Sports+Section

**__Lakers Show-Time__**
__**By: Eli Sibrian**__ In the 1980’s the Lakers had something called “show time” or otherwise known as “The Magic Johnson Era”.This “era” began when the Los Angeles Lakers were sold to Dr. Jerry Buss which was in fact a realtor in Santa Monica. Jerry, the Lakers new owner came in at the perfect time because the Lakers had the top pick in the western conference but were tied with the Chicago Bulls and at the time they would flip a coin to see who would be picking first. The Lakers won the toss and ended up picking Earvin Magic Johnson to go along with Larry bird. After drafting him their head coach at the time Jack McKinney suffered a head injury from a bicycle accident so their assistant coach took over and the Lakers hired Pat Riley a TV commentator. The team became known as the Pat Riley era from 1982-1990. This era was led by Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy. The three that were known as the "Showtime" went onto win titles in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988. The “Show-time Era” is a modern equivalent to Shaquille O’neal, Kobe Bryant.