1980 Overview
From Hoopedia
1979-80 NBA Season
They came into the league together, linked by their competitive nature and the meeting of their teams in the 1979 NCAA Championship Game. It was Larry Bird who got the big contract and the Rookie of the Year Award, but it was Magic Johnson who took home the ultimate prize.
“I’m asked a lot what was the greatest thing Earvin did,” his college coach, Michigan State’s Jud Heathcote, said. “Many say passing the ball, his great court sense, the fact that he could rebound. I say the greatest things Earvin did were intangible. He always made the guys he played with better. In summer pick-up games, Earvin would take three or four non-players, and he’d make those guys look so much better and they would win, not because he was making the baskets all by himself, but because he just made other players play better.”
He certainly did that for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his other Laker teammates. Johnson and Bird happened upon the league as it was going through critical changes. The NBA adopted the three-point field goal, a popular facet of the ABA game; The New Orleans Jazz moved to Salt Lake City and took the unlikely name of the Utah Jazz; and the league altered the schedule so teams faced rivals in their division more often than clubs from other divisions.
But the big story of the season was the arrival of the charismatic and talented rookies, each taking up residence on opposite coasts on the rosters of two of the NBA’s most successful and tradition-steeped franchises. The turnaround in Boston was dramatic. John Havlicek had retired after the 1977-78 season, and Boston tumbled to a 29-53 record in 1978-79. Along with Bird, the Celtics had an aging Dave Cowens and third-year forward Cedric Maxwell up front, with Tiny Archibald and Chris Ford in the backcourt. The team posted a remarkable 61-21 record, a 32-game improvement. But Philadelphia won 59 games and behind Julius Erving’s stellar play defeated the Celtics in five games to advance to the Finals.
In Los Angeles, Johnson’s enthusiasm seemed to rejuvenate Abdul-Jabbar, propelling the Lakers to 60 wins and a berth in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1973.
Abdul-Jabbar, who hadn’t won an NBA title since 1971 with Milwaukee, dominated the Finals as Johnson fed him the ball in the right spots in the first five games. But Abdul-Jabbar badly twisted an ankle in Game 5 and didn’t make the trip to Philadelphia for Game 6, staying home to rest the injury for the expected Game 7 in Los Angeles.
The Lakers, figuring they had nothing to lose with a 3-2 series lead, came out and played loose in the Spectrum. Jamaal Wilkes enjoyed one of the finest games of his career and finished with 37 points. But the newspapers the next day heralded the only headline possible: “It’s Magic!” Johnson filled in for Abdul-Jabbar as the starting center and eventually played every position on the court. He scored 42 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and dished seven assists as the Lakers wrapped up the title.
“It was amazing, just amazing,” said Julius Erving, who led Philly with 27 points. “Magic was outstanding, unreal,” agreed the Sixers’ Doug Collins, who was injured and watched from the sidelines. “I knew he was good, but I never realized he was great.”
Johnson, the hands-down choice as series MVP, was asked how they had won without their center. “Without Kareem, we couldn’t play the halfcourt and think defensively. We had to play the full court and take our chances.”
In other words, play Johnson’s kind of game. “What position did I play?” he said afterward. “Well, I played center, a little forward, some guard. I tried to think up a name for it, but the best I could come up with was CFG-Rover.”
Center-forward-guard-rover. In other words, all over the court.
