1979–80 NBA season

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1979–80 NBA season
League National Basketball Association
Sport Basketball
Duration Oct 12, 1979 – Mar 30, 1980
Apr 2–30, 1980 (Playoffs)
May 4–16, 1980 (Finals)
Number of teams 22
TV partner(s) CBS, USA
Draft
Top draft pick Magic Johnson
Picked by Los Angeles Lakers
Regular season
Season MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles)
Top scorer George Gervin (San Antonio)
Playoffs
Eastern champions Philadelphia 76ers
  Eastern runners-up Boston Celtics
Western champions Los Angeles Lakers
  Western runners-up Seattle SuperSonics
Finals
Champions Los Angeles Lakers
  Runners-up Philadelphia 76ers
Finals MVP Magic Johnson (Los Angeles)
NBA seasons

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.

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 3-year, 1.5 million dollar deal.
  • Magic Johnson and Larry Bird's rookie season, the 1979–80 NBA season is considered, by many, to be the birth of the modern game.[citation needed] Playing an up tempo style, the NBA appealed to a wider audience.
  • 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.

Final standings

By division

Atlantic Division
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Boston Celtics 61 21 .744 – 35–6 26–15 17–7
x-Philadelphia 76ers 59 23 .720 2 36–5 23–18 19–5
x-Washington Bullets 39 43 .476 22 24–17 15–26 9–15
New York Knicks 39 43 .476 22 25–16 14–27 8–16
New Jersey Nets 34 48 .415 27 22–19 12–29 7–17


Central Division
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Atlanta Hawks 50 32 .610 – 32–9 18–23 21–9
x-Houston Rockets 41 41 .500 9 29–12 12–29 20–10
x-San Antonio Spurs 41 41 .500 9 27–14 14–27 14–16
Cleveland Cavaliers 37 45 .451 13 28–13 9–32 16–14
Indiana Pacers 37 45 .451 13 26–15 11–30 15–15
Detroit Pistons 16 66 .195 34 13–28 3–38 4–26
Midwest Division
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks 49 33 .598 – 28–12 21–21 15–9
x-Kansas City Kings 47 35 .573 2 30–11 17–24 18–6
Chicago Bulls 30 52 .366 19 21–20 9–32 8–16
Denver Nuggets 30 52 .366 19 24–17 6–35 10–14
Utah Jazz 24 58 .293 25 17–24 7–34 9–15
Pacific Division
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers 60 22 .732 – 37–4 23–18 19–11
x-Seattle SuperSonics 56 26 .683 4 33–8 23–18 18–12
x-Phoenix Suns 55 27 .671 5 37–5 18–22 19–11
x-Portland Trail Blazers 38 44 .463 22 26–15 12–29 13–17
San Diego Clippers 35 47 .427 25 24–17 11–30 13–17
Golden State Warriors 24 58 .293 36 15–26 9–32 8–22

By conference

# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Boston Celtics 61 21 .744 –
2 y-Atlanta Hawks 50 32 .610 11
3 x-Philadelphia 76ers 59 23 .720 2
4 x-Houston Rockets 41 41 .500 20
5 x-San Antonio Spurs 41 41 .500 20
6 x-Washington Bullets 39 43 .476 22
7 New York Knicks 39 43 .476 22
8 Cleveland Cavaliers 37 45 .451 24
8 Indiana Pacers 37 45 .451 24
10 New Jersey Nets 34 48 .415 27
11 Detroit Pistons 16 66 .195 44


# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Los Angeles Lakers 60 22 .732 –
2 y-Milwaukee Bucks 49 33 .598 11
3 x-Seattle SuperSonics 56 26 .683 4
4 x-Phoenix Suns 55 27 .671 5
5 x-Kansas City Kings 47 35 .573 13
6 x-Portland Trail Blazers 38 44 .463 22
7 San Diego Clippers 35 47 .427 25
8 Chicago Bulls 30 52 .366 30
9 Denver Nuggets 30 52 .366 30
10 Utah Jazz 24 58 .293 36
11 Golden State Warriors 24 58 .293 36

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.

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Main article: 1980 NBA Playoffs
  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

Category Player Team Stat
Points per game George Gervin San Antonio Spurs 33.1
Rebounds per game Swen Nater San Diego Clippers 15.0
Assists per game Micheal Ray Richardson New York Knicks 10.1
Steals per game Micheal Ray Richardson New York Knicks 3.23
Blocks per game Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Los Angeles Lakers 3.41
FG% Cedric Maxwell Boston Celtics .609
FT% Rick Barry Houston Rockets .935
3FG% Fred Brown Seattle 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 – Oct. 21 Julius Erving (Philadelphia 76ers) (1/1)
Oct. 22 – Oct. 28 Michael Ray Richardson (New York Knicks) (1/1)
Oct. 29 – Nov. 04 Marques Johnson (Milwaukee Bucks) (1/1)
Nov. 5 – Nov. 11 Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers) (1/2)
Nov. 12 – Nov. 18 Phil Ford (Kansas City Kings) (1/1)
Nov. 19 – Nov. 25 Walter Davis (Phoenix Suns) (1/1)
Nov. 26 – Dec. 02 Adrian Dantley (Utah Jazz) (1/1)
Dec. 03 – Dec. 09 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers) (1/2)
Dec. 10 – Dec. 16 Dan Roundfield (Atlanta Hawks) (1/1)
Dec. 17 – Dec. 23 Swen Nater (San Diego Clippers) (1/1)
Dec. 24 – Dec. 30 Mike Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers) (1/1)
Dec. 31 – Jan. 06 Scott Wedman (Kansas City Kings) (1/1)
Jan. 07 – Jan. 13 Greg Ballard (Washington Bullets) (1/1)
Jan. 14 – Jan. 20 Dennis Johnson (Seattle SuperSonics) (1/1)
Jan. 21 – Jan. 27 George Gervin (San Antonio Spurs) (1/1)
Feb. 04 – Feb. 10 Rick Barry (Houston Rockets) (1/1)
Feb. 11 – Feb. 17 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers) (2/2)
Feb. 18 – Feb. 24 Calvin Natt (New Jersey Nets) (1/1)
Feb. 25 – Mar. 03 Larry Bird (Boston Celtics) (1/1)
Mar. 04 – Mar. 10 Cliff Robinson (New Jersey Nets) (1/1)
Mar. 11 – Mar. 17 Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers) (2/2)
Mar. 18 – Mar. 24 Billy Ray Bates (Portland Trail Blazers) (1/1)
Mar. 25 – Mar. 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

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