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.

[edit] Notable occurrences

The NBA officially adopts the three-point field goal.
The Jazz relocate from New Orleans, Louisiana to Salt Lake City, Utah and move from the Central Division to the Midwest Division (with the Detroit Pistons replacing them).
The NBA All-Star Game was played at the Capital Centre in Washington, DC, 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 79-80 NBA season is considered by many, to be the birth of the modern game.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 in the event another superstar wanted to emulate Dawkins' dunks.

C - NBA Champions

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

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 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

v • d • e National Basketball Association seasons
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Also this year: 1979 Draft \| 1980 Playoffs \| 1980 Finals \| 1980 in sports

v • d • e

1979–80 NBA season by team

1979 NBA Draft • All-Star Game • Playoffs • Finals • Transactions

Atlantic	Boston • New Jersey • New York • Philadelphia • Washington

Central	Atlanta • Cleveland • Detroit • Houston • Indiana • San Antonio

Midwest	Chicago • Denver • Kansas City • Milwaukee • Utah

Pacific	Golden State • Los Angeles • Phoenix • Portland • San Diego • Seattle