1979–80 NBA season

The 1979–80 NBA season was the 34th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals, and is notable for being the year in which the three-point field goal was adopted.

1979–80 NBA season
LeagueNational Basketball Association
SportBasketball
DurationOctober 12, 1979 – March 30, 1980
Apr 2–30, 1980 (Playoffs)
May 4–16, 1980 (Finals)
Number of teams22
TV partner(s)CBS, USA
Draft
Top draft pickMagic Johnson
Picked byLos Angeles Lakers
Regular season
Top seedBoston Celtics
Season MVPKareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles)
Top scorerGeorge Gervin (San Antonio)
Playoffs
Eastern championsPhiladelphia 76ers
  Eastern runners-upBoston Celtics
Western championsLos Angeles Lakers
  Western runners-upSeattle SuperSonics
Finals
ChampionsLos Angeles Lakers
  Runners-upPhiladelphia 76ers
Finals MVPMagic Johnson (Los Angeles)

Notable occurrences
  • The NBA officially adopts the three-point field goal. Boston Celtics guard Chris Ford made the first three-pointer on October 12, 1979, against the Houston Rockets.
  • The number of officials is reduced from three to two following a one-season experiment with three-man officiating crews. The three-official system will be re-adopted permanently for the 1988–89 season.
  • The Jazz relocate from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Salt Lake City, Utah, and move from the Central Division to the Midwest Division (with the Indiana Pacers replacing them).
  • The Kansas City Kings are forced to play most of the season at the Municipal Auditorium after the roof at Kemper Arena collapses due to high wind on June 4, 1979. The Kings played the 1972–73 and 1973–74 seasons at Municipal Auditorium while splitting their home schedule between Kansas City and Omaha.
  • Dr. Jerry Buss purchases the Los Angeles Lakers franchise from Jack Kent Cooke prior to the season.
  • The 1980 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, with the East defeating the West 144–136 in overtime. George Gervin of the San Antonio Spurs wins the game's MVP award.
  • This was the first season the NBA had a cable television partner. The USA Network signed a three-year, 1.5 million dollar deal.
  • This was both Magic Johnson’s and Larry Bird’s rookie seasons and is considered to be the birth of the modern game.[1]
  • Darryl Dawkins broke two backboards: one at Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium on November 13, 1979, and a second backboard 23 days later at the Philadelphia Spectrum. Because his dunks resulted in delays while teams went to find another backboard, the NBA eventually modified their basketball rims to make them collapsible.
  • Former NBA official and CBS analyst Mendy Rudolph died on July 4, 1979. All NBA referee shirts sport the No. 5 patch in his honor, and it was retired permanently.
  • Finishing 16–66, the Detroit Pistons suffer the worst NBA record since the infamous 1972–73 76ers won only nine games. In between, no team had won fewer than 22 in a season, but expansion and the availability of more-skilled players from overseas made such poor records more common in subsequent seasons.[2]
  • It was the final season for future hall of famers Rick Barry, Walt Frazier and Pete Maravich.


Coaching changes
Offseason
Team 1978–79 coach 1979–80 coach
Boston Celtics Dave Cowens Bill Fitch
Chicago Bulls Scotty Robertson Jerry Sloan
Cleveland Cavaliers Bill Fitch Stan Albeck
Houston Rockets Tom Nissalke Del Harris
Los Angeles Lakers Jerry West Paul Westhead
New Orleans/Utah Jazz Elgin Baylor Tom Nissalke
In-season
Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach
Detroit Pistons Dick Vitale Richie Adubato
Golden State Warriors Al Attles Johnny Bach
San Antonio Spurs Doug Moe Bob Bass

Final standings

By division
Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Boston Celtics 6121.744–35–626–1517–7
x-Philadelphia 76ers 5923.720236–523–1819–5
x-Washington Bullets 3943.4762224–1715–269–15
New York Knicks 3943.4762225–1614–278–16
New Jersey Nets 3448.4152722–1912–297–17
Central Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Atlanta Hawks 5032.610–32–918–2321–9
x-Houston Rockets 4141.500929–1212–2920–10
x-San Antonio Spurs 4141.500927–1414–2714–16
Cleveland Cavaliers 3745.4511328–139–3216–14
Indiana Pacers 3745.4511326–1511–3015–15
Detroit Pistons 1666.1953413–283–384–26
Midwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks 4933.598–28–1221–2115–9
x-Kansas City Kings 4735.573230–1117–2418–6
Chicago Bulls 3052.3661921–209–328–16
Denver Nuggets 3052.3661924–176–3510–14
Utah Jazz 2458.2932517–247–349–15
Pacific Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers 6022.732–37–423–1819–11
x-Seattle SuperSonics 5626.683433–823–1818–12
x-Phoenix Suns 5527.671537–518–2219–11
x-Portland Trail Blazers 3844.4632226–1512–2913–17
San Diego Clippers 3547.4272524–1711–3013–17
Golden State Warriors 2458.2933615–269–328–22

By conference
# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Boston Celtics6121.744–
2 y-Atlanta Hawks5032.61011
3 x-Philadelphia 76ers5923.7202
4 x-Houston Rockets4141.50020
5 x-San Antonio Spurs4141.50020
6 x-Washington Bullets3943.47622
7 New York Knicks3943.47622
8 Cleveland Cavaliers3745.45124
8 Indiana Pacers3745.45124
10 New Jersey Nets3448.41527
11 Detroit Pistons1666.19544


# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Los Angeles Lakers6022.732–
2 y-Milwaukee Bucks4933.59811
3 x-Seattle SuperSonics5626.6834
4 x-Phoenix Suns5527.6715
5 x-Kansas City Kings4735.57313
6 x-Portland Trail Blazers3844.46322
7 San Diego Clippers3547.42725
8 Chicago Bulls3052.36630
9 Denver Nuggets3052.36630
10 Utah Jazz2458.29336
11 Golden State Warriors2458.29336

Notes

  • z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs and first round bye
  • c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs and first round bye
  • y – Clinched division title and first round bye
  • x – Clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics.

  First Round Conference Semifinals Conference Finals NBA Finals
                                     
       
  1 Los Angeles 4  
    4 Phoenix 1  
4 Phoenix 2
5 Kansas City 1  
  1 Los Angeles 4  
Western Conference
  3 Seattle 1  
3 Seattle 2  
6 Portland 1  
  3 Seattle 4
    2 Milwaukee 3  
     
       
  W1 Los Angeles 4
  E3 Philadelphia 2
       
       
  1 Boston 4
    4 Houston 0  
4 Houston 2
5 San Antonio 1  
  1 Boston 1
Eastern Conference
  3 Philadelphia 4  
3 Philadelphia 2  
6 Washington 0  
  3 Philadelphia 4
    2 Atlanta 1  
     

Statistics leaders
CategoryPlayerTeamStat
Points per gameGeorge GervinSan Antonio Spurs33.1
Rebounds per gameSwen NaterSan Diego Clippers15.0
Assists per gameMicheal Ray RichardsonNew York Knicks10.1
Steals per gameMicheal Ray RichardsonNew York Knicks3.23
Blocks per gameKareem Abdul-JabbarLos Angeles Lakers3.41
FG%Cedric MaxwellBoston Celtics.609
FT%Rick BarryHouston Rockets.935
3FG%Fred BrownSeattle SuperSonics.443

NBA awards

Note: All information on this page were obtained on the History section on NBA.com

Players of the week
Week Player
Oct 12 – 21 Julius Erving (Philadelphia 76ers) (1/1)
Oct 22 – 28 Michael Ray Richardson (New York Knicks) (1/1)
Oct 29 – Nov 4 Marques Johnson (Milwaukee Bucks) (1/1)
Nov 5 – 11 Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers) (1/2)
Nov 12 – 18 Phil Ford (Kansas City Kings) (1/1)
Nov 19 – 25 Walter Davis (Phoenix Suns) (1/1)
Nov 26 – Dec 2 Adrian Dantley (Utah Jazz) (1/1)
Dec 3 – 9 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers) (1/2)
Dec 10 – 16 Dan Roundfield (Atlanta Hawks) (1/1)
Dec 17 – 23 Swen Nater (San Diego Clippers) (1/1)
Dec 24 – 30 Mike Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers) (1/1)
Dec 31 – Jan 6 Scott Wedman (Kansas City Kings) (1/1)
Jan 7 – 13 Greg Ballard (Washington Bullets) (1/1)
Jan 14 – 20 Dennis Johnson (Seattle SuperSonics) (1/1)
Jan 21 – 27 George Gervin (San Antonio Spurs) (1/1)
Feb 4 – 10 Rick Barry (Houston Rockets) (1/1)
Feb 11 – 17 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers) (2/2)
Feb 18 – 24 Calvin Natt (New Jersey Nets) (1/1)
Feb 25 – Mar 3 Larry Bird (Boston Celtics) (1/1)
Mar 4 – 10 Cliff Robinson (New Jersey Nets) (1/1)
Mar 11 – 17 Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers) (2/2)
Mar 18 – 24 Billy Ray Bates (Portland Trail Blazers) (1/1)
Mar 25 – 31 Kevin Grevey (Washington Bullets) (1/1)

Players of the month
Month Player
November Moses Malone (Houston Rockets) (1/1)
December Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers) (1/1)
January George Gervin (San Antonio Spurs) (1/1)
February Larry Bird (Boston Celtics) (1/1)
March Julius Erving (Philadelphia 76ers) (1/1)

References
  1. Serrano, Shea (2017). Basketball (and Other Things): A Collection of Questions Asked, Answered, Illustrated. New York: Harry N. Abrams. pp. Introduction. ISBN 1419726471.
  2. See Berri, David J., Brook, Stacey L., Frick, Bernd, Fenn, Aju J. and Vicente-Mayoral, Roberto; ‘The Short Supply of Tall People: Competitive Imbalance and the National Basketball Association’; Journal of Economic Issues, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Dec. 2005), pp. 1029–1041
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