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Paul Westhead enjoyed an impressive coaching career in the NBA and WNBA. He won the championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1980 and the Phoneix Mercury in 2007.
Westhead started his coaching career in the collegiate ranks with La Salle University. He entered the NBA as an assistant coach and bounced between the pros and college for the remainder of his career. Westhead's final coaching job was for Oregon Women's Basketball, between 2009 and 2014.
With such a long and impressive career, Westhead, undoubtedly, generated some financial freedom. According to reports, the former championship-winning coach amassed a net worth of approximately $3 million.
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In the modern era, that figure for a championship coach is incredibly low, though. However, Westhead was coaching between 1970 and 2014, with his time in the NBA ending in 2005. As such, 'The Professor' missed out on the salary boom that began midway through the 2010s.
Westhead is now at the forefront of NBA fans' minds, thanks to Winning Time, the HBO show that depicts the rivalry between the Showtime Lakers and Larry Bird-led Boston Celtics.
Paul Westhead and Magic Johnson had a strained relationship
When Paul Westhead took over the LA Lakers coaching early into Magic Johnson's rookie season, the former assistant coach stuck to the script left by Jack McKinney, who was removed from his coaching duties due to a near-fatal bike accident.
Westhead allowed the Lakers to continue playing an up-tempo brand of basketball, where they looked to outrun and outgun their opponents. That style of play led the Lakers to a championship that season, giving Johnson his first ring as a rookie.
However, the next season, with Paul Westhead implementing his own system, tensions began to rise. Johnson wanted the Lakers to continue playing with pace. Westhead, though, wanted to build the offense around legendary center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
The tensions continued to rise throughout the regular season, culminating in Johnson issuing a trade request to the Lakers front office. Rather than risk losing a franchise-level talent, the Lakers decided to remove Westhead from his role as coach.
Pat Riley was instilled as the Lakers' new coach, and the 'Showtime Lakers' were truly born, culminating in four more NBA championships. Westhead went on to coach the Chicago Bulls but was relieved of his duties after just one season in charge.
