1975–76 NBA season

1975–76 NBA season
League	National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
TV partner/s	CBS
Regular season
Season MVP	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (L.A. Lakers)
Top scorer	Bob McAdoo (Buffalo)
Playoffs
Eastern champions	Boston Celtics
Eastern runners-up	Cleveland Cavaliers
Western champions	Phoenix Suns
Western runners-up	Golden State Warriors
Finals
Finals champions	Boston Celtics
Runners-up	Phoenix Suns
Finals MVP	Jo Jo White (Boston)
NBA seasons
← 1974–75	1976–77 →

The 1975–76 NBA season was the 30th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Phoenix Suns 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.

Contents 1 Notable occurrences 2 Final standings 2.1 By division 2.2 By conference 3 Statistics leaders 4 NBA awards 5 See also

Notable occurrences

• Larry O'Brien begins his tenure as the league's third commissioner.
• The 1976 NBA All-Star Game was played at The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with the East beating the West 123–109. Dave Bing of the Washington Bullets wins the game's MVP award.
• The Kansas City-Omaha Kings are renamed the Kansas City Kings as they settle into a permanent home in Kansas City, Missouri.
• Arguably the greatest NBA game ever played occurred in Game 5 of the NBA Finals when the Celtics and the Suns went into triple-overtime before the Celtics prevailed 128-126. 17 years later, the Suns would be involved in another triple-overtime Finals game.
• This was the final season before the NBA-ABA merger.

Final standings

By division

Atlantic Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Boston Celtics	54	28	.659	–	31–10	23–18	13–8
x-Buffalo Braves	46	36	.561	8	28–14	18–22	10–11
xPhiladelphia 76ers	46	36	.561	8	34–7	12–29	9–12
New York Knicks	38	44	.463	16	24–17	14–27	10–11

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Cleveland Cavaliers	49	33	.598	–	29–12	20–21	15–11
x-Washington Bullets	48	34	.585	1	31–10	17–24	14–12
Houston Rockets	40	42	.488	9	27–13	13–29	14–12
New Orleans Jazz	38	44	.463	11	22–19	16–25	15–11
Atlanta Hawks	29	53	.354	20	20–21	9–32	7–19

Midwest Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks	38	44	.463	–	22–19	16–25	13–8
x-Detroit Pistons	36	46	.439	2	24–17	12–29	12–9
Kansas City Kings	31	51	.378	7	25–16	6–35	10–11
Chicago Bulls	24	58	.293	14	15–26	9–32	7–14

Pacific Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Golden State Warriors	59	23	.720	–	36–5	23–18	17–9
x-Seattle SuperSonics	43	39	.524	16	31–10	12–29	12–14
x-Phoenix Suns	42	40	.512	17	27-14	15-26	15–11
Los Angeles Lakers	40	42	.488	19	31–11	9–31	10–16
Portland Trail Blazers	37	45	.451	22	25–15	12–30	11–15

By conference

#	Eastern Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Boston Celtics	54	28	.659	–
2	y-Cleveland Cavaliers	49	33	.598	5
3	x-Washington Bullets	48	34	.585	6
4	x-Buffalo Braves	46	36	.561	8
4	x-Philadelphia 76ers	46	36	.561	8
6	Houston Rockets	40	42	.488	14
7	New York Knicks	38	44	.463	16
7	New Orleans Jazz	38	44	.463	16
9	Atlanta Hawks	29	53	.354	25

#	Western Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Golden State Warriors	59	23	.720	–
2	y-Milwaukee Bucks	38	44	.463	21
3	x-Seattle SuperSonics	43	39	.524	16
4	x-Phoenix Suns	42	40	.512	17
5	x-Detroit Pistons	36	46	.439	23
6	Los Angeles Lakers	40	42	.488	19
7	Portland Trail Blazers	37	45	.451	22
8	Kansas City Kings	31	51	.378	28
9	Chicago Bulls	24	58	.293	35

Notes

• z, y – division champions
• x – clinched playoff spot

Statistics leaders

Category	Player	Team	Stat
Points per game	Bob McAdoo	Buffalo Braves	31.1
Rebounds per game	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Los Angeles Lakers	16.9
Assists per game	Slick Watts	Seattle SuperSonics	8.1
Steals per game	Slick Watts	Seattle SuperSonics	3.2
Blocks per game	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Los Angeles Lakers	4.1
FG%	Wes Unseld	Washington Bullets	.561
FT%	Rick Barry	Golden State Warriors	.923

NBA awards

• Most Valuable Player: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
• Rookie of the Year: Alvan Adams, Phoenix Suns
• Coach of the Year: Bill Fitch, Cleveland Cavaliers
• All-NBA First Team:
  • Rick Barry, Golden State Warriors
  • George McGinnis, Philadelphia 76ers
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
  • Nate Archibald, Kansas City Kings
  • Pete Maravich, New Orleans Jazz
• All-NBA Rookie Team:
  • Joe Meriweather, Houston Rockets
  • Alvan Adams, Phoenix Suns
  • Lionel Hollins, Portland Trail Blazers
  • John Shumate, Phoenix Suns/Buffalo Braves
  • Gus Williams, Golden State Warriors
• NBA All-Defensive First Team:
  • Paul Silas, Boston Celtics
  • John Havlicek, Boston Celtics
  • Dave Cowens, Boston Celtics
  • Norm Van Lier, Chicago Bulls
  • Slick Watts, Seattle SuperSonics
• NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
  • Jim Brewer, Cleveland Cavaliers
  • Jamaal Wilkes, Golden State Warriors
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
  • Jim Cleamons, Cleveland Cavaliers
  • Phil Smith, Golden State Warriors

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

See also

NBA seasons Also this year: 1975 Draft • 1976 Playoffs • 1976 Finals  • 1976 All-Star Game 1940s 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1950s 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1960s 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1970s 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1980s 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1990s 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 2000s 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2010s 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12

1975–76 NBA season by team 1975 NBA Draft • All-Star Game • Playoffs • Finals • Transactions Eastern Atlantic Boston • Buffalo • New York • Philadelphia Central Atlanta • Cleveland • Houston • New Orleans • Washington Western Midwest Chicago • Detroit • Kansas City • Milwaukee Pacific Golden State • Los Angeles • Phoenix • Portland • Seattle