic, averaging 17.7 points and a series-high ten assists per game. However, Jerry had grown tired of Norm's egotistical and high-maintenance attitude, especially after the Sixers swept the Purple and Gold in the next NBA Finals.
Additionally, suspecting that Nixon was regularly using drugs, West took the ultimate move to ensure Norm's departure from the team as soon as possible.
"West hired a private investigation agency to follow Nixon and file a detailed report on his behavior, " Pearlman wrote. "Throughout the second half of the season, Nixon unknowingly had people trailing his car, watching his house, keeping tabs on his every move."
"I had no idea," Norm said. "When I found out, it really shook me.'"
Although Nixon had the opportunity to confront West and seek an explanation for his actions, he realized that since the latter wasn't going anywhere, his tenure with the Lakers had reached its end.
This illustrates perfectly that while fans assume that every dynasty might have the most encouraging environments to work in, it's not always the case. Internally, there are wounds, and the friction between Norm and Jerry was one of the biggest concerns that the Purple and Gold faced in the '80s.
Related: "Either Magic Johnson's handling the ball too much or that the chemistry's gone" - When Pat Riley defended the Norm Nixon trade in 1983
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