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)
TV partner/s	CBS, USA
Draft
Top draft pick	Magic Johnson
Picked by	Los Angeles Lakers
Regular season
Season MVP	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (L.A. Lakers)
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
Finals champions	Los Angeles Lakers
Runners-up	Philadelphia 76ers
Finals MVP	Magic Johnson (L.A. Lakers)
NBA seasons
← 1978–79	1980–81 →

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.
• 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 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 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	z-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
8	Denver Nuggets	30	52	.366	30
10	Utah Jazz	24	58	.293	36
10	Golden State Warriors	24	58	.293	36

Notes

• z, y – division champions
• 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.

Main article: 1980 NBA Playoffs

	First Round					Conference Semifinals					Conference Finals					NBA Finals
						1	L.A. Lakers	4
						4	Phoenix	1
	4	Phoenix	2
	5	Kansas City	1
											1	L.A. Lakers	4
	Western Conference
										3	Seattle	1
	3	Seattle	2
	6	Portland	1
						3	Seattle	4
						2	Milwaukee	3
																W1	L.A. Lakers	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	3.2
Blocks per game	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Los Angeles Lakers	3.4
FG%	Cedric Maxwell	Boston Celtics	60.9
FT%	Rick Barry	Houston Rockets	93.5
3FG%	Fred Brown	Seattle SuperSonics	44.3

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:
  • Paul Westphal, Phoenix Suns
  • George Gervin, San Antonio Spurs
  • Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers
  • Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
• All-NBA Rookie Team:
  • Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
  • Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
  • Bill Cartwright, New York Knicks
  • David Greenwood, Chicago Bulls
  • Calvin Natt, Portland Trail Blazers
• 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:
  • Scott Wedman, Kansas City Kings
  • Kermit Washington, Portland Trail Blazers
  • Dave Cowens, Boston Celtics
  • Quinn Buckner, Milwaukee Bucks
  • Eddie Johnson, Atlanta Hawks

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