1979-80 NBA Finals

Result

Games

Finals MVP

Magic Johnson. Johnson, a 20-year-old rookie, was named Finals MVP after starting at center in Game 6 in place of the injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and recording 42 points, 15 rebounds, and 7 assists to clinch the title.

Series context

The 1979-80 NBA Finals paired the Los Angeles Lakers, in Magic Johnson's rookie season alongside veteran center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, against the Philadelphia 76ers, led by Julius Erving, Darryl Dawkins, and Bobby Jones under coach Billy Cunningham. Los Angeles won Game 1 at home, 109-102, behind 33 points and 14 rebounds from Abdul-Jabbar and a strong all-around debut from Johnson. Philadelphia evened the series in Game 2, winning 107-104 after rallying from a big deficit, with Bobby Jones hitting the decisive jumper. The Lakers retook control with a 111-101 Game 3 win, another huge game from Abdul-Jabbar, in a contest also notable for Julius Erving making the first three-point field goal in NBA Finals history. Philadelphia won Game 4, 105-102, a game remembered for Erving's iconic reverse layup around the backboard, sometimes called simply "The Move." Game 5 in Los Angeles produced a signature moment of toughness: Abdul-Jabbar severely sprained his ankle in the third quarter but returned to finish with 40 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter, as the Lakers won 108-103 to take a 3-2 series lead. Abdul-Jabbar's ankle was too swollen for him to play in Game 6 in Philadelphia, and rather than start a traditional backup center, coach Paul Westhead moved the 6'9" rookie point guard Magic Johnson to center for the tip-off. Johnson played all five positions over the course of the game, finishing with 42 points, 15 rebounds, and 7 assists, while Jamaal Wilkes added a career-high 37 points and 10 rebounds. The Lakers won 123-107 to clinch the championship, and Johnson was named Finals MVP. This series is one of the most celebrated in NBA history, both for the drama of Abdul-Jabbar's injury and for Johnson's audacious, position-defying Game 6 performance, which is still regularly cited as one of the greatest single games in Finals history and helped launch the Lakers' "Showtime" era that would dominate the following decade. It also marked the end of the physical, low-scoring style associated with the late-1970s league and the beginning of a new period of national popularity driven by the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird rivalry, which had begun that same season when both entered the league as rookies. Both teams arrived with strong regular-season resumes, the Lakers going 60-22 and the 76ers 59-23, and each advanced through the playoffs by beating a total of three opponents, with Philadelphia sweeping Washington in two games before eliminating Atlanta and Boston. The Finals also carried a notable television footnote typical of the era: CBS tape-delayed nine of the seventeen total playoff broadcasts that postseason, and Game 6 itself aired at 11:30 p.m. Eastern in most of the country, preempted in many markets by prime-time reruns, with live coverage limited to a handful of cities including Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Julius Erving's Game 4 reverse layup, in which he glided baseline, extended the ball behind the backboard, and scored while absorbing contact from Mark Landsberger, has endured as one of the most replayed individual moves in Finals history despite Philadelphia's loss. The championship was the Lakers' first since 1972 and owner Jerry Buss's first as owner, having purchased the team only months earlier, while for Philadelphia the defeat extended a run of Finals near-misses that would not be resolved until the 76ers, with a retooled roster around Moses Malone, finally won the title in 1983.

Sources

• Wikipedia - 1980 NBA Finals
• Basketball-Reference - Finals MVP Award
• Forbes - There Was Once A Time When TV Networks Tape Delayed The NBA Finals