Norm Nixon Biography
Norm Nixon (Norman Ellard Nixon) is a retired American professional basketball player who spent twelve seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A two-time NBA All-Star, he won two NBA championships with the Lakers over the Philadelphia 76ers at the onset of their Showtime era in the 1980s.
Norm Nixon Age
Norm Nixon was born on 11 October 1955, in Macon, Georgia, United States. Norm Nixon is 63 years old as of 2018. Norm stands at a height of 1.88 m.All Posts
Norm Nixon Family
Norm Nixon was born in Macon, Georgia to Mary Jo and Elmer Nixon. His mother contracted myasthenia gravis when Norm was a baby, and his parents divorced when he was two years old.
He has two brothers Ken and he used to go with his brothers in the Methodist church where Norm became an usher. His father was a professional basketball player and his mother is an actress/producer/director/dancer.
Norm Nixon Wife|Debbie Allen
Norm Nixon is married to Debbie Allen in 1984. Debbie Allen is an actress, producer, director and also a dancer. The couple was blessed with three children namely DeVaughn Nixon who is an actor, Vivian Nichole Nixon who is a dancer and Norman Ellard Nixon Jr. who is a basketball player.
Before their marriage, both Nixon and Allen were portrayed in the 1979 film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh which featured NBA stars including Julius Erving and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Norm Nixon Daughter
Norm Nixon has only one daughter named Vivian Nichole Nixon. She was born on May 30, 1984. Vivian is a dancer and also an actress. She successfully made her debut on Broadway as Kalimba in Hot Feet.
Norm Nixon High school
Norm Nixon played basketball and football in high school at Southwest High School in Macon, Georgia, and was named to all-state in both sports. In football, he played defensive back and tailback and was later offered a free agent tryout by both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys.
Norm Nixon was senior class president and named as the starting guard on the Georgia All-State team for 1973, after leading the Southwest to the 1973 state high school basketball championship under coach Donald “Duck” Richardson.
Nixon played the trumpet yearbook staff. He was on the track team, ran the 440-yard dash, and won a regional title in the high jump at 6 feet, 5 inches.
Norm Nixon Net Worth
Norm Nixon College
Norm Nixon played four full seasons at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While there he averaged 17.2 points-per-game (PPG), 5.5 assists-per-game (APG), and 4.0 rebounds-per-game (RPG), scoring 1,805 points and adding 577 assist in 104 games for his career with the Duquesne Dukes.
Norm Nixon was named first-team All-Eastern Eight Conference and left holding the record for career assists. On January 27, 2001, during the halftime of a game against Xavier University (Cincinnati), the Duquesne University Department of Athletics retired the jerseys of five of its all-time greatest players, including Nixon’s #10 (also retired: Chuck Cooper, Sihugo Green, Dick Ricketts, and Willie Somerset).
Norm Nixon Jr|Basketball
Nixon Jr (Norman Ellard Nixon Jr) is the son of Norm Nixon. Norm Nixon is a basketball player. Nixon Jr studied at the Wofford College & Southern University. Norm Nixon is a brother to DeVaughn Nixon and Vivian Nichole Nixon.
Norm Nixon Injury
Norm Nixon NBA
After Nixon retired from the NBA in March 1989, he played for Scavolini Pesaro of the Italian major-league Serie A in April and May the same year.
Los Angeles Lakers
Nixon was the 22nd overall pick in the 1977 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. He played for the Lakers for six successful seasons and helped the Showtime Lakers win NBA championships in 1980 (4–2) and 1982 (4–2), both against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The same two teams would meet in the 1983 NBA Finals, but Philadelphia won this series four games to none. In the 1978 (Seattle SuperSonics), 1979 (Seattle), and 1981 (Houston Rockets) playoffs, the Lakers were eliminated by the eventual Western Conference champion.
Norm Nixon led the team in scoring in the 1982 playoffs. In-game one of the 1983 finals he had a violent collision with Andrew Toney of the 76ers early in the first quarter.
As he came off the floor, coach Pat Riley asked Nixon “You need a blow?”, to which Nixon replied: “No, a casket”. He would continue to play in game one and game two despite a separated shoulder.
San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers
Prior to the start of the 1983–84 season, the popular Nixon was traded to the San Diego Clippers in exchange for the draft rights to guard Byron Scott. Lakers general manager Jerry West made the deal to free Magic Johnson, the team’s other point guard, from sharing the ball with Nixon.
In his first year with the Clippers, Nixon led the league in total assists and made the All-Star team for the second time in 1984–85 season 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 1988–89 season. During his time with the Clippers, he would never make it to the playoffs again.
For the 1978–79 season he tied Eddie Jordan of the New Jersey Nets for the NBA lead in steals with 201, and total games (82 regular seasons + 23 playoffs = 105).
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. Led the league in assists for the 1983–84 season with 914, and regular-season games played (82).
Norm Nixon missed the 1986–87 season after stepping into a hole during a softball game in New York City’s Central Park during the summer of 1986 (July 23, 1986) and suffered severe damage to the tendon just above his left knee.
Norm Nixon ruptured his right Achilles tendon during a pre-season practice on November 4, 1987; the injury would cause him to miss the entire 1987–88 season. Before being injured he had played in 715 of 725 games available in his first nine seasons.
Career accomplishments
During his NBA career, he scored 12,065 points (15.7 points per game) and 6,386 assists (8.3) in 768 games played. Although he had impressive statistics, he may be remembered most for faking a free throw at the end of a Lakers-San Antonio Spurs game on November 30, 1982, which caused a double lane violation.
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 was later replayed in April 1983.