1979–80 NBA season

Notable occurrences

• The NBA officially adopts the three-point field goal. Boston Celtics guard Chris Ford made the first three-pointer on October 12, 1979, against the Houston Rockets.
• The number of officials is reduced from three to two following a one-season experiment with three-man officiating crews. The three-official system will be re-adopted permanently for the 1988–89 season.
• The Jazz relocate from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Salt Lake City, Utah, and move from the Central Division to the Midwest Division.
• The Kansas City Kings are forced to play most of the season at the Municipal Auditorium after the roof at Kemper Arena collapses due to high wind on June 4, 1979. The Kings played the 1972–73 and 1973–74 seasons at Municipal Auditorium while splitting their home schedule between Kansas City and Omaha.
• Dr. Jerry Buss purchases the Los Angeles Lakers franchise from Jack Kent Cooke prior to the season.
• The 1980 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, with the East defeating the West 144–136 in overtime. George Gervin of the San Antonio Spurs wins the game's MVP award.
• This was the first season the NBA had a cable television partner. The USA Network signed a three-year, 1.5 million dollar deal.
• This was both Magic Johnson’s and Larry Bird’s rookie seasons and is considered to be the birth of the modern game.
• Darryl Dawkins broke two backboards: one at Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium on November 13, 1979, and a second backboard 23 days later at the Philadelphia Spectrum. Because his dunks resulted in delays while teams went to find another backboard, the NBA eventually modified their basketball rims to make them collapsible.
• Former NBA official and CBS analyst Mendy Rudolph died on July 4, 1979. All NBA referee shirts sport the No. 5 patch in his honor, and it was retired permanently.
• Finishing 16–66, the Detroit Pistons suffer the worst NBA record since the infamous 1972–73 76ers won only nine games. In between, no team had won fewer than 22 in a season, but expansion and the availability of more-skilled players from overseas made such poor records more common in subsequent seasons.
• It was the final season for future hall of famers Rick Barry, Walt Frazier and Pete Maravich.

  Final standings

By division

By conference

• z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs and first round bye
• c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs and first round bye
• y – Clinched division title and first round bye
• x – Clinched playoff spot

  Playoffs

Statistics leaders

NBA awards

• Most Valuable Player: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
• Rookie of the Year: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
• Coach of the Year: Bill Fitch, Boston Celtics
• All-NBA First Team:
• *Paul Westphal, Phoenix Suns
• *George Gervin, San Antonio Spurs
• *Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers
• *Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
• *Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
• All-NBA Second Team:
• *Dan Roundfield, Atlanta Hawks
• *Marques Johnson, Milwaukee Bucks
• *Moses Malone, Houston Rockets
• *Dennis Johnson, Seattle SuperSonics
• *Gus Williams, Seattle SuperSonics
• All-NBA Rookie Team:
• *Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
• *Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
• *Bill Cartwright, New York Knicks
• *David Greenwood, Chicago Bulls
• *Calvin Natt, Portland Trail Blazers
• NBA All-Defensive First Team:
• *Bobby Jones, Philadelphia 76ers
• *Dan Roundfield, Atlanta Hawks
• *Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
• *Dennis Johnson, Seattle SuperSonics
• *Don Buse, Phoenix Suns
• *Micheal Ray Richardson, New York Knicks
• NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
• *Scott Wedman, Kansas City Kings
• *Kermit Washington, Portland Trail Blazers
• *Dave Cowens, Boston Celtics
• *Quinn Buckner, Milwaukee Bucks
• *Eddie Johnson, Atlanta Hawks

Players of the week

Players of the month