The NBA History: The 1979-80 NBA Season: That Magic Season

Source:The Daily Review

Pre-1980 the Los Angeles Lakers hadn’t even been to the NBA Finals since their last NBA Championship in 1972. They got to the Western Conference Finals, but lost to the Seattle Sonics. As great as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was who is the greatest center of all-time if not the greatest player of all-time, the Lakers needed another great player to complement Kareem. Jamal Wilkes, was a very good player and even an all-star caliber player, but he wasn’t a great dominant franchise player. And that is what General Manager Jerry West and the Lakers went after during the 1979 offseason after again being eliminated by the Sonics. That other great player that would complement Kareem and make the Lakers champions again.

Not sure how the Lakers who were 47-35 and had the fifth best record in the Western Conference in 1979 were able to get the number one draft pick in 1979, but that is how they got that great franchise caliber player who could complement Kareem. Drafting Magic Johnson in 1979 was like making a trade for a great franchise player whose in the prime of his career, but perhaps now stuck playing for bad teams. Or making a great free agent signing of the best player in the game that puts you on top for winning the championship. Magic didn’t revitalize, or rebuild the Lakers. What he did was go to an already a pretty good team that was already a Western Conference contender and made them an NBA Championship caliber team.

So when the Lakers met the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1980 NBA Finals it was a Finals between two very good if not great teams. The Lakers had Kareem, Magic, Jamal Wilkes and a whole host of great role players like Michael Cooper and Jim Chones. The 76ers had Julius Erving, arguably the best all around player in the game at this point. But they didn’t have a great big man, or even an all-star big man who could deal with Kareem and make Kareem work on defense and keep him honest, Darryl Dawkins was a great talent and at times a very good player, but not very consistent. Caldwell Jones was a very good defensive big man and rebounder, but an occasional scorer. Which left the 76ers with Dr. J and a whole host of role players. Going up against a team that had perhaps the two best players in the league, at least in the NBA Finals in Kareem and Magic.

ESPN 30 For 30: Without Bias

Source:Real Life Journal 

I was ten years old in June 1986 in San Jose, California I believe at my uncle Stan's house with aunt Susan. My dad took me and my two brothers out to the Bay Area to visit his side of the family, our grandparents, uncle Stan, aunt Susan and everybody. And sometime early that day one of my brothers runs in tells me that Len Bias had died. I started watching college basketball, the Maryland Terrapins and Georgetown Hoyas especially growing up in the Washington area starting in 1984 or 1985. I was a sports junky by the time I was 7-8 years old, so I already knew who Len Bias was, the best college basketball player in America.

A very bright person from a very good family playing for a great head coach in Lefty Drizell at Maryland at a great school. And Len Bias had just got drafted by the Boston Celtics the New York Yankees of the National Basketball Association and the defending NBA Finals Champions with arguably the best player in the league at the time and all-time in Larry Legend Bird. They had the best player in the NBA arguably who was the best player in 1986, this was Larry Bird at his best and most dominant.

And they had just drafted the best player in college basketball and a player that was very similar to Michael Jordan in skills and style of play. But Bias at this point of his career was better, he could play both forward Positions and play the off-guard and maybe point guard as well. Actually similar to Lebron James or even Earvin Magic Johnson as far as versatility and size. 6'8 220 all muscle best player in college basketball being drafted by the best team in the world, Len Bias was set for life.

If you're the Boston Celtics, Red Auerbach and company in 1986, going into 1987 you're thinking you're the best club in pro basketball. You just made your club a lot better by drafting the best player in college basketball going into 1987. You draft Reggie Lewis in 1987, you still have Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson. I mean Bill Walton is your backup center for crying out loud. If Big Red stays healthy maybe he's the best center of all time, the only thing problem or lets call it and issue.

That's head coach KC Jones has to face who was a great head coach and should be in the Hall of Fame. "Where do I play Len Bias", because you already have the best front line in basketball with Bird, McHale, and Parish all three of them in the Hall of Fame by the way. "Where do I play Bias, is he my sixth man, do I use McHale as the sixth man again like in the early 1980s". 

Where should KC Jones play Bias, at the off- guard with Dennis Johnson what a problem to have. The 1987 Lakers were a great team and I believe the best ever, but imagine the 87 Celtics if Bias doesn't die and Kevin McHale doesn't break his foot then. Imagine the Celtics a few years later had Larry Bird not broken his foot in 1988 and missed the 89 season and Reggie Lewis not die in 1993. 

The Celtics front line would've moved on anyway where Len Bias and Reggie Lewis had lived to play their whole careers or not, but they would've had 4-5 seasons with arguably the greatest front line in NBA history. And then throw in Brian Shaw as the point guard who took over for Dennis Johnson. Plus Kevin Gamble and Dee Brown off the bench, with Ed Pickney even after Bird, Mchale and Parish you're still talking about a great team, with Len Bias, Reggie Lewis and company. And maybe the Boston Celtics are the team of the 1990s or right there with the Chicago Bulls instead of becoming an annual lottery team in that decade.

HBO Films: The History of the ABA

Source:Real Life Journal

The old American Basketball Association is not that different then the old American Football League. The National Basketball Association had around 16-18 clubs, in a country at the time of around 200M people. The National Football League in 1959 had twelve clubs in a country of around 150M people. One of the reasons why the AFL was able to establish itself because there were more cities that wanted pro football clubs than the NFL was willing to respond to. Similar situation as the ABA they knew there were cities ready for major league basketball clubs, that weren't in the NBA. Like Richmond, Lexington, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Houston, San Antonio, Denver, San Diego and others.

And the ABA had the management and financing and believed with the NBA which wasn't a very popular league yet still trailing the NFL and MLB in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  That they believed they could attract the management, coaches and players to play in their league by paying their players more and giving them more playing time up front. Because in the NBA some draft picks they were told that they would have a chance to make the team. But the ABA were telling potential draft picks that they would make the team and play. And thats how they lured so many players to the ABA. Players like Julius Erving arguably the best all around player in pro basketball in the 1970s, George Gervin who's in the Hall of Fame, Artis Gilmore, Rick Barry who are also in the Hall of Fame. And many others including head coaches like Larry Brown who's also in the Hall of Fame.

The ABA was also very exciting kinda the way the NBA used to be twenty years ago or so. With a lot of run and gun basketball, fast break teams trapping defenses, the three point shot, the red, white and blue basketball. But one thing that the ABA wasn't able to do was TV. If you weren't going to the games, you probably didn't get to see an ABA game unless you lived in a market with an ABA club and they had local television. Unlike the AFL in the 1960s that had a national broadcast contract with ABC. The ABA wasn't able to get that pro football was more popular than pro basketball at the time.

Football is still more popular that basketball today and had the ABA landed a national broadcast contract like the AFL and even the USFL twenty plus years later, a lot more people would've gotten to see how good of a league the ABA was. Because especially in the early and mid 70s, the ABA playoff teams and champions were just as good as the NBA playoff teams and champions. Teams like the New York Nets, Richmond Squires and Indianapolis Pacer because they had players like Julius Erving, Artis Gilmore, George Gervin and many others. 

What the ABA proved was that they were major league basketball and that they were an NBA caliber league if not better. And that they deserved to merge with with the NBA in the late 70s. Teams like the Nets, Pacers, Rockets, Nuggets, Jazz, are all in the NBA right now and for the most part all making money and prospering.

NBA: Detroit Pistons: Bad Boys Of The NBA

Source:NBA- Isiah Thomas perhaps sharing a laugh with NBA Commissioner Larry O'Brien, the night he was drafted in the NBA in 1981.

“The Pistons Reign: Detroit Pistons Bad Boys” 

From Max Carey 

I don’t know if there’s been a franchise that had a team of an era, that better represented the city they represented, than the Bad Boys Detroit Pistons of the late 1980s early 1990s. Detroit is the ultimate blue-collar, big city, that is the second biggest city of the Midwest, only smaller than Chicago. That is as working class and blue-collar as any big city can be. That has every single challenge and resource that a big city could have. And that is exactly what their Pistons of this era had as well.

The Bad Boys Pistons of course had very good players and in Isiah Thomas’s case a great player a franchise player one of the top five point guards of all time and in the Hall of Fame. But they didn’t beat you because they had overwhelming talent or just by showing up and beating you. The Pistons were a defense first, rebounding second basketball team that scored all of their points off of their defense and ability to get second chance scoring opportunities off of their defense and offensive rebounding. And then teamwork and always getting the ball to the guy with the best chance of scoring.

Other than Isiah, the Pistons of this era didn’t have that great offensive creator who could create points for himself and his teammates. They didn’t have that great post player who could dominate the post and create great mismatches in the post. What they had were guys who moved very well without the ball. Guys who could pass and find the open man. And with center Bill Laimbeer and power forward Rick Mahorn guys who set great screens freeing up their great outside shooters. Which they did have with Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and Vinnie Johnson and even center Bill Laimbeer.

The Detroit Pistons were the ultimate team and knew themselves very well and also knew the way they had to win was by being a better team and playing better as a team than their opponents. Especially having to play teams that were simply better than them when it came to talent like the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. And the way they did was knowing they simply couldn’t outscore their opponents. That they had to do a great job of stopping them from scoring and executing their motion team offense and taking advantage of whatever scoring opportunities that they had.

The legacy of the Detroit Pistons is that they were the ultimate team. Not a collection of stars but a collection of great team players who were all very unselfish who all had one goal in mind. Which was to win championships and many as possible and prove to the world that the Pistons can play basketball and that they didn’t represent losers and that Detroit was more than just a big city with every urban problem a big city can have. That they not only represented Detroit but a lot of America as well. People who aren’t given anything and work very hard for everything that they achieved. 

You can also see this post at The Daily Press, on WordPress.

B Ball Kingdom: Video: NBA 1985: The Story of the 1985 NBA Season: The Los Angeles Lakers Return to Glory

Source:The Daily Post

The highlight I guess depending on your perspective of the 1985 NBA season, was the Los Angeles Lakers doing what they should’ve done in 1984, but let too many opportunities get away, which was to beat the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. But there were a lot of other highlights as well like Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon playing their rookie seasons. And of course the Lakers and Celtics in June playing one of the best NBA Finals of all-time. 

1985 is the season for the Lakers to learn from what they did wrong in the 1984 NBA Finals. And especially Earvin Magic Johnson, that he needed to be more of a leader of the team and not just the quarterback. And not always worry about having to make the perfect pass and make his teammates look great. But at times that he had to look good himself on offense and actually score when he either had the best shot, or the best chance of scoring especially in critical moments. Which meant fewer turnovers by scoring when he had the good shot. 

But again the NBA even back in the mid-1980s wasn't just about the Lakers and Celtics. And even Larry Bird and Earvin Johnson. There were twenty-four or so other clubs in the NBA that also had great players. Like in Philadelphia with Moses Malone and Julius Erving. And in Atlanta with Dominique Wilkins and in Detroit with Isiah Thomas, Salt Lake with Adrian Dantley and many other places. And 1985 had a great rookie class with Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley Hakeem Olajuwon and many others. 

The 1985 season was a chance for the rest of the NBA to start catching up with the Celtics and Lakers, because of the 1984 draft. And because of this we saw the Houston Rockets make a big leap in 1986 and winning the Western Conference and getting to the NBA Finals. And with the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks steeping up and starting to become real contenders in the Eastern Conference.

Liam Leahy: NBA 1986, The Boston Celtics Win Sweet Sixteen

Source:Real Life Journal

1986 was a very interesting NBA season with the upstart Houston Rockets with their twin towers Hakeem and Ralph Sampson. And their very good and up incoming backcourt Mitchell Wiggins Louis Lloyd and of course the Rockets upsetting the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Finals. And of course the 1986 Boston Celtics who had the MVP in forward Larry Bird who was the best player in the NBA in 1986. And leading the Celtics to the 1986 NBA Finals Championship over the Houston Rockets. 

And perhaps the 1986 Celtics were the best passing team and big team of all-time. With all of their stars and former stars upfront, in Larry Bird a 6'9 small forward who was big and strong enough to be an all star power forward. But with great passing, ball handling and shooting skills of the great small forward and the best small forward of all-time that he definitely is. And the two great big man down low in power forward Kevin McHale and center Robert Parish. And if that is not great enough, Bill Walton off the bench. 

But 1986 wasn't just about the Celtics and Rockets. You also had the Lakers taking a step back and not just failing to defend their 1985 championship, but not even getting back to the NBA Finals. You had the emergence in the Eastern Conference Playoffs with the Atlanta Hawks. Who looked like they were going to be an Eastern contender for years to come led by Dominique Wilkins and the emergence of the Detroit Pistons as a serious Eastern Conference contender as well. 

1986 was a great year for the NBA, because it proved that the NBA was more than just the Lakers and Celtics and even Philadelphia 76ers. That there were other very good if not great teams that were perhaps just one or two players away from winning the NBA Finals as well. Like the Rockets, Hawks and Pistons and even the Dallas Mavericks. That the future of the NBA was going to very good if not great.

NBA: Unstoppable Bernard King

Source:Real Life Journal 

Bernard King was so smooth, his game just looked so easy with all the ways he had to score. In that sense he reminds me of Clyde Drexler, but Bernard was more than a scorer. Someone who was very good on the boards, a solid defender who also made his teammates better. And I can only imagine how good the New York Knicks would’ve been had he not of broken his knee in 1985. And the Knicks had Bernard in the prime of his career with center Patrick Ewing. Because the Knicks would’ve been a championship contender earlier and perhaps won it all with those two.  

Bernard King was a true natural scorer. Someone who could score in multiple ways and always looking for a way to get the ball in the bucket. And if not from him, then get the ball to his teammate that had the best chance of scoring. He had a great jump shot, one of the smoothest jump shots in NBA history. With the ability to handle the ball, an excellent post game, especially when defenses tried covering him with smaller or bigger men. And ran the floor real well and scored off the break.

The toughest players to defend in basketball, are not just guys who can drive and get to the bucket and look like they can't be covered. But are the player who are triple threats, which I know is a cliche. But players who can handle the ball, post up and shoot. Players like that are very difficult to defend because you have to cover them everywhere. And be on alert for that player to do anything with the basketball. That was Bernard King and again without the knee injury, we are talking about probably a top ten scorer in the history of the NBA.