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.

These included Nixon's #10 (also retired were Chuck Cooper, Sihugo Green, Dick Ricketts, and Willie Somerset).

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.

[9] In 1979–80, Lakers coach Jack McKinney had the 6-foot-9-inch (2.06 m) 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.

[1] Prior to the start of the 1983–84 season, Nixon was traded to the San Diego Clippers in exchange for the draft rights to guard Byron Scott and backup center Swen Nater.

Lakers general manager Jerry West made the deal to free Johnson from sharing the ball with Nixon.

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.

He was also remembered 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.

After retiring from the NBA in March 1989, Nixon played for Scavolini Pesaro of the Italian major-league Serie A in April and May.

He later established his own firm, Norm Nixon & Associates, representing such clients as Doug Edwards,[20] 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.

[21][22] With his wife, Nixon founded the Debbie Allen Dance Academy (DADA) in Culver City, California.

Subsequently, he was hired by Fox Sports West to take over Jack Haley's position as studio color analyst for all Lakers home games.

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.

[27] Nixon's son DeVaughn portrayed him in the HBO drama series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.