1983–84 NBA season

38th NBA season August 2023 December 2022 1983–84 NBA season National Basketball Association Basketball October 28, 1983 – April 15, 1984 April 17 – May 25, 1984 (Playoffs) May 27 – June 12, 1984 (Finals) 23 CBS, ESPN, USA Draft 1983 NBA Draft Ralph Sampson List of first overall NBA draft picks Houston Rockets Regular season Boston Celtics Larry Bird (Boston) NBA MVP Adrian Dantley (Utah) Playoffs 1984 NBA Playoffs Eastern Eastern Conference (NBA) Boston Celtics Milwaukee Bucks Western Western Conference (NBA) Los Angeles Lakers Phoenix Suns Finals 1984 NBA Finals Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers Larry Bird (Boston) NBA Finals MVP List of NBA seasons NBA 1982–83 NBA season 1982–83 1984–85 NBA season 1984–85 The 1983–84 NBA season was the 38th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA championship, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 3 for the second time since 1969 in the NBA Finals. Notable occurrences +Coaching changesOffseason Team 1982–83 coach 1983–84 coach Atlanta Hawks Kevin Loughery Mike Fratello Boston Celtics Bill Fitch K.C. Jones Chicago Bulls Paul Westhead Kevin Loughery Detroit Pistons Scotty Robertson Chuck Daly Golden State Warriors Al Attles Johnny Bach Houston Rockets Del Harris Bill Fitch New Jersey Nets Bill Blair Stan Albeck San Antonio Spurs Stan Albeck Morris McHone San Diego Clippers Paul Silas Jim LynamIn-season Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach San Antonio Spurs Morris McHone Bob Bass The Detroit Pistons defeated the Denver Nuggets 186–184 in triple overtime) on December 13, 1983, to set a record for most points scored by both teams in an NBA game (370). The previous record (337) had been set on March 6, 1982, when San Antonio beat Milwaukee 171–166.This Date in History https://web.archive.org/web/20100321143926/http://www.nba.com/history/this_date_march.html 2010-03-21 . NBA.com. Retrieved on January 6, 2012. The 1984 NBA All-Star Game was played at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado, with the East defeating the West 154–145. Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons wins the game's MVP award. Larry Nance of the Phoenix Suns won the first NBA Slam Dunk championship. David Stern began his tenure as the league's fourth commissioner, effective April 1. The NBA Playoffs were expanded from 6 teams per conference to 8, where it stands to this date (with a play-in tournament for the #7 and #8 seeds in each conference added in 2020). As a result, the 'first round bye' system was eliminated. For the first time, the first round of the NBA Playoffs went from best-of-three to best-of-five playoff. The first round would remain best-of-five until going to best-of-seven in 2003. Ralph Sampson became the first rookie to win the Rookie of the Month Award in every month of the season. He unanimously won the Rookie of the Year Award. David Robinson, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Damian Lillard, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Victor Wembanyama would later achieve the same feat. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar surpassed Wilt Chamberlain to become the all-time NBA career leader in points. He passed Chamberlain in a game against the Utah Jazz at Las Vegas' Thomas & Mack Center on April 5. Fittingly, it was his trademark sky-hook that put him in the record books. The Dallas Mavericks made their first postseason appearance, beating the Seattle SuperSonics 3 game to 2 before bowing out to the Los Angeles Lakers 4–1 in the Conference Semifinals. Game 5 of the Seattle series was played at Moody Coliseum as Reunion Arena, the Mavericks' home, was unavailable. The Utah Jazz appeared in the postseason for the first time, defeating the Denver Nuggets 3 games to 2 in the opening round and then losing to the Phoenix Suns 4 to 2 games in the Western semis. This started a streak of 20 consecutive playoff appearances, fourth longest in the NBA behind the Portland Trail Blazers (21 between 1983 and 2003), the Philadelphia 76ers (23 between 1949 (as Syracuse Nationals) and 1971), and the San Antonio Spurs 22 between 1998 and 2019).Feldman, Dan (March 31, 2019). "Spurs match record by making playoffs 22nd straight year". NBC Sports. Retrieved April 4, 2019. The Clippers play their final season in San Diego, California. This would be the last season until 2013–14 that the Finals had the 2–2–1–1–1 format (for home and away games for a finalist). The Finals would adopt the 2–3–2 format the following season. The New Jersey Nets won a playoff series for the first time in their NBA history, upsetting the defending champion Philadelphia 76ers in five games. The series marked the only time (to date) a road team won every game in a five-game playoff series. This was the final season of ESPN broadcasting NBA games until the 2002–03 season, which also marked the league's return to future corporate partner ABC. It also marked the final season of NBA broadcasts on the USA Network. Spalding replaced Wilson as manufacturer of the official NBA game ball, a relationship that continued until 2021. It was the final season for eventual Hall of Famers Tiny Archibald, Elvin Hayes and Bob Lanier. Another eventual Hall of Famer David Thompson unexpectedly retired due to his injury from an accident. All five teams in the Atlantic Division made the playoffs, the first such occurrence for any division. Final standings By division By conference Notes z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs y – Clinched division title x – Clinched playoff spot Playoffs 1984 NBA playoffs Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics. 1984 NBA playoffs Bracket yes no Statistics leaders + Category Player Team Stat Points per game Adrian Dantley Utah Jazz 30.6 Rebounds per game Moses Malone Philadelphia 76ers 13.4 Assists per game Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers 13.1 Steals per game Rickey Green Utah Jazz 2.65 Blocks per game Mark Eaton Utah Jazz 4.28 FG% Artis Gilmore San Antonio Spurs .631 FT% Larry Bird Boston Celtics .888 3FG% Darrell Griffith Utah Jazz .361 NBA awards Yearly awards Most Valuable Player: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics Rookie of the Year: Ralph Sampson, Houston Rockets Defensive Player of the Year: Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee Bucks Sixth Man of the Year: Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics Coach of the Year: Frank Layden, Utah Jazz 66% 33% All-NBA First Team: F – Larry Bird, Boston Celtics F – Bernard King, New York Knicks C – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers G – Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons G – Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers 33% All-NBA Second Team: F – Adrian Dantley, Utah Jazz F – Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers C – Moses Malone, Philadelphia 76ers G – Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee Bucks G – Jim Paxson, Portland Trail Blazers 33% 33% All-NBA Rookie Team: Steve Stipanovich, Indiana Pacers Ralph Sampson, Houston Rockets Darrell Walker, New York Knicks Jeff Malone, Washington Bullets Thurl Bailey, Utah Jazz Byron Scott, Los Angeles Lakers 66% 33% NBA All-Defensive First Team: Bobby Jones, Philadelphia 76ers Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers Tree Rollins, Atlanta Hawks Maurice Cheeks, Philadelphia 76ers Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee Bucks 33% NBA All-Defensive Second Team: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics Dan Roundfield, Atlanta Hawks Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers Dennis Johnson, Boston Celtics T. R. Dunn, Denver Nuggets Player of the week The following players were named NBA Player of the Week. WeekPlayerOct. 28 – Nov. 6Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Kings)Nov. 7 – Nov. 13Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)Nov. 14 – Nov. 20Kiki Vandeweghe (Denver Nuggets)Nov. 21 – Nov. 27Mark Aguirre (Dallas Mavericks)Nov. 28 – Dec. 4Rickey Green (Utah Jazz)Dec. 5 – Dec. 11Jeff Ruland (Washington Bullets)Dec. 12 – Dec. 18Adrian Dantley (Utah Jazz)Dec. 19 – Dec. 26Dan Roundfield (Atlanta Hawks)Dec. 27 – Jan. 2Isiah Thomas (Detroit Pistons)Jan. 3 – Jan. 8Purvis Short (Golden State Warriors)Jan. 9 – Jan. 15Kelly Tripucka (Detroit Pistons)Jan. 16 – Jan. 22Buck Williams (New Jersey Nets)Jan. 31 – Feb. 5Bernard King (New York Knicks)Feb. 6 – Feb. 12Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers)Feb. 13 – Feb. 19Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)Feb. 20 – Feb. 26Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)Feb. 27 – Mar. 4Mickey Johnson (Golden State Warriors)Mar. 5 – Mar. 11Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)Mar. 12 – Mar. 18Adrian Dantley (Utah Jazz)Mar. 19 – Mar. 25Moses Malone (Philadelphia 76ers)Mar. 26 – Apr. 1Isiah Thomas (Detroit Pistons)Apr. 2 – Apr. 8Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers)Apr. 9 – Apr. 15Dominique Wilkins (Atlanta Hawks) Player of the month The following players were named NBA Player of the Month. MonthPlayerNovemberMagic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)DecemberJeff Ruland (Washington Bullets)JanuaryMark Aguirre (Dallas Mavericks)FebruaryBernard King (New York Knicks)MarchKareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers) Rookie of the month The following players were named NBA Rookie of the Month. MonthRookieNovemberRalph Sampson (Houston Rockets)DecemberRalph Sampson (Houston Rockets)JanuaryRalph Sampson (Houston Rockets)FebruaryRalph Sampson (Houston Rockets)MarchRalph Sampson (Houston Rockets) Coach of the month The following coaches were named NBA Coach of the Month. MonthCoachNovemberDick Motta (Dallas Mavericks)DecemberFrank Layden (Utah Jazz)JanuaryK.C. Jones (Boston Celtics)FebruaryChuck Daly (Detroit Pistons)MarchJack Ramsay (Portland Trail Blazers) See also List of NBA regular season records References