Norman Ellard Nixon (born October 11, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also played with Scavolini Pesaro in Italy. Nicknamed "Stormin' Norman", he is a two-time NBA All-Star. He won two NBA championships with the Lakers in 1980 and 1982, at the beginning of their Showtime era.
Early life
Norm Nixon was born the third of three sons to Mary Jo and Elmer Nixon, in Macon, Georgia. His mother contracted myasthenia gravis when Norm was a baby, and his parents divorced when he was two years old. The three boys were raised with the help of their maternal grandmother and great-aunt. Norm and his two brothers, Ken and Ron, were raised in the Methodist church, where he became an usher.
A gifted athlete, Nixon played basketball and football in high school at Southwest High School in Macon. He was named to all-state in both sports. In football, he played defensive back and tailback. He was offered a free-agent tryout by both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys. He was senior class president and named as the starting guard on the Georgia All-State team for 1973. He had also led Southwest to the 1973 state high school basketball championship under coach Donald "Duck" Richardson. He was on the track team, where he ran the 440 yard dash, and won a regional title in the high jump at 6 feet, 5 inches. Nixon also played the trumpet and was on the yearbook staff. Nixon was named first-team All-Eastern Eight Conference, and left holding the record for career assists.
In 2019, Nixon approved his retired number 10 being worn by sophomore point guard Sincere Carry. The young Carry asked to wear it to honor a friend who wore number 10 in high school, and who had died that spring from gun violence.
NBA career
Los Angeles Lakers
thumb|right|Nixon (left) stands next to [[Magic Johnson during the Los Angeles Lakers championship rally in 1980]]
Nixon was selected in the first round of the 1977 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 22nd overall pick. They had already picked another point guard, Brad Davis, earlier in that draft. Nixon played for the Lakers for six successful seasons. For the 1978–79 season, Nixon tied Eddie Jordan of the New Jersey Nets for the NBA lead in steals with 201. The next season (1979–80), he led the league in minutes played (3,226), minutes-per-game (39.3), and was third in assists with 642. In 1979–80, Lakers coach Jack McKinney had the rookie Magic Johnson, who some analysts thought should play forward, be a point guard, even though Nixon was already one of the best in the league. In his four years sharing play-making responsibilities with Johnson, Nixon averaged at least seven assists each season.
In the 1978 (Seattle SuperSonics), 1979 (Seattle), and 1981 (Houston Rockets) playoffs, the Lakers were eliminated by the eventual Western Conference champion. But Nixon helped the Showtime Lakers win NBA championships in 1980 (4–2) and 1982 (4–2), both against the Philadelphia 76ers. Nixon led the team in scoring in the 1982 playoffs, In his first year with the Clippers, Nixon led the league in total assists with 914, and regular season games played (82).
After the 1985–86 season, he spent much of his later career on the injured list, spending more than two full seasons on the injured list before retiring for good at the end of the 1988–89 season. During his time with the Clippers, the team never made the playoffs.
Nixon missed the 1986–87 season after stepping into a hole during a softball game in Central Park on July 23, 1986. He suffered severe damage to the tendon just above his left knee. Nixon ruptured his right Achilles tendon during a pre-season practice on November 4, 1987; the injury caused him to miss the entire 1987–88 season. Before his injuries, he played in 715 of 725 games available in his first nine seasons. The referees erroneously ordered a jump ball, instead of requiring Nixon to re-shoot the free throw. The Lakers got the ball and Nixon made a field goal to tie the game, where they prevailed in overtime. The last three seconds of the game were later replayed in April 1983.
Post-playing career
thumb|left|Nixon in 2010
After retiring from the NBA in March 1989, Nixon played for Scavolini Pesaro of the Italian major-league Serie A in April and May. In August 1989 Valerio Bianchini (who had coached Pesaro the previous season) head coach of Messaggero Roma tried to get Nixon to come play for the 1989–90 season.
Nixon participated in some of the NBA's Legends Classic games that took place during All-Star Weekend in the late 80s and early 90s, before a leg injury forced him out of a game. The league later ended these games due to fear of injuries among veteran players.
Nixon became a sports agent at Premier Management Group Inc. He later established his own firm, Norm Nixon & Associates, representing such clients as Doug Edwards, Samaki Walker, Jalen Rose, Maurice Taylor, Teddy Dupay, Gary Grant, Gerald Fitch, the NFL's Peter Warrick, Larry Smith, and Al Wilson, and entertainers such as LL Cool J and TLC.
With his wife, Nixon founded the Debbie Allen Dance Academy (DADA) in Culver City, California.
Personal life
Nixon has been married to actress/producer/director/dancer Debbie Allen since 1984. They have four children. Tristan Fuller-Nixon and DeVaughn Nixon, sons of Nixon from previous relationships, and two together: Vivian Nichole Nixon, who became a dancer and Norman Ellard Nixon Jr., who became a basketball player (he attended Wofford College and Southern University). Nixon's sister-in-law is Phylicia Rashad / actress/director/singer. His biological sister is Tracy Nixon-Moore. His biological brothers are Larry Nixon, Ronald Nixon, Kenneth Nixon, and David Jackson.
Before they were married, both Nixon and Allen appeared in the 1979 film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh, which also featured NBA stars Julius Erving and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Nixon's son DeVaughn portrayed him in the HBO drama series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.
NBA career statistics
Regular season
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1977–78
|style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
|81||–||34.3||.497||–||.714||3.0||6.8||1.7||0.1||13.7
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1978–79
|style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
|82||–||38.4||.542||–||.775||2.8||9.0||2.5||0.2||17.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"|1979–80†
|style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
|82||–||style="background:#cfecec;"|39.3*||.516||.125||.779||2.8||7.8||1.8||0.2||17.6
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1980–81
|style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
|79||–||37.5||.476||.167||.778||2.9||8.8||1.8||0.1||17.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"|1981–82†
|style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
|82||82||36.9||.493||.250||.808||2.1||8.0||1.6||0.1||17.6
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1982–83
|style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
|79||79||34.3||.475||.000||.744||2.6||7.2||1.3||0.1||15.1
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1983–84
|style="text-align:left;"|San Diego
|82||82||37.2||.462||.239||.760||2.5||11.1||1.1||0.0||17.0
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1984–85
|style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Clippers
|81||81||35.7||.465||.333||.780||2.7||8.8||1.2||0.0||17.2
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1985–86
|style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Clippers
|67||62||31.9||.438||.347||.809||2.7||8.6||1.3||0.0||14.6
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1988–89
|style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Clippers
|53||30||24.9||.414||.276||.738||1.5||6.4||0.9||0.0||6.8
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 768 || 416 || 35.5 || .483 || .294 || .772 || 2.6 || 8.3 || 1.5 || 0.1 || 15.7
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| All-Star
| 2 || 0 || 19.0 || .571 || – || .500 || 1.0 || 5.0 || 1.0 || 0.0 || 12.5
Playoffs
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1978
|style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
|3||–||30.7||.458||–||.667||3.0||5.3||1.3||0.3||8.0
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1979
|style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
|8||–||40.9||.471||–||.733||3.5||11.8||1.4||0.0||15.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"|1980†
|style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
|16||–||40.5||.477||.200||.804||3.5||7.8||2.0||0.2||16.9
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1981
|style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
|3||–||44.3||.510||–||.800||3.7||8.7||0.3||0.3||19.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"|1982†
|style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
|14||–||39.2||.478||.333||.754||3.1||8.1||1.6||0.1||20.4
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1983
|style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
|14||–||38.4||.477||.429||.740||3.4||6.4||1.3||0.1||19.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 58 ||–|| 39.4 || .478 || .333 || .763 || 3.4 || 8.0 || 1.5 || 0.1 || 17.7
See also
- List of National Basketball Association career assists leaders
- List of National Basketball Association players with most assists in a game
References
External links
- Norm Nixon at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame