# 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.

## Notable occurrences

* An unbalanced schedule is adopted. Teams play each of the other 10 teams within their own conference six times, and the 11 teams from the opposite conference twice each.
* 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.
* 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.
* It was the final season for future hall of famers Rick Barry, Walt Frazier and Pete Maravich.
* Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won MVP for the sixth time in his career, which remains the league's record-best.
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 | Jack McKinney |
| 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 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | Jack McKinney | Paul Westhead |

## Teams

1979-80 National Basketball Association :
| Eastern Conference |||||
| Division | Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
| Atlantic | Boston Celtics | Boston, Massachusetts | Boston Garden | 13,909 |
| Atlantic | New Jersey Nets | Piscataway, New Jersey | Rutgers Athletic Center | 8,500 |
| Atlantic | New York Knicks | New York, New York | Madison Square Garden | 19,812 |
| Atlantic | Philadelphia 76ers | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | The Spectrum | 18,176 |
| Atlantic | Washington Bullets | Landover, Maryland | Capital Centre | 18,756 |
| Central | Atlanta Hawks | Atlanta, Georgia | Omni Coliseum | 16,378 |
| Central | Cleveland Cavaliers | Richfield, Ohio | Richfield Coliseum | 20,900 |
| Central | Detroit Pistons | Pontiac, Michigan | Pontiac Silverdome | 33,000 |
| Central | Houston Rockets | Houston, Texas | The Summit | 16,285 |
| Central | Indiana Pacers | Indianapolis, Indiana | Market Square Arena | 17,171 |
| Central | San Antonio Spurs | San Antonio, Texas | HemisFair Arena | 16,057 |
| Western Conference |||||
| Midwest | Chicago Bulls | Chicago, Illinois | Chicago Stadium | 18,676 |
| Midwest | Denver Nuggets | Denver, Colorado | McNichols Sports Arena | 17,171 |
| Midwest | Kansas City Kings | Kansas City, Missouri | Kemper Arena | 16,700 |
| Midwest | Milwaukee Bucks | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | MECCA Arena | 10,783 |
| Midwest | Utah Jazz | Salt Lake City, Utah | Salt Palace | 12,686 |
| Pacific | Golden State Warriors | Oakland, California | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena | 13,237 |
| Pacific | Los Angeles Lakers | Inglewood, California | The Forum | 17,505 |
| Pacific | Phoenix Suns | Phoenix, Arizona | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum | 14,870 |
| Pacific | Portland Trail Blazers | Portland, Oregon | Memorial Coliseum | 12,888 |
| Pacific | San Diego Clippers | San Diego, California | San Diego Sports Arena | 14,500 |
| Pacific | Seattle SuperSonics | Seattle, Washington | Kingdome | 59,166 |

## Final standings
### By division

| Atlantic Divisionvte | 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 Divisionvte | 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 Divisionvte | 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 Divisionvte | 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 Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte |
| # | 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 Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte |
| # | 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 | First Round | First Round | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Finals | Conference Finals | Conference Finals | NBA Finals | NBA Finals | NBA Finals |
| | | | E1 | Boston* | 4 | | | | | | |
| E4 | Houston | 2 | E4 | Houston | 0 | | | | | | |
| E5 | San Antonio | 1 | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E1 | Boston* | 1 | | | |
| | | | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E3 | Philadelphia | 4 | | | |
| | | | E3 | Philadelphia | 4 | | | | | | |
| E3 | Philadelphia | 2 | E2 | Atlanta* | 1 | | | | | | |
| E6 | Washington | 0 | | | | | | | E3 | Philadelphia | 2 |
| | | | | | | | | | W1 | Los Angeles* | 4 |
| | | | W1 | Los Angeles* | 4 | | | | | | |
| W4 | Phoenix | 2 | W4 | Phoenix | 1 | | | | | | |
| W5 | Kansas City | 1 | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W1 | Los Angeles* | 4 | | | |
| | | | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W3 | Seattle | 1 | | | |
| | | | W3 | Seattle | 4 | | | | | | |
| W3 | Seattle | 2 | W2 | Milwaukee* | 3 | | | | | | |
| W6 | Portland | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
* * 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

### 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) |