He was an All-CIF standout at Morningside High School and McDonald’s All-American in 1979. He became the 1980 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year at Arizona State University on the way to earning an All-Conference honors and averaged 17.5 ppg for his career. He was the number 4 overall NBA pick of the San Diego Clippers in 1983. He was then traded to the LA Lakers for Norm Nixon. He made the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1984 and was a key contributor on LA Lakers NBA title teams in 1985, 1987 and 1988. He played in LA through 1993 and finished his career there in 1996.

He began a long NBA coaching career in 1998, which included being the LA Lakers head coach from 2014-16. He was NBA Coach of the Year in 2008 for New Orleans and twice the all-star coach for New Orleans and Cleveland. His ASU jersey was retired in 2011 after previously being inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988.