NBA
1979-80 Season
Champions: Los Angeles Lakers (4-2)
Full 1979-80 playoff bracket →
The 1979-80 NBA season featured 22 teams across 950 recorded games. Boston Celtics posted the league's best record at 61-21. Los Angeles Lakers won the championship, defeating Philadelphia 76ers 4-2 in the Finals. Magic Johnson was named Finals MVP; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar took the regular-season MVP award.
Final Standings
Eastern Conference
- Boston Celtics 61-21 0.744
- Philadelphia 76ers 59-23 0.720
- Atlanta Hawks 50-32 0.610
- Houston Rockets 41-41 0.500
- San Antonio Spurs 41-41 0.500
- New York Knicks 39-43 0.476
- Washington Bullets 39-43 0.476
- Cleveland Cavaliers 37-45 0.451
- Indiana Pacers 37-45 0.451
- New Jersey Nets 34-48 0.415
- Detroit Pistons 16-66 0.195
Western Conference
- Los Angeles Lakers 🏆 60-22 0.732
- Seattle SuperSonics 56-26 0.683
- Phoenix Suns 55-27 0.671
- Milwaukee Bucks 49-33 0.598
- Kansas City Kings 47-35 0.573
- Portland Trail Blazers 38-44 0.463
- San Diego Clippers 35-47 0.427
- Chicago Bulls 30-52 0.366
- Denver Nuggets 30-52 0.366
- Golden State Warriors 24-58 0.293
- Utah Jazz 24-58 0.293
Season Leaders
Scoring
- 1 George Gervin SAS 33.1 PPG
- 2 World B. SDC 30.2 PPG
- 3 Adrian Dantley UTA 28.0 PPG
- 4 Julius Erving PHI 26.9 PPG
- 5 Moses Malone HOU 25.8 PPG
Rebounding
- 1 Swen Nater SDC 15.0 RPG
- 2 Moses Malone HOU 14.5 RPG
- 3 Wes Unseld WSB 13.3 RPG
- 4 Caldwell Jones PHI 11.9 RPG
- 5 Jack Sikma SEA 11.1 RPG
Assists
- 1 Micheal Ray Richardson NYK 10.1 APG
- 2 Nate Archibald BOS 8.4 APG
- 3 Foots Walker CLE 8.0 APG
- 4 Norm Nixon LAL 7.8 APG
- 5 John Lucas GSW 7.5 APG
1979 Draft — Top Picks
- #1 Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers
- #2 David Greenwood Chicago Bulls
- #3 Bill Cartwright New York Knicks