The 1980 NBA World Championship Series was the

championship round In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA)'s 1979–80 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

defeated the Eastern Conference champion

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

4 games to 2.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim or Kerim) ( ar, کریم) is a common given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honorable". It is also one of the Names of God in Islam in the Quran. Given name Karim * Karim A ...

was the league's MVP, but midway through Game 5, the Lakers

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

suffered a severely sprained ankle. He managed to come back in the game in the fourth quarter to lead the Lakers to victory and a 3–2 lead in the best-of-seven series. But the Lakers still had to travel to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

for Game 6. Abdul-Jabbar was listed as out of Game 6, although 76ers coach

Billy Cunningham William John Cunningham (born June 3, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the ''Kangaroo Kid'' for his leaping and record-setting rebounding abilities. He spent a total of 17 seasons with the ...

was quoted as saying "I won't believe he's not playing until their plane lands and he's not on it." As it turned out, Kareem did not make the trip and was listed as doubtful if Game 7 had been needed. In Game 6,

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time and has been compared with Stephen Curry. Johnson played 13 seasons in the ...

played what may have been the greatest game of his career. Playing on the road, Johnson (a 6'9" rookie point guard) started the game at center and eventually played all five positions in a dominating performance. Scoring a game-high 42 points and grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds—and handing out seven assists— Johnson led the Lakers to the NBA crown. The Lakers also received strong performances from

Jamaal Wilkes Jamaal Abdul-Lateef (born Jackson Keith Wilkes; May 2, 1953), better known as Jamaal Wilkes, is an American former basketball player who was a small forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time NBA All-Star, he won four NBA ...

with 37 points and 10 rebounds, and

Norm Nixon Norman Ellard Nixon (born October 11, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also played with Scav ...

Jim Chones James Bernett “Bunny” Chones (born November 30, 1949) is an American former professional basketball player, and current radio analyst for the Cleveland Cavaliers. A 6'11" forward/center, Chones starred at Marquette University, where he earne ...

played strong defense on 76ers center

Darryl Dawkins Darryl R. Dawkins (January 11, 1957 – August 27, 2015) was an American professional basketball player. He was particularly known for his tenure with the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, although he als ...

, while

Mark Landsberger Mark Walter Landsberger (born May 21, 1955) is a retired American professional basketball player. At 6'8" and 215 pounds, he played power forward and center for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1980-1983. Career Landsberger attended Mounds View High S ...

provided rebounding off the bench, and little used

Brad Holland John Bradley Holland (born December 6, 1956) is a retired American professional basketball player. He played for four years at UCLA (from 1975 to 1979). He was a member of the 1980 Los Angeles Lakers championship team. He was the University of ...

chipped in eight key points. Magic Johnson's performance in Game 6 and the series earned him the 1980

NBA Finals Most Valuable Player The Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award (formerly known as the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1969 NBA Finals. The award is decided by a panel of e ...

(MVP). What made Johnson's performance even more remarkable was that he was an NBA rookie—and, indeed, one who had left college after only two years, and was only 20 years old. "Jamaal Wilkes had an unbelievable game", said Johnson in 2011. "Everybody talked about my 42 oints but it was also his 7-point effort" In Game 4 of the 1980 Finals,

Julius Erving Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American former professional basketball player. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA), and he was the best-known player ...

executed the legendary Baseline Move, a behind-the-board reverse layup that seemed to defy gravity. Play-by-play announcer Brent Musburger has noted that Erving made such moves almost routinely in his ABA days—but the ABA had no national TV contract in those days. This Game 4 move, played to a national audience in a title game, has probably become Julius Erving's most famous move. This was also the first NBA Finals to make use of the three-point line, which debuted that season. Many consider this victory as the birth of

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

Background

Los Angeles Lakers

The last time the Lakers had won the NBA championship was in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

. In the eight years between championships, the Lakers made the NBA Finals again in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

and lost to the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

in five games. Then

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a Center (basketball), center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 yea ...

and

Jerry West Jerome Alan West (born May 28, 1938) is an American basketball executive and former player. He played professionally for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His nicknames included "Mr. Clutch", for his ability ...

retired, and the Lakers missed the playoffs in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

and

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

. In between,

was acquired, and the Lakers returned to prominence in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

, but Kareem couldn't do it alone. The Lakers earned the top pick of the 1979 NBA draft (traded as compensation by the New Orleans Jazz after signing Gail Goodrich in 1976) and selected

from

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. It was one of then-owner

Jack Kent Cooke Jack Kent Cooke (October 25, 1912 – April 6, 1997) was a Canadian-American businessman in broadcasting and professional sports. Starting in sales, Cooke was very successful, eventually becoming a partner in a network of radio stations and news ...

's final acts before selling the team to

Jerry Buss Gerald Hatten Buss (January 27, 1933 – February 18, 2013) was an American businessman, investor, chemist, and philanthropist. He was the majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning 10 l ...

during that summer. While Magic dazzled in his rookie season, Kareem would enjoy an

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

campaign in the Lakers' 60–22

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

. The Lakers began the season being coached by Jack McKinney as owner

, who had recently acquired the team, wanted games to be entertaining, and hired the coach to install a running offense. On November 8, 1979, the Lakers were 9–4 after 13 games, when McKinney suffered a near fatal head injury after falling while bicycling. Assistant coach

Paul Westhead Paul William Westhead (born February 21, 1939) is an American Retired basketball coach. He was the head coach for three National Basketball Association (NBA) teams and an assistant for four others, and also coached in the National Collegiate Athl ...

, who also worked under McKinney at St. Joseph's, was named the interim head coach. However, the length of the recovery and lingering doubts about the complete return of McKinney's mental faculties, combined with the team's level of success under Westhead, ultimately meant that McKinney would never get the chance to return to the job. Westhead continued to use McKinney's offense, a creative and spontaneous offense that came to be known as

, and the team finished the season with a record of 60–22. The Lakers advanced to that year's NBA Finals and McKinney was fired by Buss mid-series on May 13, 1980. After the Lakers won the series for their first of five NBA titles in nine seasons, Buss hired Westhead to permanently replace McKinney. Behind Johnson's passing, Abdul-Jabbar's post play and

Michael Cooper Michael Jerome Cooper (born April 15, 1956) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the boys varsity coach at Culver City High School. He played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning ...

's perimeter shooting and defense, the trio formed the core of the Lakers'

-era teams. The chemistry between the three was evident early on, as the Lakers eliminated the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

and defending champions

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

in a pair of five-game playoff series to advance to the NBA Finals.

Philadelphia 76ers

arrived before the 1976–77 season, and with him as the focal point of the offense, the 76ers soon transformed into a title contender. But after losing to the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

in the 1977 NBA Finals, the 76ers realized that a fancy and one-on-one style of play will not take them all the way. Thus they hired former player

as head coach, and in 1978 the team traded for defensive stalwart Bobby Jones and drafted

Maurice Cheeks Maurice Edward Cheeks (born September 8, 1956) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who serves as assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has also served as head coach of t ...

, while letting go players such as

George McGinnis George F. McGinnis (born August 10, 1950) is an American former professional basketball player who played 11 seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted into the ABA from Indiana ...

and

World B. Free World B. Free (born Lloyd Bernard Free; December 9, 1953) is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1975 to 1988. Free was known as the "Prince of Mid-Air", "Brownsville Bom ...

. In the 1979–80 season the 76ers finished 59–23, two games behind the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

in the Atlantic Division. In the playoffs, they eliminated the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

in two games, and the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

in five games. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the 76ers faced NBA Rookie of the Year Award winner

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded a ...

and the 61–win Celtics, and owing to the core's three consecutive playoff appearances, the more experienced 76ers were favored to win the series. Proving the prognosticators right, Philadelphia won in five games, preventing the first Celtics–Lakers final since 1969. The 76ers were the first of the four Philadelphia professional sports teams to play for their respective sports' championships in the 1980 season. The Flyers lost the

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, french: Finale de la Coupe Stanley) is the National Hockey League's (NHL) championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, North America ...

against the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

in overtime of Game 6, eight days after the 76ers fell to the Lakers in their Game 6. The

Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citizen ...

beat the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

, themselves in six games, in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. The

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

lost

Super Bowl XV Super Bowl XV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

to the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

in January 1981. Of note, this marked the first of the ten NBA Finals played in the 1980s, all of which featured either the Boston Celtics or the Los Angeles Lakers (three Finals featured both teams).

Road to the Finals

Regular season series

Both teams split the two meetings, each won by the home team:

Series summary

Game summaries

Game 1

, playing on a mission and finally with an effective supporting cast around him, scored 33 points, pulled down 14 rebounds, and had six blocks and five assists on the way to a 109–102 win in the Forum.

had 23 points and

finished with 20 while the Lakers did an excellent job double-teaming

. Rookie

contributed 16 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds.

Game 2

continued to dominate, with 38 points in Game 2. But, this time, he got very little help as the Laker break never got going.

scored 12 points in the first quarter on his way to 23, beginning the game with a dunk over Abdul-Jabbar.

matched Erving's total of 23 points, while Bobby Jones added 13 off the bench. The key was

, who had one of his best games of the season by scoring 25 points, many of them on outside shots trying to draw Abdul-Jabbar away from the basket. The Sixers led by as much as 20 in the fourth period, but the Lakers roared back, trimming the lead to 105–104 late in the game. Then, Jones popped in a jumper with seven seconds left, and that was enough for a 107–104 Philly win that tied the series at a game apiece.

Game 3

With a split in L.A., the Sixers were hoping to take command of the series with the next two games in Philadelphia. The Lakers, however, ended those hopes by taking a 15-point lead in the first quarter.

led a short comeback in the second, but a 9–0 run by the Lakers extended their lead to 14 at the half.

once again had a big game with 33 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks and three assists as the Lakers cruised to a 111–101 win. Julius Erving scored the only three-pointer of the series (and first in NBA Finals history) in this game.

Game 4

This game was a nip-and-tuck affair that was highlighted by

's signature "Baseline Move" in the fourth quarter. The Sixers went on to even the series with a 105–102 win.

led the Sixers with 26 points and Erving added 23.

Game 5

Back at the

Forum Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses * Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...

, the Lakers held a two-point lead late in the third quarter when

stepped on

Lionel Hollins Lionel Eugene Hollins (born October 19, 1953) is an American professional basketball coach and former player currently serving as an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played for the Portland ...

' foot as he was running upcourt after a Laker basket and twisted his ankle. At that point, Kareem had scored 26 points and was carrying the Lakers, but now he was in the locker room.

then asserted himself by scoring six points and added an assist as Los Angeles moved up by eight at the end of the third. Abdul-Jabbar then limped back onto the floor. His appearance aroused the Forum regulars and, despite the bad ankle, scored 11 points and had two key blocked shots down the stretch. The Sixers, however, had

who scored 11 of the Sixers last 13 points to complete an 8-point comeback, and tie the game at 103–103 with only 43 seconds remaining. On the Lakers possession,

was trying to front Abdul-Jabbar but to no avail as Magic threw a pass overhead so only Erving stood between Kareem and the basket. Abdul-Jabbar, bad ankle and all, dunked emphatically over Erving and drew the foul with 33 seconds left. He converted the 3-point play to take a 106–103 lead. After a timeout, the Sixers put the ball in the hands of Erving, who tried a spectacular, scooping finger-roll, but missed. Magic got the rebound to seemingly seal the win, but the Lakers tried to force the fast-break and ended up turning the ball over, out-of-bounds. However, the Sixers turned the ball right back over by stepping out of bounds on a desperation 3-point attempt. Norm Nixon would finally seal the game at the foul line by making both of his foul shots. The victory gave the Lakers the crucial 3–2 series lead heading back to Philadelphia.

's 14 point 4th quarter on a bad ankle capped an overall 40-point performance. After Game 5 Abdul-Jabbar was averaging 33.4 points per game as compared to eventual MVP

's 17.4.

Game 6

The Lakers' team doctors declared Abdul-Jabbar and his bad ankle unfit for Game 6 (he wasn't even allowed to make the trip to Philadelphia with the team because of the swelling), so Laker coach

made a bold move by asking

to jump center. Johnson had no problem and was up to the challenge, although he would lose the famous opening tip to

Caldwell Jones Caldwell "Pops" Jones (August 4, 1950 – September 21, 2014) was an American professional basketball player. Jones was drafted out of Albany State College by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 14th pick in the 1973 NBA draft. He played three seaso ...

. Early on, the Sixers seemed unsure how to counter the matchup problem. The Lakers went up 7–0, then 11–4. Finally, the Sixers used their newfound size advantage in the second quarter to take a 52–44 lead. The Lakers countered by collapsing more in the paint and rallied for a 60–60 tie at the half. Los Angeles opened the third period with a 14–0 run, keyed by

, who had 16 points in the quarter. In the fourth with a little over five minutes left, the Sixers rallied to cut the Laker lead to 103–101. After a timeout, the Lakers went on one last run, with Magic scoring nine points down the stretch on the way to a final 123–107 margin. Wilkes had a career-high 37 points and added 10 rebounds.

effectively shut down the middle in place of Abdul-Jabbar and finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and held

to 14 points and a scant four rebounds.

, in a rare start, scored 16 points, and

contributed 10 boards. Magic Johnson scored 42 points, including all 14 of his free-throw attempts. He added 15 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and a block and was elected MVP of the series. "It was amazing, just amazing", said Erving, who led Philly with 27 points.

Player statistics

;Los Angeles Lakers , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 5 , , 40.6 , , .549 , , , , .808 , , 13.6 , , 3.2 , , 0.6 , , 4.6 , , 33.4 , -! style="background:#FDE910;" , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 42.7 , , .573 , , .000 , , .875 , , 11.2 , , 8.7 , , 2.7 , , 0.3 , , 21.5 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 42.0 , , .467 , , , , .824 , , 7.7 , , 3.2 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 21.3 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 42.3 , , .435 , , .000 , , .760 , , 3.7 , , 7.0 , , 2.2 , , 0.2 , , 15.5 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 1 , , 30.8 , , .357 , , , , .813 , , 4.2 , , 3.3 , , 1.2 , , 0.7 , , 8.8 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 30.8 , , .528 , , , , .750 , , 7.0 , , 1.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.7 , , 8.3 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 14.3 , , .387 , , .000 , , .500 , , 6.2 , , 0.2 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 4.2 , - , align="left" , , , 3 , , 0 , , 4.3 , , .667 , , , , 1.000 , , 0.3 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.3 , - , align="left" , , , 2 , , 0 , , 2.5, , 1.000 , , , , , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , - , align="left" , , , 1 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , , , , , , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 ;Philadelphia 76ers , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 40.7 , , .522 , , .250 , , .708 , , 7.0 , , 5.0 , , 2.0 , , 2.3 , , 25.5 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 33.8 , , .531 , , .000 , , .654 , , 6.0 , , 2.2 , , 1.2 , , 2.3 , , 20.2 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 36.8 , , .429 , , .000 , , .762 , , 3.2 , , 6.7 , , 2.5 , , 0.2 , , 14.7 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 36.0 , , .381 , , .000 , , .929 , , 3.7 , , 8.8 , , 2.0 , , 0.3 , , 12.8 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 26.8 , , .500 , , , , .909 , , 5.7 , , 2.0 , , 1.2 , , 1.8 , , 11.0 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 33.7 , , .476 , , , , .700 , , 8.3 , , 1.8 , , 0.2 , , 2.7 , , 9.0 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 15.2 , , .483 , , , , 1.000 , , 1.8 , , 1.4 , , 0.2 , , 0.4 , , 7.2 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 19.0 , , .333 , , .000 , , .750 , , 1.8 , , 3.2 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 5.0 , - , align="left" , , , 1 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , align="left" , , , 1 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , , , , , , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , align="left" , , , 1 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , , , , , , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0

Television coverage

The series-deciding Game 6 became the most notorious example of

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

's practice of showing even the most important NBA games on " tape delay" broadcasts. Because May 16, 1980, was a Friday, the network did not want to preempt its two highest-rated shows, ''

The Dukes of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy TV series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979 to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television series ...

'' and ''

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

'', even though both shows were already in reruns: the 1979–80 TV season had ended early, back in March (''Dukes'' and ''Dallas'' both aired their season finale March 21), in anticipation of a strike that summer by the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

. So Game 6 was shown at 11:30pm Eastern (10:30pm Central) in all but eight US cities:

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

and

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

, who carried it live; all but Philadelphia are located in the

Pacific Time Zone The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00) ...

, thus could show the game live at 6 p.m. local time, then carry CBS's prime time lineup, delayed by a few minutes for the ending of the game. In Atlanta, the CBS affiliate didn't show Game 6 at all, bumping it to independent station

WATL-TV WATL (channel 36) is a television station in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside NBC affiliate WXIA-TV (channel 11). Both stations share studios at One Monroe Place on the ...

, who at least carried the contest live.TV Week Update
''

Atlanta Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the Atlanta metropolitan area, metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Con ...

'', 16 May 1980, p. 12B] (This is often cited as an example of TV's lack of interest in the NBA in the "pre-Magic and Bird" era.) Had Game 7 been played, it would have tipped off at noon Pacific (3 p.m. Eastern). The 1980 Finals would mark the last play-by-play assignment for Brent Musburger, who was joined on color commentary by

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

play-by-play announcer

Hot Rod Hundley Rodney Clark "Hot Rod" Hundley (October 26, 1934 – March 27, 2015) was an American professional basketball player and television broadcaster. Hundley was the number 1 pick of the 1957 NBA draft by the Cincinnati Royals out of West Virginia Uni ...

and

legend

Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most V ...

. Musburger would remain involved with CBS' NBA coverage until 1989, but his duties for later NBA Finals were as a studio host, though he continued to call play-by-play on various occasions.

Team rosters

Los Angeles Lakers

Philadelphia 76ers

References

External links

NBA History
{{DEFAULTSORT:1980 Nba Finals National Basketball Association Finals

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

20th century in Los Angeles County, California

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

1980s in Philadelphia Sports competitions in Philadelphia Sports competitions in Inglewood, California