The Los Angeles Lakers have had many influential role players to help guide them on their different championship runs, as an integral part of any successful team. While stars like Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar usually led the charge, Norm Nixon was the catalyst on this day in Lakers history.
On Jan. 6, 1981, the Lakers were at The Forum, facing off against the then-Washington Bullets. Coming off of their 1979-80 championship, Los Angeles had an opportunity to be the first team since 1969 to repeat as champions.
However, this team would receive an unfortunate blow, as Johnson went down with a knee injury and missed 45 games before returning.