Westhead won titles in both the NBA and WNBA, and he is also remembered as the coach of the Loyola Marymount University (LMU) men's basketball team.

[3] Westhead coached the La Salle University men's basketball team starting in 1970 while also teaching as a professor in the English department.

With rookie guard Magic Johnson and longtime star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Lakers won the 1980 NBA Finals in Westhead's first year as coach, defeating Philadelphia in six games for the first title in their Showtime era.

A 1987 book called Winnin' Times (about the Lakers' franchise history) indicated that Lakers owner Jerry Buss wanted to fire Westhead several days prior to the actual occurrence, which is not mutually exclusive of the notion that Johnson had orchestrated it.

Prior to that season, the Bulls traded all-star center Artis Gilmore to the San Antonio Spurs, and the franchise was still two years away from the debut of Michael Jordan.

Westhead returned to the college ranks, and took over as the head coach of the Loyola Marymount Lions men's basketball program.

Westhead lured star players like Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble, who both transferred from USC, and Loyola Marymount set several NCAA records with their up-tempo, run-and-gun style.

[6] As of April 2012, Loyola Marymount held the five highest combined score games in Division I history.

Four of the five occurred during Westhead's career, including a record 331 in the 181–150 win over United States International University on January 31, 1989.

The next year the Nuggets drafted Dikembe Mutombo, who made the All-Star team, and played at a more conservative pace scoring just 2 points per game.

This time, Westhead's run-and-gun style did not succeed at the college level, ending his tenure at Mason with a 38–70 record.

[10] Westhead was the head coach of the Panasonic Super Kangaroos of the Japan Basketball League from 2001 to 2003.

[13] On September 27, 2007, he agreed to a contract with the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics to be an assistant coach under longtime friend P. J. Carlesimo.

[14] On March 26, 2009, University of Oregon Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny introduced Paul Westhead as the Ducks' newest head coach.