1982–83 NBA season

37th NBA season August 2023 December 2022 1982–83 NBA season National Basketball Association Basketball October 29, 1982 – April 17, 1983April 19 – May 20, 1983 (Playoffs)May 22–31, 1983 (Finals) 23 CBS, ESPN, USA Draft 1982 NBA Draft List of first overall NBA draft picks James Worthy Los Angeles Lakers Regular season Philadelphia 76ers Moses Malone (Philadelphia) NBA MVP Alex English (Denver) Playoffs 1983 NBA Playoffs Eastern Eastern Conference (NBA) Philadelphia 76ers Milwaukee Bucks Western Western Conference (NBA) Los Angeles Lakers San Antonio Spurs Finals 1983 NBA Finals Philadelphia 76ers Los Angeles Lakers Moses Malone (Philadelphia) NBA Finals MVP List of NBA seasons NBA 1981–82 NBA season 1981–82 1983–84 NBA season 1983–84 The 1982–83 NBA season was the 37th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Philadelphia 76ers winning the NBA championship, sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 0 in the NBA Finals. Notable occurrences The 1983 NBA All-Star Game was played at The Forum in Inglewood, California, with the East defeating the West 132–123. Julius Erving of the Philadelphia 76ers won the game's MVP award. It was at this game that R&B singer Marvin Gaye performed his famous rendition of the "Star-Spangled Banner". This season marked the final season for Larry O'Brien as commissioner of the NBA. In honor of his long tenure, the NBA would rename its championship trophy after him (it was originally named after the late Boston Celtics owner Walter A. Brown). The USA Network extended their cable deal with the NBA for another two years, and ESPN shared broadcast rights with them. The 76ers posted a 12–1 record in the playoffs, a record for highest winning percentage in the postseason (it was later broken by the 2001 Los Angeles Lakers, whose record was, in turn, later broken by the 2017 Golden State Warriors). The Boston Celtics were swept for the first time in their playoff history, at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks in the Conference Semifinals of the 1983 NBA playoffs. The Bucks swept the Celtics 4–0. The 1983 NBA Finals was the last Finals to end before June 1. This was the final season for Wilson serving as the suppliers of the official NBA game ball (a partnership that dated back to 1946); it was replaced in that capacity by Spalding in the following season, which supplied game balls to the NBA through the 2020–21 season. Wilson returned as the game ball supplier for the 2021–22 season.https://archive.today/20130116205024/http://www.americanmemorabilia.com/Auction_Item.asp?Auction_ID=31129&c=%5CSports%5CBasketball%5CMore+Cool+Stuff%5C&t=Closed&p=0&s=&offset= Ted Stepien sold the Cleveland Cavaliers to Gordon Gund. Under Stepien, attendance at the Cavaliers' home arena at Richfield Coliseum declined, first-round picks were traded in consecutive years (which led the NBA to institute the Ted Stepien rule), and long-time announcer Joe Tait was fired (he returned following the Gund purchase). The Cavaliers had five different coaches and three consecutive losing seasons under Stepien. On November 3, 1982, Randy Smith played in his 845th consecutive NBA game, breaking Johnny Kerr's iron man record. Clippers' Smith NBA Iron Man USA Today November 4, 1982 The game was a 130–111 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in which Smith started and scored 14 points. Smith's iron man streak ended at 906 games when he played his last game with the Clippers on March 13, 1983, and was traded to the Atlanta Hawks. The record was later surpassed by A.C. Green in 1997. On April 16, 1983, during a 12-point victory over the Dallas Mavericks, the San Antonio Spurs set the all-time NBA regular season record for team field goal percentage by shooting .707 from the floor. The NBA adds the NBA Defensive Player of the Year and the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award awards. This season saw the final season of eventual Hall of Famers' Dave Cowens, Spencer Haywood and Calvin Murphy. +Coaching changesOff-season Team 1981–82 coach 1982–83 coach Chicago Bulls Rod Thorn Paul Westhead Cleveland Cavaliers Bill Musselman Tom Nissalke New York Knicks Red Holzman Hubie BrownIn-season Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach New Jersey Nets Larry Brown Bill Blair Final standings By division By conference Notes 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 1983 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. 1983 NBA playoffs Bracket yes no Statistics leaders + Category Player Team Stat Points per game Alex English Denver Nuggets 28.4 Total Points Alex English Denver Nuggets 2,326 Rebounds per game Moses Malone Philadelphia 76ers 15.3 Total Rebounds Moses Malone Philadelphia 76ers 1,194 Assists per game Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers 10.5 Total Assists Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers 829 Steals per game Micheal Ray Richardson Golden State Warriors 2.84 Total Steals Rickey Green Utah Jazz 220 Blocks per game Tree Rollins Atlanta Hawks 4.29 Total Blocks Tree Rollins Atlanta Hawks 343 FG% Artis Gilmore San Antonio Spurs .626 FT% Calvin Murphy Houston Rockets .920 3FG% Mike Dunleavy San Antonio Spurs .345 NBA awards Most Valuable Player: Moses Malone, Philadelphia 76ers Rookie of the Year: Terry Cummings, San Diego Clippers Defensive Player of the Year: Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee Bucks Sixth Man of the Year: Bobby Jones, Philadelphia 76ers Coach of the Year: Don Nelson, Milwaukee Bucks 66% 33% All-NBA First Team: F – Larry Bird, Boston Celtics F – Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers C – Moses Malone, Philadelphia 76ers G – Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee Bucks G – Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers 33% All-NBA Second Team: F – Alex English, Denver Nuggets F – Buck Williams, New Jersey Nets C – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers G – George Gervin, San Antonio Spurs G – Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons 33% 33% All-NBA Rookie Team: James Worthy, Los Angeles Lakers Quintin Dailey, Chicago Bulls Terry Cummings, San Diego Clippers Clark Kellogg, Indiana Pacers Dominique Wilkins, Atlanta Hawks 66% 33% NBA All-Defensive First Team: Bobby Jones, Philadelphia 76ers Dan Roundfield, Atlanta Hawks Moses Malone, Philadelphia 76ers Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee Bucks Dennis Johnson, Phoenix Suns (tie) Maurice Cheeks, Philadelphia 76ers (tie) 33% NBA All-Defensive Second Team: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics Wayne Rollins, Atlanta Hawks Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers T. R. Dunn, Denver Nuggets Player of the week The following players were named NBA Player of the Week. WeekPlayerOct. 29 – Nov. 7Reggie Theus (Chicago Bulls) (1/1)Nov. 8 – Nov. 14Kelly Tripucka (Detroit Pistons) (1/1)Nov. 15 – Nov. 21Alex English (Denver Nuggets) (1/2)Nov. 22 – Nov. 28Larry Bird (Boston Celtics) (1/3)Nov. 29 – Dec. 5Buck Williams (New Jersey Nets) (1/1)Dec. 6 – Dec. 12Larry Bird (Boston Celtics) (2/3)Dec. 13 – Dec. 19Isiah Thomas (Detroit Pistons) (1/1)Dec. 20 – Dec. 26Maurice Lucas (Phoenix Suns) (1/1)Dec. 27 – Jan. 2Kiki Vandeweghe (Denver Nuggets) (1/1)Jan. 3 – Jan. 9Mickey Johnson (New Jersey Nets) (1/1)Jan. 10 – Jan. 16Alex English (Denver Nuggets) (2/2)Jan. 17 – Jan. 23Joe Barry Carroll (Golden State Warriors) (1/1)Jan. 24 – Jan. 30Artis Gilmore (San Antonio Spurs) (1/1)Jan. 31 – Feb. 6Moses Malone (Philadelphia 76ers) (1/1)Feb. 7 – Feb. 21Larry Nance (Phoenix Suns) (1/1)Feb. 22 – Feb. 27Walter Davis (Phoenix Suns) (1/1)Feb. 28 – Mar. 6John Drew (Utah Jazz) (1/1)Mar. 7 – Mar. 13Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers) (1/2)Mar. 14 – Mar. 20Andrew Toney (Philadelphia 76ers) (1/1)Mar. 21 – Mar. 27Jeff Ruland (Washington Bullets) (1/1)Mar. 28 – Apr. 3Larry Bird (Boston Celtics) (3/3)Apr. 4 – Apr. 10Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers) (2/2)Apr. 11 – Apr. 17Mike Glenn (Atlanta Hawks) (1/1) Player of the month The following players were named NBA Player of the Month. MonthPlayerOctober/NovemberLarry Bird (Boston Celtics) (1/1)DecemberLarry Drew (Kansas City Kings)(1/1) Moses Malone (Philadelphia 76ers) (1/2)JanuaryAlex English (Denver Nuggets) (1/1)FebruaryMoses Malone (Philadelphia 76ers) (2/2)MarchJeff Ruland (Washington Bullets) (1/1) Rookie of the month The following players were named NBA Rookie of the Month. MonthRookieOctober/NovemberTerry Cummings (San Diego Clippers) (1/4)DecemberClark Kellogg (Indiana Pacers) (1/1)JanuaryTerry Cummings (San Diego Clippers) (2/4)FebruaryTerry Cummings (San Diego Clippers) (3/4)MarchTerry Cummings (San Diego Clippers) (4/4) Coach of the month The following coaches were named NBA Coach of the Month. MonthCoachOctober/NovemberScotty Robertson (Detroit Pistons) (1/1)DecemberBilly Cunningham (Philadelphia 76ers) (1/1)JanuaryPat Riley (Los Angeles Lakers) (1/1)FebruaryHubie Brown (New York Knicks) (1/1)MarchStan Albeck (San Antonio Spurs) (1/1) See also List of NBA regular season records References NBA