Worthy put an exclamation point on Showtime in L.A.
The late Jerry West may never get the respect he deserves for his genius as the General Manager of the Los Angeles Lakers. He was arguably better in his second career than he was in his first, and he was an absolutely extraordinary player.
He inherited Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and wasn’t GM when Magic Johnson was drafted, but West surrounded that duo with superb talent, including UNC great James Worthy.
Worthy was a dream fit for the Showtime Lakers. At 6-9, the same height as point guard Johnson, Worthy was one of the great running forwards of all time. He became a favorite target of Johnson’s on the fast break because Worthy could run like a deer and he had great hands, which came in handy because Johnson was a spectacular passer who could occasionally surprise a teammate with a blind pass. Worthy rarely dropped them.
He also had a signature move: when Worthy was closing in on a dunk, he would run to the basket with the ball raised high in one hand for a tomahawk dunk.
Adding to his mystique, after a scratched cornea in 1995, Worthy began to wear goggles similar to the ones worn by Jabbar. It just added to the whole Showtime mystique.
