1968-69 NBA Season Standings

The Boston Celtics, in Bill Russell's final season as player-coach, upset the Los Angeles Lakers 4-3 in the Finals to win Russell's eleventh and final championship as a player, capping arguably the greatest individual championship résumé in North American professional sports history. Boston finished a distant fourth in the East during the regular season yet still found a way to beat a stacked Lakers roster featuring Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor in the postseason. The Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks joined as expansion teams this season, bringing the league to 14 teams, with four playoff spots awarded per division under the format in place at the time. Milwaukee's rookie center Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) immediately made the Bucks competitive in just their first year of existence.