Paul Westhead, who served as a former head coach for three National Basketball Association teams, reportedly had kidney stones per the 8th episode of Winning Time. Get more updates on what happened to Paul through this article.
Paul Westhead is an 83 years old American former basketball coach born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the 21st of February 1939.
Westland’s story while serving as a coach for the Lakers has gotten featured on the American sports drama television series Winning Time.
Did Paul Westhead Have Kidney Stones?
Westhead, who served as the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and led the team to the 1980 NBA Finals, had kidney stones as per the 8th episode of Winning Time, and it has created confusion among netizens if he had stones.
Thus Screenrant has stated that he did suffer from a kidney stone in February 1980, which made him unable to coach the Lakers for a brief period. Although the health issue was unspecified in its adaptation of the non-fictional book Showtime, the coach suffered a health scare that made him get admitted to the hospital to get treated for a kidney infection.
More Details On The Winning Time Story And Paul Westhead’s Hospital Visit
Some of the stories of Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty contradict the story of Showtime, a book authored by Jeff Pearlman, and Paul’s hospital visit is one among them.
In the 8th episode of Winning Time, Westhead got hospitalized due to a kidney stone. However, Showtime did not mention those incidents; instead, Jack McKinney was the one who got admitted to the hospital due to a severe bicycle injury.
However, it seems to be based on a real-life event, as the coach had to go through surgery to get his kidney stone removed during the early 1980s. With the treatment, he did recover from the kidney infection. Yet he later got fired from the Lakers due to his disputes with Magic Johnson.
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Did Paul Westhead Suffer Any Severe Illness? Is He Healthy?
The retired coach Westhead suffered from a kidney infection and got treated; however, he has not updated the media regarding his health issues, so we are unsure if the coach is ill.
Paul turned 83 on the 21st of February 2022, and he might be living a healthy life with his family as he served as an athlete throughout his career. Moreover, he was active as a coach until 2014; Westhead last served as the head coach for the NCAA women’s program at the University of Oregon and retired at 75 for an undisclosed reason.