1979–80 NBA season

1979–80 NBA season
League	National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Duration	October 12, 1979 – March 30, 1980; April 2 – 30, 1980 (Playoffs); May 4 – 16, 1980 (Finals);
Number of games	82
Number of teams	22
TV partner(s)	CBS, USA
Draft
Top draft pick	Magic Johnson
Picked by	Los Angeles Lakers
Regular season
Top seed	Boston Celtics
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)

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 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	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.

First Round

Conference Semifinals

Conference Finals

NBA Finals

E4

Houston

2

E1

Boston*

4

E5

San Antonio

1

E4

Houston

0

E1

Boston*

1

Eastern Conference

E3

Philadelphia

4

E3

Philadelphia

2

E3

Philadelphia

4

E6

Washington

0

E2

Atlanta*

1

E3

Philadelphia

2

W1

Los Angeles*

4

W4

Phoenix

2

W1

Los Angeles*

4

W5

Kansas City

1

W4

Phoenix

1

W1

Los Angeles*

4

Western Conference

W3

Seattle

1

W3

Seattle

2

W3

Seattle

4

W6

Portland

1

W2

Milwaukee*

3

* Division winner
Bold Series winner
Italic Team with home-court advantage

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

Most Valuable Player: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
Rookie of the Year: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
Coach of the Year: Bill Fitch, Boston Celtics
All-NBA First Team:
All-NBA Second Team:
- Dan Roundfield, Atlanta Hawks
- Marques Johnson, Milwaukee Bucks
- Moses Malone, Houston Rockets
- Dennis Johnson, Seattle SuperSonics
- Gus Williams, Seattle SuperSonics
All-NBA Rookie Team:
NBA All-Defensive First Team:
- Bobby Jones, Philadelphia 76ers
- Dan Roundfield, Atlanta Hawks
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
- Dennis Johnson, Seattle SuperSonics
- Don Buse, Phoenix Suns (tie)
- Micheal Ray Richardson, New York Knicks (tie)
NBA All-Defensive Second Team:

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)

Notables

First games

The following is a list of notable players who played their first NBA game during the 1979–80 season, listed with their first team.

*	Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

Player	Team	Notability
Magic Johnson*	Los Angeles Lakers	First overall pick in the 1979 Draft 12-time NBA All-Star 10-time All-NBA Team Three-time NBA MVP Three-time NBA Finals MVP Two-time NBA All-Star Game MVP Five-time NBA champion 1979–80 All-Rookie Team
Larry Bird*	Boston Celtics	1979–80 NBA Rookie of the Year winner 12-time NBA All-Star 10-time All-NBA Team Two-time All-Defensive Team Three-time NBA MVP Two-time NBA Finals MVP One-time NBA All-Star Game MVP Three-time NBA champion 1979–80 All-Rookie Team One-time Coach of the Year (coach) One-time Executive of the Year (executive)
Sidney Moncrief*	Milwaukee Bucks	Five-time NBA All-Star Five-time All-NBA Team Five-time All-Defensive Team Two-time Defensive Player of the Year
Jim Paxson	Portland Trail Blazers	Two-time NBA All-Star One-time All-NBA Team
Bill Cartwright	New York Knicks	One-time NBA All-Star Three-time NBA champion 1979–80 All-Rookie Team
Calvin Natt	Portland Trail Blazers	One-time NBA All-Star 1979–80 All-Rookie Team
David Greenwood	Chicago Bulls	One-time NBA champion 1979–80 All-Rookie Team

Last games

Player	Team	Notability
Rick Barry*	Houston Rockets	1965–66 NBA Rookie of the Year winner 12-time NBA All-Star Six-time All-NBA Team One-time NBA Finals MVP One-time NBA All-Star Game MVP One-time NBA champion 1965–66 All-Rookie Team
Don Chaney	Boston Celtics	Five-time All-Defensive Team Two-time NBA champion One-time Coach of the Year (as coach)
Walt Frazier*	Cleveland Cavaliers	Seven-time NBA All-Star Six-time All-NBA Team Seven-time All-Defensive Team One-time NBA All-Star Game MVP Two-time NBA champion 1967–68 All-Rookie Team
Phil Jackson*^[a]	New Jersey Nets	Two-time NBA champion (as player) 1967–68 All-Rookie Team 11-time NBA champion (as coach) One-time Coach of the Year (as coach)
Pete Maravich*	Boston Celtics	Five-time NBA All-Star Four-time All-NBA Team 1970–71 All-Rookie Team
Earl Monroe*	New York Knicks	1967–68 NBA Rookie of the Year winner Four-time NBA All-Star One-time All-NBA Team One-time NBA champion 1967–68 All-Rookie Team
Charlie Scott*	Denver Nuggets	Three-time NBA All-Star One-time NBA champion
Paul Silas	Seattle SuperSonics	Two-time NBA All-Star Five-time All-Defensive Team Three-time NBA champion

Notes

^a Inducted into the Hall of Fame as a coach.

References

Serrano, Shea (2017). Basketball (and Other Things): A Collection of Questions Asked, Answered, Illustrated. New York: Harry N. Abrams. pp. Introduction. ISBN 1419726471.
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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[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

[a]