It was the fall of 1981 and Magic Johnson was not happy. The Los Angeles Lakers had just won five in a row, but Johnson was feeling constrained by the new offense head coach Paul Westhead had installed.
Westhead met with his star point guard over what he called a "lack of concentration," according to Sports Illustrated. It didn't go well. Because in the locker room after that meeting, Johnson told the press he couldn't play under Westhead's system anymore and wanted to be traded.
John Rockwell, a close friend of Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss, was dispatched to find a solution that didn't involve trading the conductor of Showtime.